10/18 Salmon spawn, fish farm showdown, Lummi totem, culverts, Ostrich Bay, coal mine, Stand, shoreline appeal

Elwha 10/15/17 [Tom Roorda/Coastal Watershed Inst.]

Official complaint lodged against Trans Mountain biologist over unauthorized river work
A Fraser Valley-based conservation group has lodged a formal complaint with the College of Applied Biology over a Trans Mountain biologist’s role in the installation of matting to discourage salmon from spawning at stream sites where the company plans pipeline crossings. In the official written complaint, WaterWealth program director Ian Stephen quotes a Trans Mountain blog post of Sept. 12, 2017, that reads: “Trans Mountain fisheries biologist Calum Bonnington and his team are temporarily installing snow fencing flat down onto some sections of streambed that are intersected by the pipeline construction right-of-way and sections immediately downstream.” Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Salmon showdown: injunctions served at B.C. fish farm occupation
Late on Monday evening, community members occupying Marine Harvest operations in the coastal Broughton Archipelago were served notices of injunction by the RCMP that were filed by the company in response to the peaceful protest. As of Tuesday, the occupiers remained at their posts on Swanson Island, Midsummer Island and Port Elizabeth fish farm facilities, but are expected to appear in court on Wednesday. The notice of injunction comes just days after B.C. Premier John Horgan met with a newly unified alliance of eight First Nations, whose ultimate goal is to remove the open-net fish farms that they say severely threaten wild salmon populations and all associated ecosystems along the coast. Emilee Gilpin reports. (National Observer)

Another Lummi totem goes on tour, this time to highlight environmental threats
A totem pole carved and put on tour to bring attention to the potential risks fossil fuel pipelines and shipping terminal projects present to Native American communities, and how climate change threatens the world at large, made a stop in Vancouver, Washington on Monday night. The pole is a symbol of tribal resistance to the oil terminal project proposed at the Port of Vancouver, the Millennium Bulk Terminals coal export proposal in Longview and the methanol refinery proposed for Kalama by Northwest Innovation Works, according to Columbia Riverkeeper, an environmental organization that helped organize Monday’s event. Andy Matarrese reports. (Columbian)

A Northwest tribal sovereignty battle, centered on culverts 
Charlene Krise started fishing the waters of Puget Sound in 1975, after a court decision reaffirmed tribal rights to half the region’s salmon. Amid the hard work of hauling in beach seines and long hours on the water, Krise and fellow members of the Squaxin Island Tribe would hook their boats together and talk, sharing their knowledge of the nearby inlets, salmon smoking techniques and family connections. But in the ensuing decades, wild salmon numbers in the Pacific Northwest dropped. By 1999, they had disappeared from 40 percent of their historic range, due in part to environmental degradation caused by road infrastructure, dams and logging. Tribal members struggled to rely on fishing as a source of income or subsistence to support their families. In 2001, 21 tribes sued the state of Washington over roadway culverts that blocked hundreds of miles of salmon passages. Anna V. Smith reports. (High Country News)

Navy proposes munitions cleanup for Ostrich Bay
The Navy has proposed a plan to clean up long-lost munitions and explosives hidden for almost 60 years underneath the sediment in Ostrich Bay near Jackson Park. The housing complex near Naval Hospital Bremerton is the site of the former Naval Ammunition Depot Puget Sound, where munitions were manufactured, stored and demilitarized from 1904 to 1959. The depot's records indicate munitions unintentionally fell into the water during loading and unloading ships at two piers in Ostrich Bay, only one of which still exists today. Julianne Stanford reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Ship strike likely killed humpback whale found on B.C. shore, biologist says
Officials say a dead humpback whale that washed up near Ucluelet last week was likely hit by a large vessel. Scientists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada said the juvenile male had its lower jawbone dislocated after being hit with significant force. (CBC)

Reviving Black Diamond's Coal Mine In Seattle's Green Shadow
The Pacific Northwest was once a coal mining powerhouse. In the late 1800s, The area around Oregon’s Coos Bay had over 70 coal mines. Later, Washington’s biggest coal mine in Centralia supplied the Bonneville Power Administration with electricity. But the Coos Bay coal mines closed in the latter part of the 20th century; the Centralia Coal Mine closed in 2006. Today, both Washington and Oregon get their coal from Montana. But that might be about to change. Coal mining could be coming back — to an old coal mine in southeast King County. The John Henry Coal Mine, which is about 30 miles southeast of downtown Seattle, in Black Diamond, has been inactive for nearly two decades. But the Pacific Coast Coal Company has proposed reopening the mine. If permitted, the mine would produce 84,000 tons of coal every year for the next six years. Eilís O'Neill reports. (KUOW)

Enbridge prompts raid on environmental group Stand’s Vancouver office
Staff at the environmental group Stand were facing down bailiffs Tuesday morning with orders to seize assets on behalf of pipeline giant Enbridge over unpaid court costs from a 2014 Federal Court action. By early afternoon, however, the company had reversed course, requesting that the bailiffs not seize anything and saying it wouldn’t be pursuing the matter further, according to a statement from spokesman Jesse Semko. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

State court declines David and Nancy Honeywells’ appeal
On Oct. 16, 2017, the Washington State Court of Appeals declined David and Nancy Honeywells’ case in Island County Superior Court. The Honeywells are infamous for the waterfront clearcut at the former Mar Vista Resort on San Juan Island in 2013…. This is not the first time the Honeywells’ appeal has been denied. In June of 2016, the Honeywells were denied their appeal over a shoreline penalty of $55,000 on June 1 in San Juan County Superior Court. The court did grant their appeal regarding a water quality violation penalty of $12,000. Cali Bagby reports. (San Juan Journal)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  248 AM PDT Wed Oct 18 2017  
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING  
TODAY  SE wind 15 to 25 kt becoming S in the afternoon. Wind  waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 6 ft at 10 seconds building to SW 8 ft  at 8 seconds in the afternoon. Rain.
TONIGHT  SW wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 10 to 20 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. SW swell 10 ft at 9 seconds. Rain  in the evening then showers after midnight.

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