5/27 Hairy crab, Roberts Bank, trash burn, Skagit mining, BC pipe, train crew, Oly spill, Barnaby Reach, orca eating gray whale

Hairy shore crab [WikiMedia]

Hairy shore crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis
Hemigrapsus oregonensis is known under several common names, including yellow shore crab, hairy shore crab, green shore crab, mud-flat crab, and Oregon shore crab. This species typically lives in mud flats and can be found in large numbers in the San Francisco Bay, and coastal areas of Oregon and Washington states in the United States. Its diet primarily consists of diatoms and green algae, but it will occasionally eat meat. (Wikipedia)

Washington First Nations oppose Canadian shipping terminal plan
In a lifetime of fishing on the Salish Sea, Jay Julius of the Lummi Nation in Washington State says he's seen environmental degradation in the area first-hand. "We are at the tipping point and I think Mother Nature is speaking very loudly — the salmon, the conditions of the salmon, the conditions of the orca," said Julius, one of the nation's leaders. Lummi, a Coast Salish nation near Bellingham, is one of four Indigenous communities from the state just south of B.C.'s Lower Mainland sending members to present their case at a federal review panel hearing on the proposed Roberts Bank terminal expansion on Saturday. Rafferty Baker reports. (CBC)

Trash and burn: Metro Vancouver will incinerate Canadian garbage returned by Philippines
Dealing with 1,500 tonnes of contentious Canadian garbage is a dirty job — but somebody's got to do it — and as it turns out, that someone is going to be Metro Vancouver. Sixty-nine containers of garbage, shipped to the Philippines but mislabelled and rejected by that country's facilities, will return to Canada to be burned in Metro Vancouver's waste-to-energy incinerator in Burnaby. Metro Vancouver, in a Friday statement, said burning the trash was the most environmentally sustainable option. It added the garbage is mostly mixed plastic and paper with "low levels" of contaminants like electronics and household waste. Liam Britten reports. (CBC)

Members of Congress oppose mining Skagit River headwaters
Nine of the state’s federal legislators have joined the swell of opposition against an exploratory mining proposal for the headwaters of the Skagit River in British Columbia. The Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation sent a letter this week to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voicing opposition to the proposal in which Imperial Metals Corporation of Canada wants to search the area where the Skagit River begins for gold and copper.... The letter is the latest statement of opposition to the proposal. It follows statements from Seattle and state officials, as well as tribal leaders and a variety of conservation and recreation groups. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

B.C. to appeal decision over control of Trans Mountain pipeline oil to Canada's top court
Attorney General David Eby said British Columbia will appeal the court decision that effectively killed the province's attempt to impose laws that would stop the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.  "We believe we have the right and authority constitutionally to regulate harmful substances through B.C., however they get here," said Eby, announcing the province will appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Eby was reacting to the unanimous decision handed down by the B.C. Court of Appeal on Friday morning that ruled proposed environmental legislation to limit the flow of "heavy oil" into B.C. would be in direct conflict with federal jurisdiction over interprovincial pipelines. Karin Larsen reports. (CBC)

US withdraws train crew proposal that came after explosions
The Trump administration said Thursday it was withdrawing a proposal for freight trains to have at least two crew members, nullifying a safety measure drafted under President Barack Obama in response to explosions of crude oil trains in the U.S. and Canada. A review of accident data did not support the notion that having one crew member is less safe than multi-person crews, Department of Transportation officials said. The withdrawal also seeks to pre-empt states from regulating crew sizes. The 2016 proposal followed oil train derailments including a runaway oil train in 2013 that derailed, exploded and killed 47 people while levelling much of the town of Lac Megantic, Canada. Other derailments of trains carrying oil and ethanol have occurred in North Dakota, Oregon, Montana, Illinois, Virginia and other states. Matthew Brown reports. (Associated Press)

Tumwater oil spill cleanup will soon shift to Capitol Lake
Cleanup following an oil spill at the former Olympia Brewing Co. property in Tumwater will shift to Capitol Lake starting next week. Booms were previously deployed on the lake, but now crews will remove contaminated lake sediment. That work, which could be noisy, is scheduled to happen 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. Is it unknown how long the work will last, according to the state’s Department of Enterprise Services, which manages the lake. Abby Spegman reports. (Olympian)

Barnaby Reach restoration project moves forward
Five years after a proposal to restore fish habitat along Barnaby Slough in the upper Skagit River watershed shocked nearby residents, the project managers have released a study detailing current waterflow conditions in the area and a preliminary design for a portion of the project.... The Barnaby Reach is an area where migration of the Skagit River left side channels including Barnaby Slough, which lies near Rockport between where Illabot Creek and the Sauk River enter the Skagit. Development, however, including a former state fish hatchery, has blocked fish passage to an estimated 78.5 acres of those side channels. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Transient orcas seen feeding on gray whale in Puget Sound
A group of transient killer whales fed on a gray whale in Puget Sound on Saturday. The rare sighting was caught on camera by Naturalist Bart Rulon, on board the Puget Sound Express whale watching boat. Passengers witnessed four Bigg's orcas in typical hunting behavior near Possession Point, on the southeast tip of Whidbey Island. Jennifer King reports. (KING)




Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  248 AM PDT Mon May 27 2019   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 1 to 3 ft in the  afternoon. NW swell 4 ft at 7 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. NW swell 4 ft at 8 seconds.

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

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter. 

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told