11/30 KM pipe ok'd, tanker traffic up'd, oil battle lines drawn, clammer study

Loligo opalescens (David R. Andrews/WDFW)

Puget Sound Squid
Between late May and the following February, adult squid can be found in almost all waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound. Squid feed mainly at night and are attracted to light, which is why public piers are good locations for anglers. Hungry squid lurk in the dark fringes near patches of lighted water and then dart into the bright area in pursuit of food such as young herring and other small fishes. Because a boat isn’t needed and jigging equipment is reasonable, squid-jigging is one of the most inexpensive ways to catch squid. Anglers should take a camping lantern or flashlight of significant size for unlit locations. [From Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, "How to Fish for Squid"]

Kinder Morgan pipeline approved by Canada’s Trudeau government
In what is likely to be one of the landmark decisions of his first term in office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the conditional approval of one oil pipeline megaproject to B.C. — and put the brakes on the other. Kinder Morgan has won cabinet approval for its $6.8 billion plan to triple the capacity of its northern Alberta-to-Burnaby pipeline system to 895,000 barrels a day. The company, if it can overcome court challenges and threatened civil disobedience, says it will start construction in September of 2017 and have the new line up and running by December of 2019. The decision is expected to quickly evolve into a political football in the upcoming B.C. election next spring. Meanwhile, Enbridge Inc.’s $7.9 billion plan to build a new 525,000-barrel-a-day line from Bruderheim, near Edmonton, to remote Kitimat was nixed. Peter O'Neil, Rob Shaw, Gordon Hoekstra and Matt Robinson report. (Vancouver Sun)

Kinder Morgan expansion approval means more tanker traffic in Salish Sea
More crude oil tanker traffic may traverse the Salish Sea off Whatcom County’s coast, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced approval for the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project Tuesday. The project will nearly triple capacity along an existing 1953-built line from Edmonton, Alberta to Burnaby, B.C., from about 300,000 barrels per day to about 890,000 barrels per day. That’s more than the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have carried 830,000 barrels per day. Samantha Wohlfeil reports. (Bellingham Herald)

First Nations, environmentalists vow 'long battle' on approved Kinder Morgan pipeline
The Trudeau government's approval of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is meeting fierce opposition in B.C., including a vow from the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation that this is "the beginning of a long battle" to stop the project. Lisa Johnson reports. (CBC) B.C. government still on the Kinder Morgan fence  The British Columbia government is still waiting for the federal government to support its five conditions before approving Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline construction project. Richard Zussman reports. (CBC)

Study: Most clammers stick to single beach
Close down a clammer's favorite beach, you're likely closing down the clammer. A new study looking at the behavior of Puget Sound's recreational shellfish harvesters indicates that the increasingly frequent pollution and marine biotoxin closures are having a bigger impact on clammers than previously thought. About two-thirds of the sound's shellfish harvesters say they gather all their clams and oysters from a single beach, according to surveys administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. If a "Toxic Shellfish" sign pops up at a favorite spot, most harvesters simply quit. They don't seek out alternatives. Tristan Baurick reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  250 AM PST WED NOV 30 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT  
TODAY  W WIND 20 TO 30 KT...EASING TO 15 TO 25 KT THIS AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 12 SECONDS...BUILDING TO  14 FT AT 11 SECONDS THIS AFTERNOON. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT  W WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 15 FT  AT 13 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 13 FT AT 13 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. A  CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

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11/29 BC pipe decision, oil spills, green abuse app, sewer overflow, Saanich dead zone, beluga deaths

Anna's hummer (Gregg Thomnpson/BirdNote)

Who Was Anna, The namesake of the Anna's Hummingbird?
The Anna's Hummingbird is the only hummer that stays in the Northwest and West for the winter. How did this lovely jewel get its name? Anna's Hummingbird was named for Princess Anna de Belle Massena. John James Audubon himself was charmed by her, but it was actually naturalist René Primevère Lesson who named the bird in her honor.

Ottawa to announce decisions today on Northern Gateway, Line 3 pipelines
The federal cabinet is expected to announce its decision Tuesday on two major Enbridge-backed pipeline projects — Line 3 and the controversial Northern Gateway, CBC News has confirmed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his fellow ministers reached their decision last week, but held off publicly announcing their position until this week, after Trudeau returned from a trip to Africa for la Francophonie summit. A third pipeline, Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain, will also be reviewed at a regularly scheduled cabinet meeting in Ottawa, CBC News has learned. John Paul Tasker reports. (CBC)

Can we contain oil spills? The answer is in the sheen
If the Trudeau government approves the expansion of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline, B.C.'s oil cleanup industry will be in line for the biggest infusion of cash in its history. Kinder Morgan will be forced to fund the majority of a $200-million spill-response upgrade on the West Coast for new bases, equipment and 150 staff. Harder to quantify is how much confidence people should have that crews can actually remove oil from water if a major tanker spill occurs. Chris Brown and Chris Corday report. (CBC) See also:  Timeline of the sinking and recovery of the Nathan E. Stewart Justin McElroy reports. From Day 1 to Day 33, a look at why and how the process took as long as it did. (CBC)

New app seeks to crowdsource reporting of B.C. environmental abuses 
When it comes to protecting the environment in British Columbia, the most powerful tool available may soon be your smartphone. The BC Wildlife Federation is hoping a new app it developed with researchers at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan will be used by tens of thousands of people to record and report environmental abuses across the province. The app, released by the BCWF Monday, comes after years of budget cuts at both the provincial and federal levels that left environmental agencies with reduced enforcement capabilities. Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail)

Seattle, King County to pay for sewage flow into local waters
The City of Seattle and King County have been cited for discharging sewage into local bodies of water beyond allowable limits. The Department of Ecology has fined King County $63,500 and the City of Seattle $33,500. Ecology essentially found that the city and county discharged sewage into neighboring bodies of water beyond what is allowed…. King County was cited for 23 violations, and Seattle was cited for 10 violations. All incidents happened throughout 2015. Ecology found that King County exceeded pollutant limits from its treatment plants 18 times. Ecology also notes that two out of the four county treatment plants were found in violation of solids removal limits. Dyer Oxley reports. (KIRO)

Saanich Inlet offers scientists hints to oceans’ ‘dead zones’
Scientists from around the world are looking to the Saanich Inlet for clues about new ocean “dead zones.” More than 20 researchers from Canada and abroad are involved in a new project studying the inlet, which is a naturally occuring oxygen-minimum zone, or “dead zone,” almost devoid of marine life. The data could help scientists and policy-makers understand what to expect, as global temperatures rise and new dead zones appear around the globe, said Jeff Sorensen, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Victoria…. The Saanich Inlet is a deep glacial fjord. Its entrance is very shallow, which prevents water from mixing with the Strait of Georgia, except near the surface. The inlet’s deeper water stays where it is, Sorensen said. Amy Smart reports. (Times Colonist)

