6/20 Rail safety, CWA, Kitimat blockade, Martinac Shipbuilding, Skagit floods, Capitol Lake, shellfish closures

(PHOTO: Nick Templeman)

Public input missing from White House meetings on rail safety rules
As the White House reviews a package of proposed rail safety regulations, the rail, petroleum and chemical industries in recent weeks have held nearly a dozen meetings with Obama administration officials. However, state and local governments; safety, health and environmental groups; and emergency responders, who are on the front lines of the issue, so far have not been at the table. Additionally, the meetings are shielded from public view. The White House only discloses the dates, times and participants. Curtis Tate reports. (McClatchy)

Environment Washington Pushing To Close Loopholes In Clean Water Act
Industrial polluters dumped more than two million pounds of toxic chemicals into Washington’s waterways in 2012, according to a new report from Environment Washington. The group says tightening federal law could help curb the problem.  The group used data reported to the Environmental Protection Agency by the polluters themselves. Among the findings: the Lower Chehalis River watershed southwest of Olympia received the second highest volume in the nation of toxins that affect reproductive health. That’s due primarily to chemicals dumped by paper mills, says Anusha Narayanan, a field associate with Environment Washington. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

B.C. First Nation’s crochet blockade to protest against Northern Gateway
The women of the Gitga’at Nation of British Columbia will erect a symbolic blockade made of yarn across the Douglas Channel today to protest the federal government’s approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline. The crochet chain will stretch 2.5 nautical miles across the opening of the narrow channel tankers will have to navigate to a marine export terminal to be built in Kitimat, on the north coast. (Globe and Mail)

Storied Tacoma shipyard in foreclosure
At nearly 90 years old, one of Tacoma’s last major shipyards may be closing down for good next month. J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. faces a foreclosure auction of its Thea Foss Waterway shipyard July 18 on the County City Building entry plaza unless it finds new business or an angel investor to pay some $415,000 in payments and fees overdue on a $5.4 million loan its owners signed in December 2012. The shipyard also owes Pierce County some $13,429 in property taxes for the last three years. John Gille reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Skagit River GI study meets with mixed reactions
A report detailing the logistics and potential impacts of options to deal with flood risk in the Skagit Valley was met with mixed reactions Thursday evening at a presentation that included public comment....  More than 60 people packed into the community meeting room at Skagit Station to hear about the plan. But even those who criticized the “tentatively selected plan” were pleased to see some result of the many-year study.... The plan under consideration — and open to public comment until July 21 — would come at a cost of up to $225.6 million, but would reduce the estimated cost from flood damages by about half, according to the report. Daniel DeMay reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Some Peninsula beaches closed to recreational shellfish harvest  
Kilisut Harbor and Mystery Bay beaches have been closed to recreational shellfish harvesting because of high levels of the marine biotoxins that cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. Concentrations above the safe level of 16 micrograms per 100 grams of tissue were found in shellfish samples collected from Mystery Bay, the state Department of Health announced Wednesday. Jefferson County Environmental Health has posted a danger sign at Mystery Bay warning people not to consume shellfish from the area. (Peninsula Daily News)

Thurston County Chamber set to discuss Capitol Lake at July forum
The future of Capitol Lake is the subject of the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce’s July forum. The lunch forum is set for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 9 at the Red Lion Hotel Olympia. Dr. Dave Milne, a water quality expert and a former professor at The Evergreen State College, will talk about the impact of Budd Bay Inlet and Capitol Lake on water quality within the Deschutes Urban Watershed. Denis Curry, management consultant and economist, will discuss the cost and impact of either removing the dam at Capitol Lake, or managing the lake and urban watershed. Rolf Boone reports. (Olympian)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 430 AM PDT FRI JUN 20 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PDT TODAY
TODAY
W SWELL 10 FT AT 10 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 7 FT AT 10 SECONDS AFTER NOON. W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. A
 CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 6 FT AT
 9 SECONDS.
SAT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
SUN
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
--
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