Washington Department of Ecology: March 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013

Take five minutes to avoid the most common dangerous waste violation

By Mariann Cook Andrews, Outreach Specialist, Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program

Why is it that some simple things seem to be the ones that don’t get done? Like putting the cap back on the toothpaste? Forgetting to keep toothpaste closed won’t cause much of a problem, except for the next person who wants to use it.

But what about keeping the lid on a drum of used antifreeze? Or a can of waste solvent?

It seems obvious that we should keep lids tight on containers of dangerous waste. In fact, state rules require this. But Ecology inspectors often find containers that are not properly closed. This has even led to penalties in some cases.

Fortunately, Ecology has just released a training video to help with this problem. Dangerous Waste Containers: an Open and Shut Case, explains the rule on keeping containers of dangerous waste closed, in easy to understand language and pictures.

The five-minute video explains that workers must be sure to lock the rings on drums and screw in the bung plug. They should tightly close lids, screw on caps, and make sure containers are intact. There are locking funnels and container tops that meet the requirement if workers need to frequently add waste to a container.

Besides the danger of spills, containers that are not properly closed can release fumes that can sicken workers and contribute to air pollution.

For more information on how to safely handle dangerous waste at your work site, contact your local Ecology office. You can also see:

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Cottage Lake – Watershed Education Helps to Protect a Valuable Resource

By Diane Dent, Water Quality Stories Lead, Water Quality Program

Since the early 1970s, King County’s Cottage Lake has experienced algae blooms due to excessive amounts of phosphorus entering the lake. King County began monitoring the lake and its two inlet streams (Daniels Creek and Cottage Lake Creek) in 1993. As a result of King County’s year-long study, the Cottage Lake Management Plan was created. Data from the lake management plan aided development of the Cottage Lake Water Quality Cleanup Plan (formally known as a Total Maximum Daily Load study) for phosphorus in 2004, followed by the Cottage Lake Water Quality Implementation Plan in 2007.

The problem

Elevated levels of total phosphorus in the lake water led to increased occurrences of blue-green algae blooms. Excessive amounts of noxious weeds, such as White Water Lily and Purple Loosestrife, replaced many native plant species in the lake and its wetland areas. Friends of Cottage Lake (FOCL) spearheaded local efforts in the area to provide education and outreach to residents within the watershed through their website. Once the Cottage Lake Implementation Plan was complete, FOCL and King County worked in partnership to develop the Cottage Lake Total Phosphorus Reduction Plan Grant, provided by Ecology’s Centennial Grant Program.

Milestones and outcomes

King County continues to work in partnership with the FOCL to distribute educational materials and to keep residents interested in protecting Cottage Lake and its watershed. Overall, the response from residents living in the watershed has been positive. However, it has yet to be determined if projects conducted in the grant have influenced a reduction in total phosphorus in Cottage Lake and its inlet streams. Further monitoring and analysis of water quality data in the next few years will help to answer these questions.

Read this full story online.
Story written by Tricia Shoblom, Ecology Northwest Regional Office

Telling our success stories

Water quality success stories provide a wealth of information associated with novel project designs, funding ideas, and useful resource suggestions. Some are clear successes; others supply valuable lessons to help us grow in our understanding of water quality protection and restoration. Stories illustrate successes gained from cooperation among Washington’s citizens and organizations.

Read all of our Ecology's water quality success stories, and check out our complete catalog of stories.

Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Clallam County - Educating Homeowners About Their Septic Systems

By Diane Dent, Water Quality Stories Lead, Water Quality Program

Did you know you are now required to have your septic system inspected every one to three years, depending on what type of system you have?

The problem

When your septic system fails, it’s expensive to repair and a health hazard to you, your family, and your pets. Runoff from a failing septic system can carry untreated sewage across your yard, onto your neighbor’s property, or into surface waters.

Project highlights

The ultimate goal of this project was to improve water quality by improving management of home onsite septic systems. As part of the project the county piloted a “Do It Yourself” (DIY) inspection training program in 2011. The project was successful in educating home on-site septic system owners in the Marine Recovery Area of the Dungeness watershed about the why, when, and how to conduct septic system maintenance.

To learn more about what the results of the project were, read this full story online.
Story written by Tammy Riddell, Ecology Southwest Regional Office

Telling our success stories

Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Wheel-of-Water turns heads

By Diane Dent, Water Quality Stories Lead, Water Quality Program

Visitors of all ages like to take a turn at the wheel.