Scientists, police called in over Vancouver Aquarium's beluga deaths
The deaths of two beluga whales – a mother and calf in the same tank – within two weeks at the Vancouver Aquarium have sparked a global mystery, with police being consulted, and marine experts examining possible causes that include the animals’ food, an infection or even poisoning. The facility has kept whales since the 1960s, when it acquired its first orca, and several have died in that time, but never two so close together. Necropsies have so far failed to pinpoint a cause of death, and aquarium staff said they had not ruled anything out and had been in contact with the police. Ian Bailey reports. (Globe and Mail)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  230 AM PST TUE NOV 29 2016  
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH  WEDNESDAY EVENING  
TODAY  E WIND 5 TO 15 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT THIS AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT  15 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 9 FT AT 14 SECONDS THIS AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING S AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND  WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 11 SECONDS. RAIN.
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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/28 BC pipe, Aurora, Martha Kongsgaard, whale drone, volunteers, Skagit water, fish farm risks, women scientists

(Seattle Times)

‘It’s Standing Rock North’: Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada stirs strong opposition
Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion would nearly triple the amount of Alberta oil transported to the Vancouver-area port just across the water from this tiny First Nation reserve, where the Tsleil-Waututh people are battling a pipeline with far bigger capacity than the bitterly fought-over Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines in the U.S. The $6.3 billion expansion would position Canada to be the biggest oil producer in the Americas, and could be approved as soon as Monday by the Trudeau administration. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Sheriff unapologetic for tactics in pipeline protests (Associated Press)
 
Aurora, the Vancouver Aquarium's last beluga whale, dead at 30
Aurora, the last remaining beluga whale at the Vancouver Aquarium, passed away Friday night. The aquarium confirmed the 30-year-old whale passed away after having been sick for the past two weeks, showing symptoms of abdominal cramping, loss of appetite and lethargy. It comes nearly a week after her calf, Qila — the first beluga whale conceived and born in captivity at a Canadian aquarium — died at 21 years old.  Last week the aquarium said Aurora became ill the day after Qila died, experiencing the same symptoms as Qila. (CBC)

Chair Martha Kongsgaard resigns from the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council
In a letter to Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, Leadership Council chair Martha Kongsgaard writes: "It is with no small measure of both accomplishment and regret that I ask you to accept this letter as my formal resignation from the Leadership Council of the Puget Sound Partnership. It has been my singular honor to serve two Governors on the Leadership Council for nearly a decade and as its Chair for well over half of that. The best management of any board of directors calls for an occasional leadership refresh, and I feel very comfortable now, at the end of 2016, to step away and allow for that...." Read the complete letter.

Humpback whale research: Drones fly through blow spray to take samples
Researchers are using a drone to obtain samples from the blow sprays of humpback whales on the B.C. coast and analyzing the contents as a way to measure health. Lance Barrett-Lennard, a whale scientist with the Vancouver Aquarium, said Saturday that a drone used last August off northern Vancouver Island flew three to four metres above humpbacks. In an interview at a marine mammal symposium at the University of B.C., Barrett-Lennard said that the drone is flown off a small motorized research vessel, first conducting flights at an altitude of about 45 metres to obtain images of the overall health of the whales. Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

A New Way To Monitor Ocean Warming Without Harming Whales
As the Earth’s atmosphere warms because of greenhouse gas emissions, most of the heat gets trapped in the oceans. But measuring the change has proven difficult, especially at greater depths. A researcher at the University of Washington is proposing a new method that has some promise.  Measuring the surface temperatures of the world’s oceans is done primarily by satellite. The bigger challenge at this point is monitoring changes in their interior, because it’s expensive to maintain instruments used to take measurements at depth. A method called acoustic tomography was pioneered in the 1970s. It looked at the travel times of sound waves, which move faster as temperatures rise. But it was discontinued in 2006 because of concern that it was harming whales by interfering with their communication signals. Now a researcher at the University of Washington has developed a way to instead look at travel times of naturally occurring internal tidal waves.  These originate deep below the surface because of ridges or ‘bumps’ on the ocean floor.  Zhongxiang Zhao is an oceanographer in the UW’s Applied Physics Lab. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Conservation District honors environmental volunteers
Val Schroeder turned her back yard into a paradise for wild creatures. She’s watched eagles perch in nearby trees and otters shimmy down the stairs from her yard to the beach. In Lake Stevens, Terry Myer transformed her lawn into a garden that produces enough fruit and vegetables to stock the local food bank. She’s donated more than 2,000 pounds of produce this year. That includes 400 pounds of fresh tomatoes. At Olivia Park Elementary School in South Everett, 8-year-old Jasmine Kraus leads a group called Nature Kids in a quest to clean up litter. Dalila Habul, 12, visits the elementary school after her middle school classes so she can help in the school garden. The women and girls are among a dozen volunteers being recognized by the Snohomish Conservation District for their efforts to protect the environment. Kari Bray reports. (Everett Herald)

Skagit County releases annual water quality report
Skagit County’s annual water quality report shows a mix of improving and declining water quality in streams throughout the county — a finding that has been routine over the 12 years the monitoring has been done. The report for 2015 summarizes data collected from 40 sites in the county between Oct. 1, 2014, and Sept. 30, 2015. The county monitors water temperature, oxygen content and pollution information from the sites each week. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Risk and precaution: Salmon farming
Salmon farms in the region of the Discovery Islands generate greater than minimal risk of serious harm to Fraser River Sockeye Salmon. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the risk factors identified are specific to Fraser River Sockeye Salmon, as many of them apply to other areas and salmon species in the north eastern Pacific and globally. Alexandra Morton and Richard Routledge write. (Marine Policy)

Women in science pledge to combat hate
Almost 10,000 women working in science have signed an open letter pledging to combat discrimination and "anti-science sentiment" following the US election. A group of scientists drafted the letter with the initial aim of building a network of 500 women. In the six days since its publication, 8,800 researchers have signed the pledge, which rejects the "hateful rhetoric that was given a voice". Victoria Gill reports. (BBC)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PST MON NOV 28 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON  
TODAY  NW WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W  SWELL 12 FT AT 11 SECONDS... BUILDING TO 18 FT AT 12 SECONDS IN THE  AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT  NW WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT OR LESS AFTER MIDNIGHT. W  SWELL 19 FT AT 16 SECONDS.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/25 BC pipe, no pipe, building ban, farm food, coast land, Capitol Lake hands

