12/3 Duwamish, climate, toxic soil, Shell air, Dodge Cove, BC LNG, dam safety, Dabob Bay shellfish

(1997 Mountaineer Books)*

(*There are a bunch of these stored in the garage; if you’d like one, let me know.)

Mammoth $342 million cleanup ahead for fouled Duwamish River
After 14 years of work, the Environmental Protection Agency shares a plan for cleaning up Seattle’s polluted waterway. But when cleanup is complete, how much fish and shellfish from their home waters will South Park residents be able to eat? Craig Welch reports. (Seattle Times) See also: EPA Releases Cleanup Plan For Seattle’s Polluted Duwamish River  Ashley Ahearn reports. (EarthFix) EPA's Final Plan Just A Start For Seattle Groups Watchdogging Duwamish Cleanup  Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Hotter, weirder: How climate has changed Earth
In the more than two decades since world leaders first got together to try to solve global warming, life on Earth has changed, not just the climate. It's gotten hotter, more polluted with heat-trapping gases, more crowded and just downright wilder. The numbers are stark. Carbon dioxide emissions: up 60 percent. Global temperature: up six-tenths of a degree. Population: up 1.7 billion people. Sea level: up 3 inches. U.S. extreme weather: up 30 percent. Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica: down 4.9 trillion tons of ice. "Simply put, we are rapidly remaking the planet and beginning to suffer the consequences," says Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University. Seth Broenstein reports. (Associated Press)

Metal contamination found in Vancouver community garden, brownfield sites
An eight-month study of Vancouver garden and agricultural soils has found levels of lead and other metals above the most stringent Canadian standards for human health. Samples taken from the 16 Oaks community garden averaged 219 parts per million of lead, which exceeds the standard of 70 to 140 ppm for agricultural, residential and park land set by the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers. Levels of lead — a potent neurotoxin — are five times higher than those measured at UBC Farm, a site remote from urban activity just a few kilometres away. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Agency renews Shell refinery's air operating permit
The Northwest Clean Air Agency has renewed Shell Puget Sound Refinery’s air operating permit. The agency issued the renewal for the Anacortes refinery after receiving no comments from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during a 45-day review period…. Most of the permits do not get public attention. But because of a crude-by-rail proposal for the same facility, Shell’s permit renewal drew more than 70 people to a public hearing. (Skagit Valley Herald)

LNG terminal proposal could turn Dodge Cove, B.C. into ghost town
A small village on B.C.'s North Coast is on the verge of becoming a ghost town with news that a massive liquefied natural gas terminal will be built next door. Dodge Cove is situated on Digby Island, which is a short boat ride from Prince Rupert. About 40 people live in the community, and there are no paved roads, no cars and no stores. The international energy company Nexen Energy has picked Digby Island for a proposed $20 billion LNG terminal with the goal of shipping 10 to 20 million tons of LNG from B.C. to Asia each year. George Baker reports. (CBC)

B.C. in ‘good shape’ to close $10-billion LNG deal: Premier
B.C. is in “good shape” to lure Malaysia’s state-owned energy company into a final investment decision for a proposed $10-billion liquefied natural gas plant, says Premier Christy Clark. Clark said she would not publicly disclose the substance of negotiations Monday between her government and Petronas CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas, who was in Vancouver for high-level meetings over his company’s proposed Pacific Northwest LNG export facility near Prince Rupert. Rob Shaw reports. (Vancouver Sun)

B.C. takes steps to post dam safety reports online
The B.C. government is taking steps to create a web-based system where dam safety inspection reports and other documents can be publicly posted. The government has awarded global engineering firm Hatch Ltd. a contract to review expedited dam safety inspections and third-party reviews of B.C.’s 60 mines ordered by the provincial government as a result of the Mount Polley tailings dam collapse. The $305,000 contract also requires Hatch to create a public webpage where the reports can be posted. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Jefferson's Dabob Bay opens for harvesting of some shellfish species
Dabob Bay has partially reopened to recreational shellfishing, although butter and varnish clamming remains closed because of the danger of potentially deadly paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), Jefferson County Public Health said Tuesday. The closure zone includes Tarboo Bay, the western shore of the Toandos Peninsula south to Zelatched Point and the eastern shore of the Bolton Peninsula to its southern tip near Red Bluff. Quilcene Bay, including Point Whitney, remains closed for all species. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST WED DEC 3 2014
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
SE WIND 20 TO 30 KT...EASING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. SW SWELL 3 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 5 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
--
"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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told