Ecology’s Northwest Region Water Quality (NWRO-WQ) staff is often invited to participate in educational events. They are also asked to reach both young and older members of the public. Through all these experiences, their continuing challenge is to engage our state residents with information to which they’ll give their attention—and hopefully act on. Both children and adults need to learn new ways of accomplishing day-to-day activities in a more environmentally-friendly way. At events that provide learning opportunities, Ecology NWRO staff needed something fun and informative for both adults and kids.

These problems led them to conceptualize a “Wheel of Fortune”-type of device to engage people at events that happen around Puget Sound each summer. The idea was to have something that caught the attention of adults and children and could be transported, set up, and operated by one staff member.

Find out what they did with the idea, read this full story online.
Story written by DouGlas Palenshus, Ecology Northwest Regional Office

Telling our success stories

Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Why does Hansen Creek look like Normandy Beach?

By Diane Dent, Water Quality Stories Lead, Water Quality Program

Passersby on State Highway 20 above Sedro-Woolley wondered, “What are those acres and acres of jutting posts? Why does it look so much like Normandy Beach in World War II?” As it turns out it was “D-Day” for stream habitat degradation.

The problem

The Hansen Creek project area was originally a forested alluvial fan and wetland. It was cleared and used for farming as early as the 1940s. The site is currently used as a Skagit County park. Over time, this reach of Hansen Creek became a levied, straightened channel maintained by routine dredging. Hansen Creek would flow through the constricted channel and dump tons of sediment onto farms below, both clogging the creek and causing flooding to downstream farmers. Dredging harmed the stream environment and the salmon living in the creek. Five different species of anadromous salmon (fish that spend time in both fresh and sea waters) have been observed in the creek, including two Endangered Species Act species—Chinook and steelhead.

Project highlights

This project re-established natural landscape processes in the Hansen Creek basin. It restored over 140 acres and 17,000 lineal feet of stream, riparian, and floodplain habitat. The project enhanced in-stream habitat complexity, restored channel connection with the floodplain, and developed forested riparian floodplain and flow channels. Side channels provide rearing, foraging, and migration habitat for fish. This project is unique in the size of the floodplain restoration. A project site of this size changes the dynamic of restoration needs along the entire stream. Now, several years after establishing the log “beachhead” on the Hansen Creek floodplain on “D-Day” in July 2009, salmon and water quality “Allies” can celebrate the victory of improved stream channel, less sediment transport below Highway 20, and greatly improved salmon habitat.

Read this full story online
Story written by Joan Nolan, Ecology Northwest Regional Office

Telling our success stories

Water quality success stories provide a wealth of information associated with novel project designs, funding ideas, and useful resource suggestions. Some are clear successes; others supply valuable lessons to help us grow in our understanding of water quality protection and restoration. Stories illustrate successes gained from cooperation among Washington’s citizens and organizations.

Read all of Ecology's water quality success stories, and check out our complete catalog of stories to date.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Air Time: Pellet Stoves are still a good idea

By Rod Tinnemore, Wood Stove Coordinator, Air Quality Program

Pellet Stoves

The pellet stove manufacturers that I’ve met have been creative people who care about the environment. They envisioned pellet stoves back in the 1970s as a remedy to the open burning of sawdust and wood shavings at lumber mills. Today the crude “tee-pee burners” are gone and those wood by-products are made into pellets or compressed logs that heat homes and produce little pollution.

Pellet stoves now come in many styles and levels of sophistication. Some can burn a variety of other pelletized products. Still others can be operated remotely from a smart phone. Nearly all produce less pollution than most wood stoves.

There are also challenges along with these benefits. Pellet quality is not standardized or regulated, much to the dismay of consumers. Pellets sold as “premium” may in fact be of lesser quality with a higher percentages of bark. They may also contain mixtures of potentially toxic materials like plastics and pressure treated wood. EPA plans to address pellet quality through a national pellet standard in the near future. A strict standard is already in place in Europe.

Another drawback to pellet stoves has been their need for electricity, which renders most of them useless during power outages. Current technology has overcome much of that problem with improved motors, advanced battery back-up systems that can run the stove for days, and even pellet stoves that require no electricity at all.