Western gull (Tom Grey/BirdNote)

Gull Identification
Black, white, gray... how do you sort them all out? The challenge of learning which gull is which brings to mind a crossword puzzle. Take in all the clues, and come up with the right answer. For identifying gulls, we recommend a good bird book, binoculars, perhaps a thermos of hot coffee, and maybe a chair. So which gull is this? Large gull, dark back, pink legs, seen in the West. This one is a Western Gull! (BirdNote)

Liberal government to make key decision on fate of Northern Gateway pipeline today
The federal cabinet will deliver its decision on the Enbridge-backed Northern Gateway pipeline today, after years of delays and false starts. But it will be days before the public knows the fate of the controversial project. The National Energy Board and the former Harper government signed off on the $7.9-billion project, and imposed 209 conditions. But the Federal Court overturned those approvals in June after it found Ottawa had not adequately consulted Indigenous people along the project's 1,177-kilometre route. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said in September the government will not appeal the court's ruling, meaning cabinet now has three options on the table: issue an extension and launch further consultations with Indigenous people, approve the project in defiance of the Federal Court, or reject the project outright. Carr said Thursday that while a decision has to be made by Friday to meet a self-imposed deadline, cabinet's move would be announced publicly later. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is attending la Francophonie summit in Madagascar, returning Monday. John Paul Tasker (CBC)

Pipeline opposition isn't really about climate change, Canada West Foundation finds
If you think opposition to pipelines is driven mainly by concerns over climate change, you're wrong, according to a new study from the Canada West Foundation and University of Ottawa. Their report, released Thursday, involved six case studies of major energy projects across the country that found similarities among the local opposition each encountered, whether it was an oil pipeline, a hydro dam or a wind farm…. Those factors include how safe a project is perceived to be, how necessary it is perceived to be, how the benefits would be distributed, how the local environment would be impacted, how the proponents communicate with the public and how much the community is involved in decision-making. (CBC)

Anger boils over as Whatcom County weighs ban on rural building 
Saying it needed more time to find solutions in light of a Supreme Court ruling, the County Council is considering a 6-month ban on new developments that depend on water from what are known as exempt wells. The proposed measure, as well as the county’s existing 60-day moratorium, came up Tuesday during the council’s meeting when property owners and real estate agents packed the council chambers. Angry and frustrated, they wanted the council to lift its existing temporary prohibition and not consider a new one, even as the county said it can’t, legally, ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

No Farms, No Food
Most of us are familiar with the bumper sticker, “no farms, no food”, the rallying cry to protect farmland and nurture local, sustainably grown food. The cry has become increasingly relevant to farmers and farmland advocates on Seattle's urban fringe, 13 miles north of the Space Needle. They say current levels of development threaten their future. Martha Baskin takes us to the Sammamish Valley outside of Woodinville.  (Green Acre Radio)

Perils of Climate Change Could Swamp Coastal Real Estate
Real estate agents looking to sell coastal properties usually focus on one thing: how close the home is to the water’s edge. But buyers are increasingly asking instead how far back it is from the waterline. How many feet above sea level? Is it fortified against storm surges? Does it have emergency power and sump pumps? Rising sea levels are changing the way people think about waterfront real estate. Though demand remains strong and developers continue to build near the water in many coastal cities, homeowners across the nation are slowly growing wary of buying property in areas most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Ian Urbina reports. (NY Times)

More than 1,000 hold hands around Capitol Lake in the name of peace
More than 1,000 people lined up Wednesday afternoon around Capitol Lake to hold hands in a peaceful plea for community unity. Hands Around Capitol Lake was organized by a group called Stronger Together Thurston County and inspired by a similar gathering in Seattle, where nearly 4,000 people circled Green Lake last weekend to take a stand against racism, homophobia, misogyny and Islamophobia. Organizers of the Olympia event had hoped to draw about 2,000 people to form a complete 1.55-mile circle around Capitol Lake. The people of all ages who formed a human chain in the rain ended up covering a little more than two-thirds of the lake’s circumference. Andy Hobbs reports. (Olympian)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  900 AM PST FRI NOV 25 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT  
TODAY  SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 12 FT AT  14 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TONIGHT  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 11 FT  AT 12 SECONDS. RAIN.
SAT  SE WIND TO 10 KT BECOMING E 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
SAT NIGHT  E WIND 5 TO 15 KT BECOMING SE TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
SUN  SE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 7 FT AT 11  SECONDS.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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11/23 BC pipe, tanker risk, Tacoma LNG, acid waste, climate contempt, Salish Orca ferry

Elwha nearshore 11/16/16 (Tom Roorda/CWI)

Yes could still be no as Kinder Morgan awaits Trudeau's nod on its multi-billion dollar pipeline expansion
There is growing expectation, even among those who oppose Kinder Morgan’s $6.8-billion expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, that Justin Trudeau’s government will approve the project. The prospect of a yes has been bolstered by a five-year, $1.5-billion marine protection plan announced by Prime Minster Trudeau in Vancouver on Nov. 7, intended to help allay fears of a tanker spill. A yes on the project also was reinforced by a statement last week from Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr that the election of Donald Trump, who supports TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, doesn’t reduce pressure on Ottawa to approve other pipeline projects to the B.C. and Atlantic coasts. The Trudeau government must make a decision on the controversial Kinder Morgan project by Dec. 19. Gordon Hoekstra repairs. (Vancouver Sun)

Engineers Call for B.C. Tanker Risk Assessment
A group of engineers is petitioning for a full risk assessment of tanker traffic through Vancouver's Second Narrows, traffic that would increase to a ship a day if Kinder Morgan's Transmountain pipeline expansion is approved.  The Second Narrows has two bridges – a low railroad drawbridge and a highway. The engineers are concerned that a rudder failure could send a loaded Aframax drifting into a rail bridge span, then carry that span's tower into the highway bridge 400 feet to the west.  While this worst-case scenario sounds unusual, they note that it is not unprecedented: in 1979, the 25,000 dwt freighter Japan Erica struck the rail bridge at low speed, knocking the north tower span off its footing and pulling the north lift tower off at an angle. The Aframax tankers lifting crude from Transmountain’s Westridge terminal are about four times larger than the Erica. (Marine Executive)

Tacoma natural gas plant met with protests
Inside the Greater Tacoma Convention Center, officials from Puget Sound Energy were wholly confident their liquid natural gas plant project was fine. It had gone through public and environmental review, plus gotten approval from city hall…. Nonetheless, a public forum Monday night was set up to educate concerned citizens, many of whom were wearing red and protesting the project outside. John Langeler reports. (KING)

