4/23 No coal export, BC oil & gas, crude oil deal, Shell drill, Toxics Act, toxics ills

Spring visitors (Laurie MacBride)

Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "Aren’t they a great looking couple? Donald and Daisy Mallard visit from time to time each spring. They drop straight down from the sky and land in our little pond  with a pronounced splash – quite startling if we’re out in the yard and hadn’t noticed their sudden arrival overhead...." A Little Help from our (Duck) Friends

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn on Monday announced a new alliance of politicians and tribal leaders opposed to exporting Western coal to Asia from Washington ports. He was joined at a Golden Gardens Park news conference by representatives of the Lummi, Tulalip and Swinomish tribes, Shoreline Mayor Keith McGlashan and two council members from Sumner and Edmonds. Hal Bernton reports. New regional alliance opposes coal-export plan from state ports  

At every stop in northern B.C. during this election campaign, Liberal Leader Christy Clark has taken the opportunity to tout the promise of liquefied natural gas. It’s why she came to this small coastal hamlet, where a new elementary school has been opened in the expectation that the community will soon be bustling with construction of an LNG facility. It was her message in Terrace and Fort St. John and Dawson Creek: the industry will deliver a bonanza of revenues that will pay off the provincial debt, create a dividend fund for the north, and more. Justine Hunter reports. Liquefied natural gas a boon to B.C.

B.C. New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix’s criticism Monday of Kinder Morgan’s proposed $5.4-billion oil pipeline marks the latest twist in an election campaign that, for the first time in B.C.’s modern history, has the oil-and-gas industry emerging as a centrepiece issue. Dix, already opposed to Enbridge’s $6.5-billion pipeline to Kitimat, stopped just short of condemning the Kinder Morgan plan to twin its existing line from Alberta to Burnaby. He has been under considerable pressure from the environmental movement to take a stand on the project. Peter O'Neil reports. Oil and gas industry emerges as centrepiece issue in B.C. elections

The Port of Vancouver in southwest Washington could start handling crude oil from North Dakota under an agreement announced Monday. Spokeswoman Theresa Wagner says the Port of Vancouver has been negotiating with Tesoro Corporation and Savage Companies since late last year. The companies want to bring the oil in by train from the Bakken fields of North Dakota. Wagner said the companies’ intent is to start moving oil by 2014. Bonnie Stewart reports. SW Washington Port Announces Crude Oil Deal

Shell Oil had to postpone its Arctic drilling for a full year after one of its oil rigs ran aground off the Alaska coast this winter. But Shell’s efforts to open a new frontier of oil exploration in the Arctic Ocean continue in Puget Sound. The oil giant passed a key test with federal regulators last month in the waters off Anacortes, Washington. John Ryan reports. Shell Oil Containment System Passes Federal Test In Puget Sound   See also: Drilling for offshore oil in the Arctic is — surprise! — proving to be rather tricky  

The Washington Senate approved revamping the Model Toxics Control Act on Monday. Most of the Republican-oriented Majority Coalition Caucus supported the overhaul while most of the minority Democrats did not. Actually, the vote was 25-23 with Sens. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, and Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond supporting the measure, plus Sen. Steve Litzow, R-Mercer Island, crossing party lines to oppose it. The bill now goes to the Democratic-controlled House. "I think this will be the greatest jobs creation bill in the state," said Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, chairman of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, and author of the bill's version that passed. He said the overhaul would boost cleanup work that will cause more people to be hired. John Stang reports. Over environmentalists' objections, state Senate overhauls toxics act

“Orcas of the World – An overview of the diversity of Orcinus orca” is presented by Uko Gortner at the fourth event in The Whale Trail‘s series of presentations Thursday, April 25, 7 pm, in West Seattle at C & P Coffee Company, 5621 California SW. $5 suggested donation, kids free, tickets at Brown Paper Tickets.

North Carolina State University researchers studying aquatic organisms called Daphnia have found that exposure to a chemical pesticide has impacts that span multiple generations -- causing the so-called "water fleas" to produce more male offspring, and causing reproductive problems in female offspring. "This work supports the hypothesis that exposure to some environmental chemicals during sensitive periods of development can cause significant health problems for those organisms later in life -- and affect their offspring and, possibly, their offspring's offspring," says Dr. Gerald LeBlanc, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology at NC State and lead author of a paper on the work.  Study Shows Reproductive Effects of Pesticide Exposure Span Generations  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE APR 23 2013
TODAY
E WIND TO 10 KT...BECOMING W IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.

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