12/15 Bird counts, sewage pipe, sewage spill, salmon farmers, Skagit water, oil trains

(PHOTO: BirdNote)

Christmas Bird Count - Join In!
During late December, birders go out counting every bird that hops, swims, flies, or soars into view, as they have for more than 100 years. Audubon chapters across the United States and elsewhere sponsor the Christmas Bird Count, or CBC. Learn about the history of the Christmas Bird Count. Join the count - in Alaska, Connecticut, Detroit, Texas, Washington State, California, New Mexico, or Florida. Visit Audubon.org to find a CBC near you! CBC runs December 14, 2014 - January 5, 2015. (BirdNote)

Pipeline to a cleaner Puget Sound
Workers in Seattle are installing a 3,000-foot pipe that will eventually divert millions of gallons of raw sewage from Puget Sound. The pipe is being fed through a tunnel that workers recently dug into the side of Magnolia Bluff. It will connect with an aging sewer line in a steep canyon on the other side. Two dozen times every year, sometimes more, that old system is overwhelmed by heavy rains and ends up overflowing into the sanitary sewage line. Then that mixture flows directly into Puget Sound. Gary Chittim reports. (KING)

3.5 million gallons of sewage and runoff water into PA harbor, and in Jefferson County, homes still without electricity — a post-storm rundown across Peninsula  (Peninsula Daily News)

Salmon farmers will spend $1.5 million to study interactions with wild fish
The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association is putting $1.5 million over the next five years into a series of research projects on how wild and farm-raised salmon interact. The announcement is part of the industry’s attempt to address recommendations stemming from Judge Bruce Cohen’s recent inquiry into the state of Fraser River sockeye. Matthew Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Water fight ruling won’t mean battle ends l
The matter of who gets water and who doesn’t in Skagit County has been one of the most challenging issues plaguing the county in recent years. For nearly 20 years, residents, the county, the state and local tribes have been locked in a series of ongoing negotiations-turned-battles over how to manage the waters of the third-largest river system on the West Coast and protect salmon populations there. Now, a court case brought forward by a Sedro-Woolley couple arguing for their right to use water for their retirement home has the potential to bring the issue before the state Supreme Court for a second time and cause a fresh round of lawsuits between any combination of the people and agencies involved. Daniel DeMay reports. (Skagit Valley Herald) See also: Court Case Is The Latest Battle In Water Wars Of The Skagit River  Ashley Ahearn reports. (EarthFix)

As more oil trains roll through, safety concerns increase
The parade of flat-black tank cars began arriving here less than two years ago. Now the crude oil trains are a familiar sight — and a source of anxiety for many people along the route. Every week, up to a dozen such trains skirt Puget Sound, each hauling more than 1 million gallons of Bakken crude from North Dakota and Montana. They pass erosion-prone coastal bluffs, then travel through the downtowns of Edmonds, Mukilteo, Everett, Marysville and Stanwood. They take the highly flammable fuel from fields in North Dakota to refineries in Skagit and Whatcom counties. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald) See also: Bellingham could quiet train horns with ‘quiet zone’ rule for railroad crossings Samntha Wohfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

 Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST MON DEC 15 2014
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM PST THIS MORNING
 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM PST THIS MORNING THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
E WIND 25 TO 35 KT...EASING TO 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 6 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 17 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
TONIGHT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 15 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
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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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