Nature’s Path fined $22K for disposing acidic wastewater into Blaine sewer system 
An organic food producer has been fined $22,000 for disposing acidic wastewater into the city’s sewer treatment system, the Washington State Department of Ecology said Tuesday. Nature’s Path, a Richmond, B.C.-based company that makes organic granola, cookies and cereal, made 39 violations over the last two years at its Blaine facility, Ecology said. The company’s water quality permit states it must pretreat its wastewater before disposing it into the sewer to avoid dumping acidic water, which can damage sewer lines and cause health hazards for sewer plant workers, Ecology said. The department found out about the violations from discharge-monitoring reports the company had filed. Kyle Mittan reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Young activists seek tougher action on climate change
Eight children are asking a Seattle judge to find Washington state in contempt for failing to adequately protect them and future generations from the harmful effects of climate change. A King County Superior Court judge is hearing arguments Tuesday afternoon in the case brought by the petitioners, between 12 and 16 years old, who allege the state has violated its duties to take action to address climate change. The petitioners' lawyer says a state rule adopted in September to cap emissions from large carbon polluters doesn't do enough to protect young people. They contend that the state is violating prior court orders by not doing more. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

New Salish Orca ferry en route to B.C.
The first of three new vessels in the BC Ferries fleet is now en route from Poland. The Salish Class ships will be the first in BC to be powered by liquid natural gas. The Salish Orca started the journey of more than 10,000 nautical miles Tuesday from a shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, to B.C. The trip will take between 45 and 55 days. Megan Thomas reports. (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PST WED NOV 23 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS  AFTERNOON
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT  
TODAY  S WIND TO 10 KT...RISING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. W  SWELL 12 FT AT 15 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.  TONIGHT  SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 20 TO 30 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 13 FT AT 14 SECONDS. RAIN.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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11/22 DAPL demand, BC pipes, Growlers, Duwamish, Snake dams, sunk tug, Samish clams, Tofino cleanup, no stink poop

Lake Padden algae (Robin Matthews/WWU Watershed Studies)

Blue-green Algae
From the state Department of Health: "Blue-green algae are actually bacteria that have qualities similar to algae and other plants. These bacteria are cyanobacteria – cyan means "blue-green" – and are commonly found on land and in lakes, rivers, ponds, and in estuaries and marine water. A combination of warm temperatures, sunlight, and nutrient-rich waters can cause blue-green algae to reproduce rapidly, or "bloom."… Although blue-green blooms can create nuisance conditions and undesirable water quality, most are not toxic…. Some blue-green algae produce toxins or poisons. In their toxic form, blue-green algae can cause illness in humans, pets, waterfowl, and other animals that come in contact with the algae. Toxic blooms can kill livestock and pets that drink the water."

Washington tribes demand that Obama stop, reroute Dakota Access Pipeline
Twenty eight tribal leaders in Washington state have written President Obama insisting he stop and reroute the Dakota Access Pipeline, following a night of violence in North Dakota in which police used a water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas against pipeline protesters…. Tribal leaders also said they were outraged at the tactics used by police against demonstrators, especially the water cannon deployed in subfreezing weather. “Industry and their goons and their so-called peacekeepers are taking it to the next level,” said Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.  Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

The case for more oil pipelines in Canada — as some analysts see it
The countdown is underway.  The federal government has less than one month to make a decision on whether to approve Kinder Morgan's expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to B.C.'s coast. Opponents of Trans Mountain say there are many reasons to reject the project. They include the environmental risks of pipeline and tanker spills, opposition from some First Nations, increased greenhouse gas emissions from oilsands growth, and the need to shift away from fossil fuels, to name just a few. If Ottawa gives Kinder Morgan the green light in December, the federal government must believe the positives outweigh all the negatives. Is that the case? Kyle Bakx reports. (CBC)

Guest blog: Remembering Polly Dyer
Author and artist Tony Angell writes about the influence the late Polly Dyer had on him and many educators in the early days of environmental education programs in Washington state. (read on)

More U.S. Navy jets could worsen rumble in Victoria area
Some people in Victoria, B.C., are worried about a plan to add more EA-18G Growler jets at a naval station on Whidbey Island in Washington State. There have long been complaints that Growler flights at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island — about 50 kilometres across the water from Victoria — cause a rumble on southern Vancouver Island…. The U.S. Navy plans to add up to 36 more Growler jets to its existing fleet of 82 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Megan Thomas reports. (CBC)

Students along polluted Duwamish River champion 'environmental justice' 
The Duwamish spent decades as what industry calls "a working river," with scant regard to those living near its banks, with heavy metals and PCBs making Seattle's only river a federal Superfund cleanup site. The ethnically diverse South Park neighborhood is making itself part of the cleanup, spurred by the fact that life expectancy is eight years lower there than the citywide average, with children's asthma rates substantially higher. "The river is very important to us, not just to animals but we all use it," said Guadalupe Zamora, 15, a student at Chief Sealth International High School, taking part in an Environmental Justice Youth Forum on Saturday at South Park Community Center. Joel Connelly reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

Why The Northwest Is Debating Dams On The Snake River (Again)
For more than half a century, dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers have been taken for granted as a permanent part of the landscape. The four dams on the lower Snake River provide hydropower and navigation to the West Coast’s most inland port — in Lewiston, Idaho. They’ve also proven detrimental to threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. Now, a longstanding debate — removing or altering the four lower Snake River dams — is back at the forefront of a discussion on how to protect fish while still doing what’s best for all interests along the Columbia and Snake rivers. Courtney Flatt reports. (NWPR/EarthFix)

Salvage operation wraps, clean-up continues for sunken tug off B.C. coast
Efforts to remove a sunken tug from the waters off British Columbia's central coast have wrapped up, but crews continue to clean-up and survey the damage left behind. The latest situation report on the Nathan E. Stewart says a barge hauling the damaged vessel arrived in Surrey, B.C., Saturday and the salvage operation is now considered complete. Protective booms in the Seaforth Channel, near Bella Bella, where the boat ran aground and sank last month have been removed, though teams continue to sample water, sediment, vegetation and tissue in the area. (Canadian Press)

Shellfish harvest struggles continue in Samish Bay
As the sun began to set Friday, Kurt Goodale and his crew set out on Taylor Shellfish Farms’ Samish Bay boat, the Janet P, to harvest Pacific oysters and Manila clams. Goodale and his crew said their shifts recently have been “a roll of the dice,” with uncertainty about whether harvesting would be allowed in the bay or would be closed because of pollution problems. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Volunteer Tofino beach cleanup removes 900 kg of shipping container debris
Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne says a weekend beach clean-up in Tofino to deal with shipping container debris was a success. 50 volunteers removed over 900 kg of debris from Pacific Rim National Park, much of it consisting of styrofoam. But she cautioned that there are issues of responsibility around beach garbage that need to be considered for the future. Liam Britten reports. (CBC News)