The cost and transportation of pellets continues to be another challenge. Parts of Europe have replaced their fuel oil delivery network with a wood pellet network. Homes are equipped with bulk hoppers; trucks deliver bulk pellets through pneumatic hoses, and homes utilize high efficiency, very clean pellet devices. The concept is achievable here in the U.S. but price and delivery barriers must be overcome.

Pellet stoves can be stylish, have low emissions and don’t require wood hauling, splitting, and storage. So if you want to burn wood but don’t want the mess or effort of cordwood, consider a modern pellet stove.

For more information about using heating with wood in Washington, see Wood Stoves, Fireplaces, Pellet Stoves and Masonry Heaters.

Tacoma Smelter Plume: Public Meeting in Ruston/North Tacoma this Thursday!

By Jill Jacobson, Outreach Coordinator, Toxic Cleanup Program

This Thursday, we are holding a public meeting on the Tacoma Smelter Plume-Residential Yard Sampling and Cleanup program design.

Thursday, March 28th, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Point Defiance Elementary School Cafeteria, 4330 N. Visscher St., Tacoma

6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Open house session
7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Presentation, question and answer
8:00 - 8:30 p.m. Open house session

Comment period ends April 29th, 2013

Please send your written comments on the yard program design to Amy Hargrove, Remediation Manager at P.O. Box 47775, Olympia, WA 98504-7775 or Amy.Hargrove@ecy.wa.gov. Check our comment period webpage for more information.

Contact me at Jill.Jacobson@ecy.wa.gov or 360-407-6245 to make sure you are on the mailing list for updates and announcements.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Free ocean acidification seminar coming to Bellingham March 28

By Sandy Howard

Some members of Washington state's Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification will be in Bellingham for a free seminar on this important and local topic.

The event will be held at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal on Thursday, March 28, from 6-8 p.m.

Topics to be covered include the science of ocean acidification, regional and local implications to the food web, and recommendations from the recently released Blue Ribbon Panel report on ocean acidification.

Betsy Peabody, the founder of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund, will address “Local Impacts, Local Solutions.” Peabody was a member of the Washington State Panel on Ocean Acidification.
Brad Warren, also a member of the panel and Director for the Global Ocean Health Program of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and National Fisheries Conservation Center, will review the panel’s work and present “Recommendations, Partnerships and Actions.”
Whatcom County Councilman Carl Weimer will open the event.

The seminar is sponsored by Whatcom County Marine Resources Committee (MRC), the Northwest Straits Commission, the Port of Bellingham, Taylor Shellfish, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, the National Fisheries Conservation Center, the Puget Sound Partnership, the National Fisheries Conservation Center and the Puget Sound Restoration Fund.

To address the threat of increasingly corrosive marine waters, former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire appointed the 28-member Washington State Panel on Ocean Acidification in February 2012. It was co-chaired by Bill Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Jay Manning, former director of the Washington Department of Ecology. The panel presented its findings and 42 recommendations November 27 in Seattle.

Learn more at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/water/marine/oceanacidification.html.

Cleaning up: Two pipeline properties close to clean bill of health

By Brook Beeler, communication manager

Northwest Pipeline Meter Stations, Moses Lake and Mead

Public comments are being sought for removing two natural gas meter stations from the state Hazardous Sites List. Soil and gravel were contaminated with mercury on both sites and arsenic was also present at the Mead station. The main source of contamination was most likely from accidental spills during maintenance and calibration of equipment used at the sites.

Northwest Pipeline entered the Voluntary Cleanup Program, which allows property owners to perform cleanup independently and receive technical assistance from Ecology.

Original assessments in 1990 identified the contamination in soil. Contractors removed the contaminated soils and gravels from each site. More than 107 tons of soil and gravel were removed from the Mead site, and more than 132 tons of soil and gravel were removed from the Moses Lake site. Sampling in 2011 indicates no further cleanup actions are required at either site.

You can read more about the effects of mercury and arsenic on human health at the Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Public Comment

Ecology will review and respond to the public comments received about the removal of each site from the Hazardous Sites List. The sites will be removed if no significant changes are made based on public feedback.

Documents are available at Ecology’s office at 4601 N. Monroe St. in Spokane. Call Kari Johnson at 509-329-3415 for an appointment.

