1/26 Oil transport, terminal risks, toxic gear, Vic sewer, Pt Gamble land, BC pipe, Fraser eagles, Samish film

Chestnut-backed chickadee (Eugene Beckes/BirdNote)

If you like to listen: Comparing Chickadee Calls
In the Pacific Northwest, you might see both Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees at your birdfeeder. The Chestnut-back (seen here) sounds different from the Black-capped Chickadee. The call of the Black-capped follows the familiar “Chick-a-dee, dee, dee” pattern. But the call of the Chestnut-back is higher pitched, faster, and has a buzzy quality. While we delight in their music, the birds are engaged in more serious business — they’re keeping their flock together. (BirdNote)

Washington state holds workshops on oil transportation rules
Three workshops this week will allow people to help shape Washington state law on oil transportation, but none are near Whatcom County. However, webinars will be available for those who can’t make the workshops in Lacey, Spokane and Auburn. The state Department of Ecology is drafting and updating three rules related to oil transported by rail and pipeline. Samantha Wohlfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

State attorney says oil terminal risks being underplayed
The state attorney tasked with defending the environment took aim at the Port of Vancouver’s proposed rail-to-marine oil terminal in comments submitted Friday by asserting that the risks of train derailments are being underplayed. The counsel for the environment, a member of the Attorney General’s Office who represents the public’s interest in the environment while the state reviews proposed energy facilities, said the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Vancouver Energy oil terminal understates the risk of oil train derailments and fails to consider the ability of first responders to deal with an accident. Brooks Johnson reports. (Columbian)

New guest blog: The Monster of the Deep
Guest blogger Grant Jones writes: "It was early August in 1953 at Richmond Beach. I was rowing out after breakfast on the high tide to drift along the drop off about a half-mile out. I had caught a big English Sole fourteen inches long on a strip of frozen herring. As the tide ebbed out and the farthest-out sandbars came into sunlight, I came up with a plan…."

Tests find toxic chemicals in outdoor gear
Is your adventure gear making you sick? Greenpeace is worried that a persistent and potentially toxic class of waterproofing chemicals could be accumulating in your body and the environment while you enjoy the great outdoors. The international environmental group has released a new report on the levels of polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in jackets, sleeping bags and footwear as part of its Detox My Fashion campaign to eliminate the use of hazardous chemicals from clothing production. Randy Shore repairs. (Vancouver Sun)

Saanich may go it alone on sewage, mayor says
If the Capital Regional District can’t get its act together on sewage treatment this year, Mayor Richard Atwell will recommend a made-in-Saanich solution. Good news on the sewage-treatment project continues to be elusive, Atwell said Monday in his annual address at Saanich council. A number of conceptual designs based on a centralized plant at Rock Bay come with a cost starting at just shy of $1 billion, almost double the cost of a rejected project at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt. Louise Dickson reports. (Times Colonist)

Pope Resources, Port Gamble S’Klallam negotiating conservation easement
…. The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe is in line to receive a $1.5 million grant from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program, or ESRP. According to Fish and Wildlife, the Tribe would use the grant and other funds “to protect the mill site from future development with a conservation easement … for the purpose of restoration, returning the site to a more natural state for future generations.” The site is across Port Gamble Bay from Point Julia and the Port Gamble S’Klallam reservation, where the S’Klallam people relocated after the mill was established in 1853. The Tribe and Pope Resources are working together “to develop a vision for the future of the site that includes restoration, a park setting and recognition of Tribal history,” according to Fish and Wildlife. Richard Walker reports. (North Kitsap Herald)

Expanding Trans Mountain pipeline risky for Victoria: mayor
The risks to Victoria far outweigh any benefits of the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps told a National Energy Board hearing on Monday. An oil-tanker spill off the coast of Victoria could result in significant harm to the community, said Helps, who travelled with Coun. Ben Isitt to Burnaby to testify at the hearings into the pipeline-expansion proposal. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

More eagles flocking to Fraser delta for winter
For a bird that was once on the U.S. endangered-species list, the bald eagle has made a remarkable comeback. It is now so common in the Lower Mainland that even the most urban of city dwellers cannot fail to spot one. With its striking white head and tail, dark body, massive bill and talons, and two-metre wingspan, the adult bald eagle is every inch a North American icon. In the past few decades, the number of bald eagles wintering in the Fraser River delta has increased dramatically, with winter counts averaging between 600 to 1,300 birds. Anne Murray reports. (Georgia Strait)

Samish Indian Nation documentary garners national attention
An award and national recognition have representatives from the Samish Indian Nation pleased with the recent documentary, “Maiden of Deception Pass: Guardian of Her Samish People.” The documentary tells the story of the Maiden of Deception Pass, a cedar carving near Deception Pass that’s both a symbol of the Samish Indian Nation and a reminder of a traditional story of the Samish people. After receiving a people’s choice award at the Local Sightings Film Festival in Seattle last fall, the film will be featured at larger festivals such as the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana, in February, said Leslie Eastwood, the tribe’s general manager. Brandon Stone reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PST TUE JAN 26 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  

TODAY  SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING S 5 TO 15 KT BY MIDDAY. WIND  WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 18  SECONDS...BUILDING TO 12 FT AT 17 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN.

TONIGHT  E WIND 5 TO 15 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. W  SWELL 12 FT AT 15 SECONDS. RAIN LIKELY.

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