Bill Gates and a Swiss fragrance company battle the stink of poop 
Bill Gates is focused on poop. More specifically, the smell of poop. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is working with Swiss scent and perfume company Firmenich to battle the foul smells emitted by pit latrines. The foundation gave Firmenich a $6.3 million grant to develop a fragrance that tricks the brain into smelling goodness instead of feces. Ryan Blethen reports. (Seattle Times)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PST TUE NOV 22 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON  
TODAY  SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT EASING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 10 FT AT 9  SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 7 FT AT 9 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN.
TONIGHT  S WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL  8 FT AT 9 SECONDS...BUILDING TO W 10 FT AT 12 SECONDS AFTER  MIDNIGHT. RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/21 Glaciers, oil risks, LNG, Polly Dyer, ocean drilling, warm Arctic, water rules, dead whale, beluga, king tides

South Cascade glacier, 1955 (left) and 2004 (SVH)

Study shows North Cascades glaciers have shrunk dramatically since 1950s
While melting Arctic ice makes regular headlines, glaciers in the Pacific Northwest are melting too. In the Skagit River watershed — home to the most glacial ice in the United States outside of Alaska — an estimated 12.4 square miles of ice has been lost since the 1950s, according to a recent study by staff with North Cascades National Park’s Glacier Monitoring Program. That’s an area about the size of the city of Mount Vernon. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Pipeline project poses major threat to San Juan region
There is a dichotomy that defines the Salish Sea, the network of waterways that includes Puget Sound, the San Juan region, and southwestern British Columbia. These deep, protected waters serve as habitat for a diversity of marine species and its natural harbors can accommodate even the largest ships. The waters are defined as both an estuary of national significance by the US Environmental Protection Agency and a “high volume port” by the U.S. Coast Guard, due to its status as a major oil-refining center. More broadly, the Salish Sea serves as an economic and cultural hub for the region’s more than 4.7 million people, including 19 federally recognized tribal governments. And these waters are being put at significant risk by the largest pipeline expansion currently proposed in North America. Fred Felleman and Jamie Stephens write. (Crosscut)

Stop Kinder Morgan
How might a Kinder Morgan oil spill affect the Salish Sea? New Georgia Strait Alliance and Raincoast Conservation Foundation animation.

Kinder Morgan protest draws huge crowd in Vancouver
Thousands of protesters converged [Saturday] on Vancouver to voice their opposition to a proposed expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. Shouting anti-pipeline slogans and waving placards, the protesters made their way north from city hall across the Cambie Street Bridge. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson warned that Saturday's rally could be a preview of more demonstrations to come. (CBC) See also:
Gregor Robertson warns of Trans Mountain protests 'like you've never seen before'  Marc-Andre Cossette reports. (CBC)

Squamish LNG opponents stage Howe Sound protest
About 300 people gathered in Squamish, B.C., Sunday to protest a planned liquefied natural gas terminal in Howe Sound. The protesters described the gathering as a prayer service for the area waterways, which they say could be harmed by the $1.6-billion Woodfibre LNG project…. At Sunday's gathering, protesters said they feared increased tanker traffic could threaten marine life. Some said they would be willing to set up protest camps next year. (CBC)

U.S. BP president raises concern about Cherry Point http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article115817763.html
John Mingé, who grew up near Deming and attended Mount Baker High School and later Washington State University, now handles the U.S. operations for BP as chairman and president of BP America Inc…. Mingé was in Whatcom County on Nov. 17 to talk about a local concern he has, which is the recent moratorium on the shipping of unrefined fossil fuels through Cherry Point and potential changes to the Comprehensive Plan regarding that area. The moratorium does not affect the BP Cherry Point facility and other existing operations in the area, but Mingé is concerned it could be a first step in removing BP Cherry Point and other industry facilities from the area. Dave Gallagher reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Polly Dyer, driving force for Northwest conservation, dead at 96
The majestic wilderness of Shi Shi Beach, an indelible sight for many visitors to the Olympic wilderness near Neah Bay, might look entirely different today if not for the cheerful tenacity of Polly Dyer, a conservationist icon who died Sunday in Shoreline. She was 96. Equally at home testifying before Congress or entertaining a new generation of environmentalists in her Lake City living room, Pauline “Polly” Dyer came from modest means to become a driving force in Northwest wilderness and conservation circles. While unable to attend college as a young woman, she would grow up to count governors and Supreme Court justices among her friends. Claudia Rowe reports. (Seattle Times)

Obama blocks new oil, gas drilling in Arctic Ocean
The Obama administration is blocking new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, handing a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm whales, walruses and other wildlife and exacerbate global warming. A five-year offshore drilling plan announced on Friday blocks the planned sale of new oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska. The plan allows drilling to go forward in Alaska’s Cook Inlet southwest of Anchorage. The blueprint for drilling from 2017 to 2022 can be rewritten by President-elect Donald Trump, in a process that could take months or years. Besides Cook Inlet, the plan also allows drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, long the center of U.S. offshore oil production. Ten of the 11 lease sales proposed in the five-year plan are in the Gulf, mostly off the coasts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama. Matthew Daly reports. (Associated Press)

Study finds widespread land losses from Gulf of Mexico spill
Dramatic, widespread shoreline loss is revealed in new NASA/U.S. Geological Survey annual maps of the Louisiana marshlands where the coastline was most heavily coated with oil during the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (Phys.org)

Deepwater Horizon oil shows up in sparrows
Scientists have identified the first evidence of Deepwater Horizon oil in a land animal - the Seaside Sparrow. The scientists analyzed the diet and feathers of sparrows collected more than a year after the oil spill. The birds that were captured in habitats that were exposed to the oil had a different chemical signature in their tissues than the birds that were found in areas of the marsh that were not exposed to the oil. (Science News)

The North Pole is an insane 36 degrees warmer than normal as winter descends
Political people in the United States are watching the chaos in Washington in the moment. But some people in the science community are watching the chaos somewhere else — the Arctic. It’s polar night there now — the sun isn’t rising in much of the Arctic. That’s when the Arctic is supposed to get super-cold, when the sea ice that covers the vast Arctic Ocean is supposed to grow and thicken. But in fall of 2016 — which has been a zany year for the region, with multiple records set for low levels of monthly sea ice — something is totally off. The Arctic is super-hot, even as a vast area of cold polar air has been displaced over Siberia. Chris Mooney and Jason Samenow report. (Washington Post)