Or you can view them online:

Northwest Pipeline Moses Lake Meter Station Site
Send comments by April 15, 2013 to Patti Carter, patti.carter@ecy.wa.gov

Northwest Pipeline Mead Meter Station Site
Send comments by April 20, 2013 to: Patti Carter, patti.carter@ecy.wa.gov

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Tacoma Smelter Plume: Yard cleanup program comment period starts today

By Hannah Aoyagi, Tacoma Smelter Plume project, Toxics Cleanup Program

Tacoma Smelter Plume Residential Yard Sampling and
Cleanup Program Service Area

Some yards in Ruston, west Tacoma, and south Vashon-Maury Island could have high levels of arsenic and lead from the former Asarco smelter in Tacoma. Ecology has a new program to find and clean up these yards. We call it the Residential Yard Sampling and Cleanup Program, or "Yard Program."

How the Yard Program Works

Within our program service area, we will offer soil sampling for around 4,600 yards. We will clean up areas of yards with arsenic at or above 90 parts per million (ppm) or lead at or above 500 ppm. This is a voluntary program, but we do strongly encourage participation.

Where and when does the Yard Program begin?

This year, we will start cleaning up yards inside the Ruston/North Tacoma Study Area (or EPA Study Area, as shown on the map). This one square mile area is part of the Asarco smelter Superfund site. Most yards have already been sampled and many were cleaned up. However, many yards still have average arsenic over 90 ppm and we plan to offer cleanup for those yards. Residents of this area can find their property information on our soil arsenic database.

Later this year, we will likely begin soil sampling on southern Vashon-Maury Island and in west Tacoma. Homeowners: If you would like to give Ecology permission to sample your yard, you can fill out an access form now.

March 14 - April 29 Comment Period

We are looking for comments on the draft design document for the Yard Program. We would like to hear your questions and concerns about the program. You can find more information and links to fact sheets and the design document on our comment period web page.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Ecology celebrates Women's History Month

by Kim Schmanke, special projects, Communication and Education

“How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself." - Anais Nin

In recognition of the 2013 Women’s History Month, Ecology is celebrating the women who did just that for Washington state’s environment. We’ll also add Gov. Chris Gregoire to Ecology’s Pushing the River environmental education exhibit that celebrates pioneering women in the environmental movement.

The project was created by Evergreen State College students in 1993 and toured the state before being purchased by Ecology. It features five women with a significant impact on Washington’s environmental movement between the 1960s and 1980s:

Betty Tabbutt, who became the primary lobbyist for natural resource issues on behalf of the League of Women Voters.
Joan Thomas, who helped found the Washington Environmental Council and played a critical role in the legislature while they were deliberating creation of the Dept. of Ecology.
Jackie Reid, who organized conservation districts statewide by working with the Legislature, Soil Conservation Programs and the services previously offered by Granges.
Hazel Wolf, created twenty-six Audubon Society Chapters across the state, providing a concrete link between birds and their habitat needs, and thousands of Washingtonians; then went on to speak around the world for preservation of ancient forests.
Doris Cellarius, who organized the national Sierra Club Toxics Committee, which has consistently challenged or reversed uses and waste disposal of toxic chemicals for over 40 years in all 50 states.

Gregoire was originally considered for the exhibit. However, the artists didn’t want her selection to be misinterpreted as Gregoire had recently declared a run for Attorney General.

The exhibit is being shown in Ecology’s headquarters building lobby through March. A ceremony to add the Governor to the show will be on March 28.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Ocean acidification seminar set for Anacortes March 13

By Sandy Howard

Skagit County residents wanting to learn more about ocean acidification are invited to a free seminar from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 13, in the Seafarers’ Memorial Park Building, 100 Commercial Ave. in Anacortes.

Ocean acidification results from CO2 emissions being absorbed from the atmosphere into seawater, forming carbonic acid. This alters ocean chemistry and endangers sea life. Between 2005 and 2009, up to 80 percent of the oyster larvae in in some Washington hatcheries were killed by acidification before the problem was identified and temporary counter-measures were taken. As the nation’s leading supplier of shellfish and with the seafood industry one of the state’s major employers, Washington has much to lose from the effects of continued high CO2 emissions.

