5/14 Strawberry, 'A Deadly Wind,' WA water standard, spill cleanup, eelgrass, Roundup, anemones

Woodland strawberry [Berkeley Perennials]

Woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca
Woodland strawberry is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Rose family that grows naturally throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, and that produces edible fruits.
It is a species of openings and open forests, at low to subalpine elevations south of about 55-degrees north. It is tolerant of a variety of moisture levels (except very wet or dry conditions). It can survive mild fires and/or establish itself after fires. (Wikipedia, Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast)

Salish Sea Communications- A Deadly Wind: The 1962 Columbus Day Storm
Floyd McKay reviews John Dodge's spellbinding book about the massive Columbus Day Storm in advance of John's talk in Bellingham on 5/21 at Heiner Center, Whatcom Community College.

Inslee, Ferguson denounce EPA move to ease water standards for Washington state
The Environmental Protection Agency proposes to ease Washington water-quality standards for chemicals discharged into state waterways, a move embraced by industry groups that sought the change and denounced as “illegal” by Gov. Jay Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. The action, disclosed Friday, reverses a 2016 decision by the EPA under the Obama administration that required the state to toughen the water-quality standard. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

Millions to be spent on oil spill cleanup at Tumwater brewery
An effort to clean up an oil spill that originated in a damaged transformer at the former Tumwater brewery nearly two months ago has become too expensive for Tumwater Development LLC, the owner of the property. The state Department of Ecology announced late last week that the state would take over the clean up effort. It has cost the brewery owner an unspecified amount, although both a communications representative for the owner and ecology officials said the cost was in the millions of dollars. Ecology spokeswoman Sandy Howard said Monday the owner “has run out of funds at the moment.” However, she said the owner “showed good faith” and “accomplished a lot” before the state took over last week. Rolf Boone reports. (Olympian)

Science in the spotlight: Eelgrass recovery
The Washington Department of Natural Resources is studying new ways of increasing ecologically important eelgrass habitat in Puget Sound. It is part of the state's effort to boost eelgrass 20% Sound-wide by 2020. So far, the species has fallen short of that goal but transplanting efforts are showing promise. Eric Wagner reports. (Encyclopedia of Puget Sound)

California jury says Bayer must pay $2 billion to couple in Roundup cancer trial
A California jury on Monday awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who claimed Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, marking the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the company in litigation over the chemical. The jury in San Francisco Superior Court in Oakland said the company was liable for plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod’s contracting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a spokeswoman for the couple said. It awarded $18 million in compensatory and $1 billion in punitive damages to Alva Pilliod and $37 million in compensatory and $1 billion in punitive damages to his wife, Alberta Pilliod. The jury found Roundup had been defectively designed, that the company failed to warn of the herbicide’s cancer risk and that the company acted negligently. Tina Bellon reports. (Reuters)

For Sea Anemones, Global Warming and Microplastics Have Teamed Up to Make Everything Worse
Climate change and plastic pollution are major threats to all marine life, from minuscule crustaceans to gigantic whales. Although many experiments have examined these threats, few have looked at what happens when they both strike at once. At least for the sea anemone, new research from a team at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, California, suggests that the combined threat is worse than the sum of its parts.  Hannah Thomasy reports. (Hakai Magazine)



Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  227 AM PDT Tue May 14 2019   
TODAY  SE wind to 10 kt becoming S 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. SW swell 3 ft at 15 seconds. Rain in the  morning then showers in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming W to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. SW swell 4 ft at 13 seconds. A chance of  showers in the evening.

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