5/20 BC salmon, fish die-off, oil trains, oil spill, BC quakes, slide moratorium

BC Wild Salmon

Sweeping study aims to find why salmon stocks collapsed
With almost $10-million in funding raised from private donors, corporations and non-profits, the Pacific Salmon Foundation has started a salmon research project unlike anything the government ever attempted. Launched on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of coho and chinook salmon stocks in the Strait of Georgia, the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project is aimed at finding out why the crash happened – and determining what can be done to restore the runs. Brian Riddell, president and CEO of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, where he used to be lead scientist, never tackled the problem in the holistic way his organization intends to. Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail)

Post-mortem underway after California fish die-off
Marine biologists worked Monday to determine whether a recent Southern California heat wave, lack of oxygen in the water or other factors might have caused the death of thousands of fish along the coastal waters of Marina del Rey. California Fish and Wildlife workers continued to remove the dead anchovies and stingrays that created a silvery blanket on the water's surface and a pungent smell that set off a feeding frenzy among harbor seals, pelicans and seagulls. An octopus was also found among the dead sea life. The incident is likely the result of a confluence of factors, said Dana Roeber Murray, a marine and coastal scientist with the environmental group Heal the Bay. (Associated Press)

Railroads claim national security in keeping oil train routes secret, but feds say not so
As crude oil shipments have proliferated and raised safety concerns across the country, railroads have refused to acknowledge their routes and frequencies, details that anyone patient enough to stand trackside could learn. Railroads companies have claimed that they're prohibited by federal law from divulging those details for national security reasons. But they're not. Rob Davis reports. (Oregonian) See also: Risk Assessment for Railroads  How taxpayers will end up paying for the costs of a worst case oil train derailment. Eric de Place and Rich Feldman report. (Sightline)

Oil spill exercise starts Tuesday in Burrard Inlet
If you’re near North Vancouver’s Cates Park at the south end of Indian Arm this week and see what looks like several boats and crews desperately trying to contain an oil spill, don’t fret. It’s not for real. A three-day oil spill response training exercise will be conducted in Burrard Inlet from Tuesday to Thursday, days after Vancouver joined a list of cities unhappy with Kinder Morgan’s proposed twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby. However, a spokesman for the organization conducting the exercise said Monday it is a regularly scheduled event that was not prompted in any way by the Kinder Morgan proposal. Brian Morton reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Sensors to warn of quakes affecting Island
Ocean Networks Canada plans to add land sensors to its systems that could serve as an early-warning system for earthquakes affecting Vancouver Island. The group has partnered with the University of British Columbia, which developed a land sensor that provides a warning 60 to 90 seconds before the land-shaking energy of an earthquake arrives.... The land sensors are cup-sized and placed in a solid, stable location with power and Internet connectivity. Offshore sensors, exposed to high pressure and salt water, are bigger and stored in circular titanium tubes with large and expensive underwater connectors on the ocean floor. Cindy Harnett reports. (Times Colonist)

County: Building moratorium needs more research
A sweeping moratorium on new home construction near Snohomish County’s landslide areas now looks increasingly unlikely. Decision-makers want more time to review changes to the building code to protect people and property from future mudslides, like the one that struck Oso on March 22. There’s also an increasing awareness that regulatory action, however noble the intentions, could have unintended consequences. “We just received different proposals from Planning and Development Services and it is my feeling that the council members need more time to digest this and consider options,” Councilman Brian Sullivan said Monday. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 238 AM PDT TUE MAY 20 2014
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING NW 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 17 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 16 SECONDS.
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