What comes next under water-quality standards imposed by the EPA?
The Environmental Protection Agency approved new water-quality standards for Washington state this week, overriding a plan approved by Gov. Jay Inslee and the state Department of Ecology. It was a rare posture for the EPA. Now the state will be pressured to appeal the EPA standards to federal court. Cities and counties as well as some industrial organizations are clearly unhappy with the EPA’s action, while environmental and tribal representatives got most of what they wanted. The EPA action is especially unusual, given that this state is known for some of the strongest environmental regulations in the country. After much dispute, Ecology finally agreed to much higher fish-consumption rates without increasing the cancer-risk rate, leading to more stringent standards for many of the chemicals. But Ecology had its own ideas for the most troublesome compounds with implications for human health. They include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), arsenic and mercury. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

Dead whale found entangled in empty aquaculture lines
A dead humpback whale was found entangled in empty aquaculture lines near Campbell River Tuesday — the second time a whale has been trapped at the fish farm since September. The dead whale was discovered as staff from aquaculture company Marine Harvest Canada were in the process of dismantling the farm’s anchoring system after a previous whale entanglement, said a company statement. In September, another whale became trapped in the anchor lines and was eventually released. Glenda Luymes reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Vancouver Aquarium's last remaining beluga 'perking up' after illness
The Vancouver Aquarium says its last remaining beluga appears to be on the mend after displaying symptoms of illness earlier this week. Aurora, a 29-year-old beluga, fell ill after her 21-year-old daughter Qila died Wednesday of unknown causes…. The aquarium said the team will continue to monitor Aurora closely.  Maryse Zeidler reports. (CBC)

King tide possible wave of the future, according to group
Naturally occurring king tides, which are unusually high tides, can be a harbinger of normal tides to come, said a member of Washington Sea Grant. On Friday morning, nearly 70 community members gathered at the Salmon Club boat ramp in Port Townsend to eat snacks and observe the high tide, which reached nearly 10 feet, the highest of the year so far. Bridget Trosin, the coastal policy specialist for Seattle-based Washington Sea Grant, was on hand to explain what causes the king tide and to say these tides show the future for coastal towns. Cydney McFarland reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  300 AM PST MON NOV 21 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY  MORNING  
TODAY  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 8 FT AT 9 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO  6 FT AT 8 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE  MORNING...THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 20 TO 30 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. SW SWELL 4 FT AT 7 SECONDS. A  CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/18 2nd beluga ill, no geoduck farm, Bowman Bay, snow geese, Cherry Pt reserve, timber towns

(PHOTO: Laurie MacBride)

Watching My Step
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "Every time I go for a walk these days, I need to tread carefully – because everywhere I look, there are mushrooms underfoot. It’s been a wet fall (even by west coast standards), so our mushroom population is booming. On our property, I’m finding all kinds of specimens: large and small, smooth and wrinkled, colourful and dull, odd and ordinary, solitary and tribal. Many, like the ones in these photos, sport a dusting of fir needles, for it’s been windy as well as wet here in the Gulf Islands…." (read more)

New blog: Safety Pins: More Than A Fashion Statement
After last week’s election, some cheered, some were in shock, some were scared, some were resigned. I was just angry, deeply pissed off, not a very good frame of mind to figure out next steps. There will be next steps but in the meantime I thought about a positive, non-partisan, non-ideological way to take a stand: wear a safety pin. (read more)

2nd Vancouver Aquarium beluga whale in distress
A day after a beluga whale died suddenly at the Vancouver Aquarium, a second beluga has fallen ill. The Vancouver Aquarium said Thursday Qila's mother, Aurora, is experiencing the same symptoms as Qila did before she died Wednesday morning. Aquarium president and CEO John Nightingale told a news conference Thursday the 29-year-old beluga is showing signs of abdominal discomfort and hasn't eaten in two days. Michelle Ghoussoub reports. (CBC)

Court rules against geoduck farm
A state Court of Appeals decision against a proposed southern Kitsap Peninsula geoduck farm is being heralded by environmentalists as a key victory against the growing shellfish industry…. The court this week affirmed a state Shorelines Hearings Board decision denying an aquaculture permit for the 5-acre site along the north shore of Henderson Bay, about 4 miles from Gig Harbor. Tristan Baurick reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Group celebrates Bowman Bay beach restoration
Waves rolled onto the bay’s pebble beach Thursday afternoon as a group gathered to talk about how a 500-foot stretch of the shoreline has changed. Representatives from environment organizations and government agencies were there to celebrate the transformation of the Deception Pass State Park beach, on the southwest side of Fidalgo Island…. Northwest Straits, State Parks, the Skagit Marine Resources Committee and the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group partnered to restore the beach, which forage fish such as surf smelt use as spawning grounds. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Snow geese invade Metro Vancouver in historic numbers
The annual migration of snow geese this year is twice the size of the migration in previous years due to a "perfect storm of conditions" in their summer breeding ground on Wrangle Island, in northern Siberia.  It has resulted in viewing opportunities in unexpected places around the lower mainland…. The Metro Vancouver snow goose population may have increased by 40 per cent — perhaps even 50 per cent — in one year according to Boyd, up to to 100,000 birds. Belle Puri reports. (CBC)

State Considering Expansion Of Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve
One day is left in the public comment period on a proposal from the state Department of Natural Resources to expand one of its Aquatic Reserves. It would limit use of an additional 45 acres of the area north of Bellingham known as Cherry Point. The proposal is to incorporate the 45 acres that were reserved for the Gateway Pacific shipping terminal into the existing Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve. This so-called “cutout” is now in limbo after the Army Corps of Engineers denied the permits for Gateway Pacific because it determined it would violate the Lummi tribe’s treaty fishing rights. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Trump Victory Has Northwest Timber Towns Cheering
In this town of 1,200 people in the southwest corner of Oregon, neighborhoods end where stacks of sprinkler-soaked logs begin. The town is surrounded by four sawmills in the heart of timber country. Here in Douglas County, where about half of the land is owned by the federal government, Donald Trump won 64 percent of the county’s vote in this year’s presidential election. Trump’s victory has this community and others in the Northwest Timber Belt cheering and hoping better times are ahead. Cassandra Profita reports. (OPB/EarthFix)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  244 AM PST FRI NOV 18 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT    TODAY  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT...RISING TO 25 TO 35 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. COMBINED SEAS 6 TO 7 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 11  SECONDS. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
TONIGHT  E WIND 25 TO 35 KT...EASING TO 20 TO 30 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. COMBINED SEAS 6 TO 7 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF  11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN RAIN AFTER  MIDNIGHT.
SAT  E WIND 20 TO 30 KT...BECOMING SE 15 TO 25 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. SW SWELL 10 FT AT 11 SECONDS.  RAIN.
SAT NIGHT  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL  10 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
SUN  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. SW SWELL 11 FT AT  11 SECONDS.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/17 Slime, beluga death, protest felonies, big oil find, bad Shell air, river restoration

