12/5 Oil trains, Spokane coal meet, bag ban, shark fin soup, frankensalmon, San Juan CAO, Elwha sewer, quakes

"Cartwheel Contest" (Meg McDonald)

If you like to watch: Meg McDonald captures Southern Resident Killer Whales at Point Robinson "The Cartwheel Contest" December 3, 2012

If you like to watch: Take an incredible voyage. "Nothing like this in the Salish Sea!!!" says Helen Engle. Crossing the Bar, Columbia River

The waters of Puget Sound were at the top of the stairs along the Alki Promenade as a high tide combined with high winds for dramatic scenes in West Seattle on Dec. 4.  SLIDESHOW: High tide and strong winds make for a dramatic combination in West Seattle  

As regulators in the region weigh the potential impacts of trains full of coal moving along the Columbia River and the shores of Puget Sound, trainloads of oil are quietly on the move. There are billions of barrels of oil in the Bakken shale formation – located in North Dakota and Montana mainly. And some of that oil is now making its way to refineries in Puget Sound. Dale Jensen, the spill program manager for the Washington Department of Ecology, says oil trains are a new concern for him. Ashley Ahearn reports.  Oil Trains On The Rise In The Northwest

A trade organization promoting coal shipments from Pacific Northwest ports hired about 30 temporary workers to stand in line at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center Tuesday morning to secure the limited number of cards that will be handed out for testimony this afternoon. Hundreds of people are converging on Spokane today for the fifth in a series of public meetings on a proposed coal terminal near Bellingham. Mike Prager reports. Coal backers hire temp workers to stand in line

Bainbridge Island became the first city in Kitsap County to ban plastic bags from checkout counters last month. The race to become the second is not a heated one. The mayors of Bremerton, Port Orchard and Poulsbo said they are following the new Bainbridge ordinance with interest, but have heard no proposals for similar bans in their communities. Tad Sooter reports. Kitsap towns in no rush to follow Bainbridge's bag ban

A recent court decision that struck down Toronto’s shark fin ban won’t stop Vancouver’s fight to restrict the product, said one Vancouver city councillor. Coun. Kerry Jang, who proposed a ban in September, said he’s confident the city can come up with a bylaw that will hold up in court. "The Toronto ban had a problem, as I see it, because they tried to ban consumption," Jang told CBC News. "It's sort of like saying someone can't breathe or look at something anymore. Whereas what we're trying to do in Vancouver is simply looking at the sale and trade of shark fin, which is something different and under municipal powers."  Shark fin fight continues in Vancouver

Salmon that's been genetically modified to grow twice as fast as normal could soon show up on your dinner plate. That is, if the company that makes the fish can stay afloat. After weathering concerns about everything from the safety of humans eating the salmon to their impact on the environment, Aquabounty was poised to become the world's first company to sell fish whose DNA has been altered to speed up growth. But more than two years later the FDA has not approved the fish, and Aquabounty is running out of money. Matthew Perrone reports. Fast-growing fish may never wind up on your plate  

The San Juan County Council on Dec. 3 puts its stamp of approval on revision of the final four sections of the critical areas ordinance. In a 5-1 decision, with Councilman Rich Peterson, North San Juan, opposed, the council approved an update of the CAO sections involving wetlands, fish and wildlife habitat and the "general" provisions that apply to all critical areas. The council approved without dissent revisions to the CAO sections that apply to geologically hazardous and frequently floods areas. Update of CAO blessed by county council in 5-1 vote  

Heavy loads of sediment and woody debris in a rain-swollen Elwha River are clogging filters and pumps at the Elwha Water Treatment Plant west of Port Angeles, Olympic National Park officials confirmed. “Basically, they're having to clean the filters a lot more frequently than anticipated,” park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said. Rob Ollikainen reports. Sediment, debris clog equipment at Elwha treatment plant

Research by Stanford scientists focuses on geologic features and activity in the Himalayas and Pacific Northwest that could mean those areas are primed for major earthquakes. The Cascadia subduction zone, which stretches from northern California to Vancouver Island, has not experienced a major seismic event since it ruptured in 1700, an 8.7-9.2 magnitude earthquake that shook the region and created a tsunami that reached Japan. And while many geophysicists believe the fault is due for a similar scale event, the relative lack of any earthquake data in the Pacific Northwest makes it difficult to predict how ground motion from a future event would propagate in the Cascadia area, which runs through Seattle, Portland and Vancouver. Pacific Northwest and Himalayas Could Experience Major Earthquakes, Geophysicists Say   And Russian Far East Holds Seismic Hazards: Potential to Trigger Tsunamis That Pose Risk to Pacific Basin

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST WED DEC 5 2012
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM PST EARLY THIS MORNING
 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO NOON PST TODAY
 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT FROM NOON PST TODAY THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
W WIND 25 TO 35 KT EARLY...EASING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE MORNING...THE BECOMING SW 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 5 TO 7 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SCATTERED SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to: msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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