7/2 Canada Day, orca census, state budget, solar vessel, BC LNG, BP spill, TN train, East Waterway, Leque Is levees, Vancouver poop

Knife juggling in Vancouver ( Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

If you like to watch: Canada Day 2015 on CBC: Fireworks cap nighttime festivities on Parliament Hill
A huge fireworks display capped off Canada Day festivities in Ottawa on Parliament Hill, after acts from pop sensation Kiesza and other musicians entertained the crowd. Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadians will continue to overcome all threats they face from outside forces, as he praised members of the Armed Forces during the day's celebrations. (CBC) See also: Photos: Canada Day celebrations in Vancouver

Orca census shows increase in Southern Resident population
A census of the killer whales that frequent Puget Sound is due today, and it appears that the total population of the three Southern Resident pods is 82, up from 79 last year at this time. But that’s not the end of the story, because two small groups of orcas have not been seen recently — so a final count must wait, according to Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research, which conducts the annual census. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Waus)

Standoff Creates Big Hole In Washington State's Brand New Operating Budget
Washington state's brand new operating budget was not even hours old Wednesday when it sprung a big hole. A $2 billion hole. That cropped up because the new two-year spending plan was balanced on the assumption that lawmakers would trim back a costly school class size reduction initiative. Tom Banse reports. (Northwest News Network)

Solar vessel sails into Steveston
A solar-powered catamaran, driven by some of B.C.’s most passionate environmentalists and anti-tar sands activists, is sailing into Steveston Harbour on July 7 to draw some attention to the “Save the Salish Sea” movement. “The boat will dock in six communities to speak with people about the threats facing this unique body of water, to share stories and connect with community members interested in taking on the challenge of climate change locally,” said Eoin Madden, climate campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. The event at Imperial Landing starts at 6 p.m. with live music as well. Save the Salish Sea is part of the broader TankerFreeBC campaign and is in conjunction with other groups such as the Georgia Strait Alliance, and Friends of the San Juans. Graeme Wood reports. (Richmond News)

Shifts in energy markets adjust time frame for B.C. LNG proponents
Outside the higher-profile news associated with Malaysian energy firm Petronas’s liquefied natural gas proposal for Prince Rupert and gloomy forecasts for the sector’s prospects in British Columbia, AltaGas Ltd. continues working away under the radar on its own proposals. Calgary-based AltaGas anticipates it will be able to make a final investment decision before the end of the year on the relatively modest Douglas Channel LNG proposal at Kitimat. The bigger Triton project that AltaGas is also involved in remains a bit on the back burner. The choice isn’t necessarily the sign of an impending shakeout in B.C.’s still nascent LNG sector. Of 19 proposals put forward publicly in B.C., none has taken its name off the list so far. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Gulf states reach $18.7B settlement with BP over oil  
BP and five Gulf states announced a massive settlement Thursday that resolves years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by the energy giant’s oil spill in 2010. Roughly $18.7 billion in settlement money will be used to resolve the Clean Water Act penalties; resolve natural resources damage claims; settle economic claims; and resolve economic damage claims of local governments, according to an outline filed in federal court. The settlement involves Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Kevin McGill reports. (Associated Press)

Train derailment, fire prompts evacuation in Tennessee
A car on a CSX train carrying a flammable and toxic substance derailed and caught fire in eastern Tennessee, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people within a 2-mile radius. Blount County Fire Department Lt. Johnny Leatherwood said a call about the train derailment came in Wednesday night at 11:50 p.m. EDT in Maryville. The fire was still burning at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Blount County firefighter Kermit Easterling said. Steve Megargee reports. (Associated Press)

Cleanup Proposed For Everett's East Waterway
A legal agreement is being proposed that will shape a major cleanup project that will address decades-old contamination in Everett’s East Waterway, part of Port Gardner Bay. Historical industrial activities deposited contamination – including various chemicals and metals – into and near the waterway. The public can comment on the legal agreement that includes Kimberly-Clark Corp., which operated a now-closed pulp-and-paper mill adjacent to the East Waterway; the Port of Everett, which owns tidelands in the waterway; the Washington Department of Natural Resources, which also owns tidelands; and the Washington Department of Ecology. A public comment period runs through July 30. (Dredging News)

Leque Island levees will be removed in effort to create salmon habitat
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has decided to remove most of the dikes around Leque Island, a slice of former farmland between Stanwood and Camano Island. The 300-acre island is a popular spot for hunting and bird-watching. It's surrounded by levees built more than a century ago to protect crops. Many of the levees are failing. Removing them will let saltwater flood the area during high tides and hopefully create habitat for salmon, according to the department. Officials started looking at options for either removing or repairing Leque Island's levees in the early 2000s, and the Salmon Recovery Funding Board supported the effort with grants in 2004 and 2007. A plan that would have removed levees around half the island and repaired the rest was in the works in 2005 when concerns about saltwater intrusion into a Camano Island aquifer stalled the project. Kari Bray reports. (Everett Herald)

Vancouver dog waste removal urged by city resident
A Vancouver resident is urging the city to install special garbage bins for dog waste to keep it from ending up in landfills. Raymond Greenwood says now that the city has made a push to divert food waste, it's time to start thinking about dog doo…. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, conditions in landfills prevent dog waste from decomposing. The waste can also lead to water contamination and methane gas production…. In Metro Vancouver, a dog waste diversion program is already in place at Pacific Spirit Park, which gets over 360,000 dog visits a year. The waste is collected in special red bins.  Vancouver's head of waste management Albert Shamess said the city has examined the program, but it's not likely to be expanded. "Right the now each bag is cut open and disposed in the sanitary sewer, so each bag has to be opened and I'm not sure that's a long-term sustainable model," said Shamess.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT THU JUL 2 2015
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING W TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND TO 10 KT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 4 FT AT 8 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 6 FT AT
 8 SECONDS.

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