Western sandpipers (Donald M. Jones/Minden Pictures)

Slime, Shorebirds, and a Scientific Mystery
As the tide pulls out over British Columbia’s Roberts Bank on an early October morning, it pools amid the hummocks, follows intertidal runnels seaward, and leaves a silvery-green sheen on the exposed mudflats where Canadian researcher Bob Elner walks. Thousands of southbound snow geese, propelled skyward by a hawk’s approach, move in ever-shifting murmurations to Elner’s right. Dunlin and ducks grub along the tideline to his left. But the western sandpipers, he observes, are gone. A scientist emeritus at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Elner has long studied the sandpipers, and he knows they have headed south on their 10,000-kilometer fall migration from the Arctic to Latin America. The big unspoken question hanging over these mudflats is how long the sandpipers and other shorebirds will continue to stop on the Fraser River estuary and fuel up, before flying onward. Daniel Wood reports. (Hakai Magazine)

First beluga born in captivity in Canada dies at Vancouver Aquarium
The first beluga whale to be born in captivity at a Canadian aquarium has died. Qila died this morning at the age of 21, a Vancouver Aquarium media relations spokesperson said. The cause of death has not been determined and a necropsy is expected to take place later today [Wednesday]…. Qila was from the Western Hudson Bay population of beluga whales. The average lifespan of a beluga from this population is 15 years in the wild but some have been known to live as long as 40 or 50 years, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Lien Yeung reports. (CBC)  See also: Vancouver Aquarium beluga death shocks staff  Gordon McIntyre reports. (Vancouver Sun)

State senator supporting Trump wants some protests to be treated as felonies
As protests against President-elect Donald Trump sweep through Seattle and other major cities, a Republican state senator wants to criminalize demonstrations that cause what he labels “economic terrorism.” State Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, says he’s written a bill for the coming legislative session that would allow felony prosecution of protesters who purposely disrupt economic activity, for example by blocking traffic or sitting on railroad tracks. The proposal is unlikely to pass in a divided Legislature and drew swift criticism from a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who called it inflammatory and unnecessary. Jim Brunner reports. (Seattle Times)

USGS Announces Its Largest Oil And Gas Discovery Ever In The States
The U.S. Geological Survey says it has found the largest continuous oil and gas deposit ever discovered in the United States. On Tuesday, the USGS announced that a swath of West Texas known as the Wolfcamp shale contains 20 billion barrels of oil and 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That is nearly three times more petroleum than the agency found in North Dakota's Bakken shale in 2013.  Jeff Brady reports. (NPR)

Shell refinery faces another fine for 2015 emissions incident
The Northwest Clean Air Agency has fined Shell Puget Sound Refinery near Anacortes $133,000 for emissions and related odors released from the refinery last year. The air agency, which regulates air quality in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties, announced the fine Wednesday. According to a news release, the regional air agency received dozens of complaints in February 2015 about odors coming from the refinery, and found after investigating that the refinery had emitted various chemicals and “failed to meet general duties to follow good air pollution control practices.” Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

North fork of Skagit one of three finalists for nearshore restoration
The North Fork Skagit River Delta is one of three major river estuaries that could be restored in the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project (PSNERP), recently approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…. The three PSNERP large-scale restoration projects include work on the Duckabush River Estuary on the east slopes of the Olympic Mountains to Hood Canal, and on the Nooksack River Delta in Whatcom County. Sarah Arney reports. (Stanwood Camano News)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  259 AM PST THU NOV 17 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS  AFTERNOON  
TODAY  SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 10 FT  AT 13 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT  SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING E 10 TO 20 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A  CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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11/16 Clean water plan, BC oil pipe, sunk tug, BNSF coal dust, DAPL, sea lion lab, BC science

maneatingfisheatingman

EPA approves parts of Washington clean-water plan 
Federal regulators have finalized water-quality rules for Washington state tied partly to how much fish people eat, approving many aspects of the state’s plan but also setting some stricter limits than the state wanted. The Environmental Protection Agency’s action Tuesday comes years after contentious debate over how clean the state’s rivers and bays need to be so people can safely eat fish from those waters. The EPA agreed with Washington on several factors used to regulate pollutants, including raising the fish-consumption rate to 175 grams a day, which would protect people who eat about a serving of fish a day. But the federal agency set tougher rules than the state proposed for many chemicals. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

Pro-pipeline Trump not enough for Ottawa to stop Kinder Morgan move
The election of Donald Trump, who supports TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, doesn’t reduce pressure on Ottawa to approve other pipeline projects to the B.C. and Atlantic coasts, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said Tuesday. It was the latest indication that the Trudeau government is poised to approve the controversial $6.8-billion Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project. The Keystone project “doesn’t get oil to export markets … in Asia, and it’s a goal of the government of Canada to expand its export markets,” he told reporters when asked about the impact of Trump’s surprise victory on the government’s pipeline plans. Peter O'Neil reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Trudeau needs pipeline 'Plan B' to Kinder Morgan route: ex-premier Harcourt
Former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt, who knows first-hand what it’s like to face a massive, global-scale environmental protest, is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider a “Plan B” alternative to the $6.8-billion Kinder Morgan oil pipeline expansion proposal…. Harcourt said Monday he accepts the arguments of the oil industry and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley that there’s an economic need to get diluted bitumen to the West Coast. He also noted in an interview Monday that First Nations along the route through Alberta and B.C. all the way to the edge of the Lower Mainland largely support the project. But he said the federal government and Kinder Morgan need to consider an alternate route, to either Deltaport or just across the B.C.-Washington state border to the Cherry Point Refinery. That would be far more attractive than pumping nearly 900,000 barrels a day — triple the current capacity — through a densely populated urban area to the company’s Westridge Terminal in Burnaby. A southern routing would also avoid the jurisdictions of key opponents like Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan and the  Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish First Nations. Peter O'Neil reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Bella Bella residents frustrated by premier's trip to Buckingham Palace
Members of the Heiltsuk First Nation are disappointed that Premier Christy Clark is being honoured at Buckingham Palace as crews continue to clean up the environmental damage from the sunken tugboat in their territory. Clark was invited to the United Kingdom to attend a ceremony on Tuesday with the Queen in honour of the Great Bear Rain Forest's inclusion into the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy. The area, which falls largely in Heiltsuk Nation territory, was officially included in the environmental initiative when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the area with Clark during their September visit to B.C. Richard Zussman reports. (CBC)

