4/14 Tailed frog, Phillips 66 tank farm, WA toxic rules, Hood Canal Bridge, Fukushima wastewater, 'murder hornets,' WA coast cleanup, gray whale infection, TM spill

Coastal Tailed Frog [Heidi Rockney/Burke Museum]

 
Coastal Tailed Frog Ascaphus truei
The Coastal Tailed Frog is found from the Cascade mountains to the coast; in higher mountain elevations, the population in southeastern Washington has recently been separated into a different species, Ascaphus montanus. It is one of the most primitive of all frogs and their closest living relatives are in New Zealand. (Burke Museum)

‘A Win for Whales’-Court pauses Cherry Point refinery expansion
Hailed as a victory for orcas, Whatcom County Superior Court rejected a project application from the Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery to install a 300,000-barrel crude oil storage tank and an 80,000-barrel floating storage tank for fuel oil in a tank farm within the refinery at Cherry Point. The decision could require the Phillip’s 66 refinery to provide additional details about the purpose and specifics of the proposed storage facility. Tim Johnson reports. (Cascadia Weekly)

Revised toxic-cleanup rules will increase focus on environmental justice
Support for environmental justice is being carefully woven into new toxic-cleanup rules for prioritizing and carrying out cleanups at thousands of contaminated sites across Washington state. Chris Dunagan writes. (Puget Sound Institute)

Why Aren't Steelhead Making It Past The Hood Canal Bridge?
The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe has been trying to figure out why juvenile steelhead are not getting past the Hood Canal Bridge. Traffic noise? Light pollution? Water quality? Wave action? Dissolved oxygen issues? Nope. Mostly, it’s the bridge itself. (NW Treaty Tribes)

Japan To Dump Wastewater From Wrecked Fukushima Nuclear Plant Into Pacific Ocean
Japan's government announced a decision to begin dumping more than a million tons of treated but still radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean in two years. The plant was severely damaged in a 2011 magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami that left about 20,000 people in northeast Japan dead or missing. Anthony Kuhn reports. (NPR)

New rules aim to help Washington state fight ‘murder hornets’ and protect us from them
All species of hornets, including “murder hornets,” would be added to the list of quarantined pests under new rules being considered by the Washington state Department of Agriculture. A hearing will be held on the proposed rules on May 11. (Associated Press)

Washington coast cleanup set for Saturday
Eight thousand pounds: Piece by piece, it got picked up from beaches across the North Olympic Peninsula in September, making the coast cleaner. This Saturday, another Washington CoastSavers Cleanup will bring people out to the water, albeit to fewer beaches than usual. Diane Urbani de la Paz reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Federal scientists keep an eye on tagged gray whale after possible infection
Federal scientists say a gray whale that might have developed complications from a satellite tag appears to be doing OK. It was tagged by NOAA Fisheries in September as part of a pilot study to track the movements of about 250 gray whales. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX) Grey whale off Vancouver Island given antibiotics after lesions found around tag site  (Canadian Press)

Failed fitting caused 190,000 litre spill at Trans Mountain site in B.C.
A Transportation Safety Board report says the failure of a fitting on a section of narrow tubing at a Trans Mountain pumping station in British Columbia was the cause of a crude oil spill last year. The investigation report into the spill on June 12, 2020, at the Trans Mountain Sumas pump station in Abbotsford confirms as much as 190,000 litres of crude, roughly 1,200 barrels, leaked when the fitting separated on the one-inch tube. (Canadian Press)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  255 AM PDT Wed Apr 14 2021   
TODAY  E wind to 10 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 13 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt easing to 10 kt after midnight. Wind  waves 1 to 2 ft subsiding to 1 ft or less after midnight. W swell  3 ft at 13 seconds.

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