3/3 Vic sewer, WA toxic fish, carbon tax, port dredge, ocean sounds, Portland poison moss

Osprey (Kim Seng/BirdNote)

The Superbly Adapted Osprey
This Osprey looks similar to other birds of prey. But the species is truly unique among raptors. For example, the Osprey is the only raptor with oily feathers. And the Osprey’s long, slender, arched wings help it clear the water as it takes flight after catching a fish. The Osprey we see today — just one species worldwide — has changed little since tens of millions of years ago, suggesting that over this period, it has remained particularly well suited to its environment. (BirdNote)

Sewage debate gets ugly: ‘I just want to scream,’ says View Royal mayor
The Capital Regional District will not update cost estimates for a single, centralized sewage treatment plant at Esquimalt’s McLoughlin Point. At an emotionally charged emergency meeting of the CRD’s sewage committee called to “clarify” the direction given to staff on Friday, directors defeated an attempt to get updated cost estimates for a regional treatment plant at McLoughlin…. The McLoughlin plan was abandoned two years ago after Esquimalt refused minor variances to zoning. Dick Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Groups Sue EPA Over Water Quality And Fish Consumption Rate
A coalition of environmental groups is suing the Environmental Protection Agency for not updating Washington state’s water quality rules on how much fish people eat. It’s what's commonly known as the “fish consumption rate.” Last month, the state Department of Ecology released a long-awaited draft rule on the issue. But the groups, which include Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, say local officials are still dragging their feet. They argue and the state rule is not in compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. The groups argue the EPA has violated the law by not finalizing its own standards to protect public health. The rules limit pollutants that can be released into waterways and determine how much legacy pollution must be removed. Toxics such as PCBs and mercury can accumulate in fish, so the rule looks at how much fish is eaten, especially by groups such as tribes that depend on salmon and shellfish.  Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KPLU)

Does a Carbon Tax Work? Ask British Columbia
Ted Cruz says climate change is not happening. Donald Trump says he doesn’t believe in it. Marco Rubio, whose hometown, Miami, is projected to be largely underwater within the not too distant future as ice caps shrink and the sea level rises, argues that government efforts to combat it will “destroy our economy.” But those views are not widely shared by conservatives elsewhere around the world. Indeed, not that long ago in a not too distant country, a right-leaning party that shares many of the antitax, pro-business beliefs of Republicans in the United States did exactly what its unbelieving candidates so fear. In 2008, the British Columbia Liberal Party, which confoundingly leans right, introduced a tax on the carbon emissions of businesses and families, cars and trucks, factories and homes across the province. The party stuck to the tax even as the left-leaning New Democratic Party challenged it in provincial elections the next year under the slogan Axe the Tax. The conservatives won soundly at the polls. Eduardo Porter reports. (NY Times) See also: Christy Clark says British Columbia should be a model for carbon tax  Ian Bailey reports. (Globe and Mail)

Port of Everett seeks to dredge contaminated sediment
The Port of Everett wants to remove contaminated sediment in Port Gardner so it can expand Pacific Terminal to handle larger cargo ships. The state Department of Ecology has to approve the project, which the port expects to cost $10 million. Port officials say they want to have the dredging finished by 2017, at the latest. The work is one of the first steps in the Port of Everett's $313 million plan to extend berths to handle bigger cargo ships, which have been steadily growing for decades, by 2020. Dan Catchpole reports. (Everett Herald)

Get free Salish Sea steward training
The Skagit County Marine Resources Committee, in partnership with the Coastal Volunteer Partnership program at Padilla Bay, is offering free training for people interested in learning about issues affecting local marine waters and shorelines, and getting involved in conservation, restoration and education efforts. The Salish Sea Stewards volunteer training program provides about 40 hours of classroom and field-based training…. Applications, due March 10, can be downloaded at www.skagitmrc.org. Completed forms may be emailed to srussell@padillabay.gov or mailed to Samantha Russell, Padilla Bay Foundation, 10441 Bayview-Edison Road, Mount Vernon, WA 98273-9668. (Anacortes American)

If you like to listen: Ocean’s deepest spot a noisy place, Oregon scientists find
The deepest spot on Earth is a surprisingly noisy place, scientists from Oregon discovered when they lowered a hydrophone almost seven miles below the ocean surface into the Challenger Deep. Listen to what they found. Sandi Doughton reports. (Seattle Times)

Proud of its progressive image, Portland shocked by toxic moss
The 346 clumps of moss that researchers from the U.S. Forest Service scraped from tree trunks and branches across Portland looked as ordinary as moss gets: ancient, simple and common to the point of invisibility in the Pacific Northwest’s palette of green. But the moss had a riveting tale to tell, with shock waves that are spreading. Toxic heavy metals, notably cadmium, which can cause cancer and kidney malfunction, were detected in the samples, with high concentrations around two glass factories in residential neighborhoods, both of which had used metals for coloring their products. Kirk Johnson reports. (NY Times)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  242 AM PST THU MAR 3 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON PST TODAY THROUGH THIS  EVENING
GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON  

TODAY  SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 10 FT AT 10 SECONDS.  SCATTERED SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF  THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 25 TO 35 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. COMBINED SEAS 10 TO 13 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF  14 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING...THEN A CHANCE OF  RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.
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