4/8 Allen grant, oil train suit, train safety, LNG glut, pontoons, septic death, Green Porno

Olympia oyster (OR DFW)

Paul Allen’s Foundation grants $1.5M to Puget Sound Restoration Fund project
Puget Sound is absolutely vital to the health of the Pacific Northwest, but the ever-increasing acidification of ocean waters is taking its toll on our lovely waters. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has granted $1.5 million to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund so researchers can “investigate seaweed cultivation” as one potential strategy to lessen acidification of the Sound. The project will be led by Dr. Jonathan Davis and Betsy Peabody at Puget Sound Restoration in collaboration with partners at the University of Washington and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Molly Brown reports. (GeekWire)

Puget Sound Tribe's Lawsuit Aims To Keep Oil Trains Off Its Reservation
The Swinomish Tribe has filed a lawsuit against BNSF Railway to stop oil trains from traveling through its reservation. BNSF train tracks cross the top of the Swinomish Reservation in Skagit County. In recent years they’ve been used to move oil from North Dakota to two refineries in Anacortes. In 1990 BNSF and the Swinomish reached a settlement that required BNSF to regularly update the tribe on the type of cargo moving through the reservation. It also limited traffic to two 25-car trains per day. Now, the tribe says BNSF is running several times that many train cars through the reservation each day (an estimated six oil trains of more than 100 cars per week). Ashley Ahearn reports. (KUOW)

Cantwell, Fire Chiefs Pressing For More Regulation Of Oil Trains
Highly volatile Bakken  crude oil poses a serious threat to the safety of communities located along rail lines. Just since February, there have been four fiery derailments in the US and Canada.  Now Democrats in the U.S. Senate are pressing for more regulation. Speaking at the the Emergency Operations Center near a downtown Seattle rail tunnel, U.S. Sen. Maria  Cantwell (D- Wash.) said it’s frustrating to see how slowly federal officials are moving when so much explosive oil is coming through. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU) See also: First responders likely wouldn’t fight oil-train fire in Seattle rail tunnel  Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Global supply glut threatens British Columbia’s LNG projects
Most liquefied natural gas export projects are at risk of being cancelled in North America as a result of a looming global glut of LNG, putting a damper on British Columbia’s energy dreams. Moody’s Investors Service Inc. issued a stark outlook for the fledgling North American LNG industry, arguing it doesn’t make economic sense to invest billions of dollars on each venture especially as Asian buyers slow down their LNG orders for new LNG supplies. Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Floating bridge pontoons being towed through Strait; contest underway to capture best image of their travels
The final three pontoons for the state Highway 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington near Seattle will make their way through the Strait of Juan de Fuca this week. Three tugboats — the Western Ranger, Arthur Brusco and Nancy M — are towing the giant floats from Grays Harbor on the Pacific coast, around Cape Flattery and through the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Puget Sound, then through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard and finally into Lake Washington. There, they'll join the 74 previously constructed pontoons that together will support the world's largest floating bridge. Just when the football-field-size floats will pass points on the Strait is uncertain. They are expected to be in Seattle's boat channel Thursday. (Peninsula Daily News)

Inspection overdue on septic tank where child died
King 5 has uncovered the Skagit County property where a two-year-old boy fell into a septic tank with an insecure lid and died Monday was overdue for an inspection. The little boy who died, Orion Fenstra, was at the property with his parents who knew the caretaker of the lot. Danielle Leigh reports. (KING)

Isabella Rossellini, former supermodel, stages play about sex lives of animals
Internationally renowned supermodel and actress Isabella Rossellini is bringing her one-woman show Green Porno to Vancouver's PuSh festival, educating audiences about the sex lives of animals. "For basically just being a pet lover, I became more interested in biology and zoology and conservation, and so lately I went back to university to study ethology, which is animal behaviour in particular," Rossellini told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff. The focus of her one-woman show is reproduction, Rossellini said. (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED APR 8 2015
TODAY
W WIND 10 KT...BECOMING NW IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
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