BNSF to clean up hotspots, may cover train cars in agreement over coal dust
BNSF Railway will study the use of physical covers for coal and petroleum coke trains as part of a tentative agreement reached Tuesday with environmental groups that sued alleging that coal spilled from trains pollutes waterways in Washington state. BNSF denied any violations of the federal environmental law but also agreed to pay $1 million in environmental projects in the state and to clean up certain hotspots where coal has accumulated along tracks near waterways. The settlement is expected to be finalized in the next 60 days and, in the meantime, postpones a trial that began Nov. 7 in federal court in Seattle. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

Developers sue to complete Dakota Access Pipeline
In a push to finish the Dakota Access Pipeline, its developers claimed in a federal lawsuit Tuesday that they have all permits needed to complete the project and accused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of political interference to delay it. “Dakota has waited long enough for removal of this legal cloud over the right of way beneath federal land at Lake Oahe,” the developer claimed in its suit. The lake was formed by a dam on the Missouri River, and is where the developer seeks to cross under the river to connect the two ends of the pipeline. The pushback from Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, Texas, comes one day after the Corps announced it needed more time to decide when or if it would grant a crucial easement for the pipeline to cross under the Missouri River. Lynda Mapes report. (Seattle Times) See also: Protesters block railroad tracks near downtown Bellingham, denounce Dakota pipeline  Kyle Mittan reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Sea lion research station scrambles as U.S. funding dries up
The University of British Columbia's Open Water Research Station in risks being shut down after losing its funding from the U.S. government. The centre, located in Port Moody, was originally created to solve the mystery of why Alaskan steller sea lions were going extinct, while B.C.'s population continued to grow exponentially.  The station's operating costs have been covered by the U.S. government since 2003, but this year the funding did not come through. The researchers are not sure why it was discontinued. The station's "floating lab" concept is unique because it allows the researchers to study the animals in their natural habitat. Michelle Ghoussoub reports. (CBC)

Young scientists call for tougher federal scrutiny of development projects
More than 1,000 early-career scientists from across Canada have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and key members of his cabinet urging the government to do a better job of assessing the environmental impacts of developments. The scientists say they are “concerned that current environmental assessments and regulatory decision-making processes lack scientific rigour,” and that the health of Canadians and the environment are being put at risk. The signatories, mostly PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers, come from nearly all of Canada’s top 50 research universities. Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  257 AM PST WED NOV 16 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT  
TODAY  S WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 10 FT AT  14 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.
TONIGHT  S WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL  10 FT AT 14 SECONDS. SHOWERS LIKELY.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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11/15 Tug raising, Tacoma LNG, DAPL hold, rogue chemicals, Vic sewer, lost containers

Tug raising (Ian McAllister/Pacific Wild/CBC)

Tug that spilled 110K litres of fuel lifted from sea floor near Bella Bella
The sunken tug that contaminated the waters of British Columbia's Central Coast with more than 100,000 litres of fuel was raised from the sea floor Monday. The Nathan E. Stewart ran aground and sank 32 days ago west of Bella Bella, highlighting concerns about oil spill response capacity at a time when hotly-debated proposed pipelines may increase tanker traffic on the West Coast. In the afternoon, the tug was lifted to deck level next to a barge, allowing it to drain out, and was placed on a barge in the evening. Lisa Johnson and Justin McElroy report. (CBC)

Puget Sound Energy plan to build LNG plant at Port of Tacoma has few regulatory hurdles left
Puget Sound Energy is still at work on the public-relations campaign for its Port of Tacoma liquefied natural gas plant, but much of the behind-the-scenes work to get the project into construction appears complete. The October decision by the state Utilities and Transportation Commission to allow the financial mechanism to build and run the plant was the last remaining significant regulatory hurdle for the $310 million project, unless the Puyallup Tribe’s court challenge upends its shoreline development permit. Now the agency is sending informational mailers and preparing to host a forum Monday to explain what it intends to build. Derrick Nunnally reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Dakota Access Pipeline put on hold as government studies tribe's concerns
In a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the U.S. Army Corps announced Monday that it won’t grant an easement to allow completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline while it looks further into concerns raised by the tribe. The Corps announced it would set a timeline with the tribe for further consideration of its concerns, including the risk of spills into the Missouri River, the drinking- water source for the tribe and more than 17 million people downstream. Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, Texas, has completed the more than 1,100-mile oil pipeline through four states but for the last stage: drilling under the river to finish the pipeline. For that, it needs the easement to cross Corps land. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Northwest Communities Joining National Day Of Protests Against Dakota Access Pipeline  Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Concerns rise over rogue chemicals in the environment
Drugs like Prozac and cocaine have been showing up in the region’s salmon. But these are just some of the potentially thousands of different man-made chemicals that may escape into the Salish Sea every day, from pharmaceuticals to industrial compounds. Now the race is on to identify which ones pose the greatest dangers. Chris Dunagan reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

Canada finally acts on raw sewage pumping into our waters
Seattle Times editorial board says: "Say goodbye to Mr. Floatie. Canadian leaders are making welcome progress on a sewage-treatment plant for the Victoria, B.C., area. Overcoming political differences, our friends north of the U.S. border are finally addressing the problem of the raw sewage they discharge into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. New local and federal leaders reached an agreement in September to build a sewage-treatment plant for Victoria, B.C., and surrounding communities. This is a welcome change after decades of squabbling over a project critically needed to protect water quality. (Seattle Times)

Empty containers lost at sea near Island after Hanjin ship hits rough weather
Rough weather sent 35 empty shipping containers on the Hanjin Seattle tumbling into the ocean off the west coast of southern Vancouver Island. The containers hit the sea shortly after 1 p.m. on Nov. 3, Rachelle Smith, spokeswoman for the Canadian Coast Guard, said Monday. Mariners received a warning from the Coast Guard that the containers might be a danger to navigation. The notice went out after the Hanjin Seattle said the containers were adrift nearly eight nautical miles west of Pachena Point, south of Barkley Sound. The depth of the sea at that point is 100 metres. Carla Wilson reports. (Times Colonist)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  252 AM PST TUE NOV 15 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT  
TODAY  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 15 SECONDS...BUILDING TO  11 FT AT 15 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF  TSTMS.
TONIGHT  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING S TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT.  WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 11 FT AT 14 SECONDS. SHOWERS  LIKELY IN THE EVENING...THEN SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato at salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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