4/19 Pt Roberts, orca funding, HEAL Act, Earth Day, BC tanker ban, BC pipe consultations, oil-eating bacteria, spill dispersants

Point Roberts

Point Roberts
The point and community are at the tip of a two-and-one-half-mile=square peninsula cut off from the United States (Washington state) by the forty-ninth parallel on the north and by Boundary Bay on the east. Point Roberts was created when the United Kingdom and the United States settled the Pacific Northwest American-Canadian border dispute in the mid-19th century with the Oregon Treaty. Both parties agreed the 49th parallel would delineate both countries' territories, but they overlooked the small area that incorporates Point Roberts (south of the 49th parallel). The only entry is through Canadian and United States customs. It was named by Vancouver for the previous commander of the H.M.S. Discovery, Capt. Henry Roberts. (Washington State Place Names, Wikipedia)

Gov. Jay Inslee's orca-recovery agenda advancing, but billion-dollar funding yet to be seen
Gov. Jay Inslee’s orca agenda is advancing in the Washington state Legislature, but with the budget yet to be decided how much of the governor’s billion-dollar-bold ambition will be accomplished is yet to be seen. Budgets passed by the House and Senate so far contain no funding to continue the governor’s task force on orca recovery. There’s no agreement yet on funding the governor’s proposed panel to consider the affects of breaching the Lower Snake River dams. And revenue measures to help pay for everything, from increasing hatchery production to enforcement of habitat protections, have yet to be decided. There also were policy disappointments for the governor, who got no takers for his request for legislation to put a temporary stop on whale watching of southern resident killer whales; no lawmaker would introduce the bill. A vessel noise-reduction package will take years to implement with rule making yet to be done, and because U.S. Coast Guard regulations include important exemptions, including for commercial shipping that makes most of the noise that can disrupt orcas as they hunt. Lynda Makes reports. (Seattle Times)

State House passes HEAL Act for environmental justice, a first for Washington
A bill that would address environmental justice is still alive in the state Legislature. The so-called Healthy Environment for All, or HEAL, Act passed the House in the nick of time, getting a last-minute bipartisan vote of 88-10 just after 5 p.m. Wednesday, to clear the cutoff deadline. The HEAL Act aims to improve health disparities in Washington through targeted investments in areas suffering worst from pollution. It would direct eight key state agencies to target their work using an environmental health disparities map that launched in January. It also would create a task force to oversee the implementation. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

13 Earth Day 2019 Events Happening In Puget Sound
One of the best things about Earth Day is that it's a holiday you can celebrate with little or no preparation. All you need is a little motivation, and maybe a rain jacket and a good pair of gardening gloves. There are countless events happening for Earth Day 2019 in Puget Sound, but here are just a few you can participate in....   Neal McNamara reports. (Patch)

First Nations divided on impacts of tanker ban at Northern B.C. Senate hearings
A Senate committee on transportation and communication holding public hearings in Northern B.C. this week heard competing arguments from First Nations about the impacts of a tanker ban. Bill C-48—the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act—would prohibit oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of certain types of oil from stopping or unloading at ports on the North Coast, from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaskan border.  The bill, which has already received approval in principal in the House of Commons, resulted in the scrapping of the previously approved Northern Gateway Pipeline, fulfilling a Liberal election promise.  Laura Sciarpelletti reports. (CBC)

Trans Mountain consultation approach 'fatally flawed' even with extension, says First Nations leader
Even if the time period for consultation with Indigenous groups over the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline is extended by a few weeks, "it still doesn't make up for the approach and the flawed way the consultations are being done," says one B.C. First Nations leader. Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, elected leader of the Neskonlith band and a member of the executive branch of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this week in which she described the consultation process as "fatally flawed" and detailed several critiques of the process that's currently underway. Chantelle Bellrichard reports. (CBC)

Oil-Eating Bacteria Discovered In The Deepest Part Of The World's Ocean
The Mariana Trench is located in the Western Pacific Ocean, approximately 200 miles east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is nearly 36,000 feet below sea level (if Mount Everest was dropped into the trench, its peak would still be one mile below the ocean's surface). Academy Award-winning film director James Cameron famously descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2012, during which time he collected several new species including sea cucumbers, half-foot-long shrimp, and giant amoebas. And recently, a team of researchers from the United Kingdom, Russia, and China found that the Trench is also home to an enormous population of bacteria that can eat the hydrocarbon compounds found in oil. Priya Shukla reports. (Forbes)

New report examines the safety of using dispersants in oil spill clean ups
A multi-disciplinary team of scientists has issued a series of findings and recommendations on the safety of using dispersal agents in oil spill clean-up efforts in a report published this month by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. By measuring the level of a leading dispersal agent, dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, in sea life following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the team was able to establish how long the chemical lingers and what health effects it has on various organisms. The scientists found the risks associated with using DOSS were minimal, the team found that in areas where oil concentrations in water were more than 100 milligrams per liter did increase the toxicity, though they noted oil concentrations are typically much lower than that in most spills. (Phys.org)



Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  249 AM PDT Fri Apr 19 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH  THIS EVENING   
TODAY  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming W 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 8 ft at 12 seconds. A  chance of rain in the morning. 
TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt becoming NW to 10 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 ft or less after  midnight. W swell 6 ft at 11 seconds building to 8 ft at  10 seconds after midnight. 
SAT  NE wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 6 ft at 9 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 5 ft at 9 seconds. 
SUN  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming 10 to 20 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 4 ft at 9 seconds.

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