11/20 Rainstorm, sewage, BC turbines, Wild Olympics, Dabob Bay, tsunami debris, Seahurst Park science

Diving Duck Drowns in Deluge

“My daughter is almost 21 month old.  Living in Western Washington all her life, Monday was wettest day she had ever experienced.  With 2.13 inches of rainfall recorded at Sea-Tac airport on Monday, it’s the wettest day since December 12, 2010.” Sam Argier reports. Wettest day in nearly two years

Heavy rainfall forced sewage to overflow into parts of Seattle and Everett today. Everett got the worst of it as raw sewage from 10 of 12 sewer outfalls overflowed into the Snohomish River and Port Gardner Bay today. Untreated sewage also spilled into Seattle’s Meadowbrook Park this afternoon, according to the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Alexa Vaughn reports. Sewage overflow spills in Seattle and Everett  

Local health officials issued a "no-contact" order for waters around Bremerton and Silverdale after heavy stormwater flows caused a discharge of raw sewage. Sewage mixed with stormwater spilled from four overflow pipes in Port Washington Narrows and one in Sinclair Inlet, said Stuart Whitford of the Kitsap Public Health District. Total volume estimates were not available Monday, but Whitford said it appeared that more than 100,000 gallons were released altogether. At least 90 percent of that was stormwater mixed with about 10 percent raw sewage, he said. Ed Friedrich reports. Inundated West Sound deals with flooded roads, downed power lines, sewer overflows

While you’re busy cramming in the third helping of turkey, you are most likely only thinking about that first part of the equation (the stuffing in), and maybe the second part (getting fat). You’re probably not considering the third part (exiting). It’s important to remember though, that what you gobble up this holiday season isn’t necessarily going to stay in your body. A lot of it ends up coming out of you, entering the sewage system and landing itself in the ocean. Yes, you are not just seasoning that cake you little chef, you are seasoning the ocean too…by way of your butt. Minda Berbeco blogs. The ocean is a fruit cake or why pollution is so delicious

The company that applied to investigate putting energy-generating turbines in a narrow passage that’s part of the threatened northern resident killer whales’ critical habitat has withdrawn the application. “There was obviously a lot of public concern about that particular site and especially the values that site represents,” said Scot Merriam, principal of SRM Projects, a Nanaimo renewable-energy engineering company. “In learning about critical habitat, it became pretty apparent that this was just not a good candidate for our first tidal-energy project.” Judith Lavoie reports. Fear of harming whale habitat sidelines turbine project

If you like to watch: Connie Gallant of the Wild Olympics Coalition shares a new video persuading us of a better future under the proposed Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers Act.  Wild Olympics for Our Future

Few places in the Northwest boast the odd mix of ingredients — man, mollusk, mammal and military — found in the deep mixing bowl that is Dabob Bay. Ron Judd reports. On Dabob Bay, man and nature nurture preservation  

A Seattle oceanographer who has been tracking debris from the Japanese tsunami says a huge debris field, hundreds of miles across, is about 400 miles off the Washington coast. Retired University of Washington oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer told The Daily Herald it could hit the coast around mid-December, depending on weather and currents. A spokeswoman for the state Ecology Department is more cautious. Linda Kent says government officials don't know when the debris may wash ashore or how much. Tsunami debris reported closer to Washington coast  

This fall, the Environmental Science Center (ESC) at Seahurst Park is making a splash in south King County schools thanks to support from The Boeing Company. Through a new grant, ESC will engage more than 1,500 students in understanding the dynamics of their local watershed, deepening their connection to the environment and promoting positive stewardship behaviors that will aid in salmon recovery. The highlight of the program titled, “Water Heroes for Puget Sound,” is an intensive hands-on science investigation at the Normandy Park Cove where hundreds of chum and coho salmon are returning to spawn. Water heroes produced through Burien’s Environmental Science Center program

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 700 AM PST TUE NOV 20 2012...UPDATED
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 8 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS.
TONIGHT
S WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 9 FT AT 10 SECONDS. RAIN AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS.

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