9/11 Ferries, Victoria sewage, big ships, Quilcene PSP, climate conference, BC pipe, 'Fish WA'

(Art Spiegelman/The New Yorker)

New ferries chief faces money, labor challenges
The state’s new ferries director, Lynne Griffith, takes the helm in October with old boats to fix, frayed labor relations to mend and a mission to eliminate scores of embarrassing canceled trips. Griffith was named Wednesday to lead Washington State Ferries, after a 35-year career that includes positions in transit in Tacoma, Vancouver, Wash., and Atlanta. Mike Lindblom reports. (Seattle Times) See also: BC Ferries’ fare hikes harm provincial economy, report finds  Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail)

Municipalities to steer next steps in sewage treatment plan
Municipalities will steer the process to come up with options — including locations for sewage treatment plants — now that the Capital Regional District’s plan to build a plant at Esquimalt’s McLoughlin Point has collapsed. CRD directors put off consideration of staff recommendations to hire a manager to investigate options for sewage treatment after West Shore mayors and Songhees First Nations Chief Ron Sam complained the process was flawed and they didn’t have enough input. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Over Here, Mega-Ships! Seattle Angles For Big Business
The Port of Seattle is getting $20 million dollars in federal investment to help the Port prepare Terminal 46 for the arrival of the next wave of mega-ships. Cargo shippers around the world are hunting for cost-savings, and that hunt has led them to form alliances and share the use of ever-larger ships. The latest will be three and a half football fields long and so wide they require a larger size of crane to unload them. The challenge does not end with unloading. Ports that welcome these ships will also need the capacity to move the containers into the road and rail network. And the shipping alliances being formed will have a lot of power. Carolyn Adolph reports. (KUOW)

Quilcene Bay closed to recreational shellfishing due to paralytic shellfish poisoning toxin
Quilcene Bay has been closed to recreational shellfish harvesting after a high level of a potentially fatal biotoxin was found in a sample of blue mussels. It's the first time a Jefferson County area has been closed this year because of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin, although there are other closures and warnings in both Jefferson and Clallam counties. Samples taken Monday from shellfish on the shores of Quilcene Bay were found to have 80 micrograms per 100 grams of tissue of fast-acting marine biotoxins that cause PSP, which can lead to paralysis or death, Michael Dawson of Jefferson County Environmental Health said Wednesday. (Peninsula Daily News)

Climate conference paints a mostly gloomy picture
I must be a glutton for punishment. I spent nearly five hours in stop-and-go traffic Tuesday to attend the Fifth annual Pacific Northwest Climate Science Conference at the University of Washington in Seattle. Interstate 5 was up to its old tricks, failing miserably as a transportation route between Olympia and Seattle. Then I spent another six hours being bombarded with data from computer model runs, field research and studies that shared a common theme: Human effects on the global climate are increasing, mitigation efforts are not keeping pace with disruption caused by climate change and our global appetite for fossil fuels is stronger than ever…. John Dodge reports. (Olympian)

Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline could cross B.C. parks
Kinder Morgan, which ran into conflict with the City of Burnaby over pipeline surveying work it began on municipal parkland, has submitted proposed plans showing its new pipeline routed through a protected grassland and three provincial parks in B.C. In what's called a Provincial Protected Area Boundary Adjustment application, the company is asking the province to allow it to route the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline line through four protected areas from just southeast of the Wells Gray area and roughly 200 kilometres north of Kamloops, to just east of Chilliwack. (CBC)

State expands 'Fish Washington' website
Anglers looking for the best fishing spots in Washington should check out some of the new content on the Fish Washington website. Launched in 2012 by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, the website provides anglers information on when, where and how to fish in the state. Recently the agency has added content for two main areas, saltwater areas and alpine lakes. Jeffrey P. Mayor reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Now, your tug weather--
 WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 301 AM PDT THU SEP 11 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING SE AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
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