The seminar, hosted by the Skagit County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) features:

Brady Olson, a Western Washington University marine biologist at Shannon Point Marine Center, speaking on “What is Ocean Acidification?”
Bill Dewey, communications and public policy director for Taylor Shellfish Farms, the largest farmed shellfish producer in North America, will address “How Are Shellfish Coping?” Dewey was a member of the Washington state panel on Ocean Acidification.
Brad Warren, also a member of the panel and director for the Global Ocean Health Program of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership and National Fisheries Conservation Center, will review the panel’s work and present “Recommendations, Partnerships and Actions.”

Tom Wooten, Samish Indian Nation Tribal Chairman and Skagit County MRC member and Director of Natural Resources for the Samish Christine Woodward state, “Those of us who live by the Salish Sea must be especially vigilant as our waters are particularly vulnerable to acidification. We need to educate ourselves and our communities about the problem and then move from knowledge to action. By working together, we can reduce the effects of acidification through such means as controlling all potential pollution sources of our sacred air, water and land.”

To address the threat of increasingly corrosive marine waters, former Gov. Christine Gregoire appointed the 28-member Washington State Panel on Ocean Acidification in February 2012. It was co-chaired by Bill Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Jay Manning, former director of the Washington Department of Ecology. The panel presented its findings and 42 recommendations November 27 in Seattle. Learn more about ocean acidification in Washington State.

In addition to the Skagit County MRC, the event is sponsored by the Northwest Straits Commission, Puget Sound Partnership, Port of Anacortes, National Fisheries Conservation Center and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.

If you have questions, contact Tracy Alker, tracya@co.skagit.wa.us, 360-336-9400.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

At the Water’s Edge: Updated aquaculture online resources

By Cedar Bouta, Environmental Planner, Shorelands & Environmental Assistance Program

Suquamish Tribe’s shellfish nursery raft in Poulsbo marina. Photo by Keri Weaver. Courtesy of City of Poulsbo.

Icicle Seafoods’ net pen at Ediz Hook, Port Angeles.

Chinook salmon. Courtesy of WDFW.

Aquaculture is the culture or farming of fish, shellfish, or other aquatic plants and animals. It occurs in all types of water bodies – from lakes and streams to Puget Sound and the coast – and includes restoring, planting, growing, harvesting, transporting and selling fish, shellfish and aquatic plants.

Citizens and local governments wanting to learn more about aquaculture science and policies can visit Ecology’s updated online shellfish and net pen resources.

Aquaculture is an historic, water-dependent use of Washington’s shorelines preceding Washington statehood in 1889. Commercial shellfish aquaculture, for instance, has operated in our waters for well over 100 years and finfish net pens for almost 40 years.

Both types of operations are subject to many different federal, state and local regulations.

Shoreline master programs and aquaculture

Several local governments bordering marine waters are updating their shoreline master programs and related permitting requirements for aquaculture. A shoreline master program combines local plans for future shoreline development and preservation with new development ordinances and related permitting requirements.

These local programs must comply with the state Shoreline Management Act, passed by voter referendum in 1972, and related standards, referred to as “guidelines.”

The updating process provides an opportunity for citizens to get involved in shaping the future of their shorelines.

Concerns about aquaculture

Some elected officials and citizens have raised concerns about potential adverse environmental and economic effects from commercial aquaculture – especially geoduck operations and Puget Sound net pen operations raising Atlantic salmon.

Concerns include:

Effects on endangered native salmon.
Introduction of disease and non-native species.
Interference with navigation.
Loss of shoreline access and aesthetics.

Many of these issues are addressed through state and federal regulations. Local governments also have the option to require substantial development permits and/or conditional use permits for new commercial aquaculture.

Ecology relies on partner expertise

Based on the best scientific knowledge and advice from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Geological Survey,Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington Department of Natural Resources, Ecology has concluded that when properly sited and operated, commercial net pens are compatible with a healthy marine environment.

On Jan. 10, 2013, Ecology hosted a state and federal employee symposium about the science and management of commercial net pens. We have posted videos from the event.

Ecology is working with cities and counties and using the most relevant science to inform our review and approval of local shoreline program updates. The content of these updated programs will have a strong influence on the future of aquaculture in Washington.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Fecal Matters: Beach Reopens at Lincoln Park in West Seattle

BEACH Program Update

Seattle, WA - The beach at Lincoln Park in West Seattle is now open for water recreation. Beach closure signs were previously posted on March 2, 2013 due to a nearby sewer pump station overflow.

The Seattle-King County Public Health District removed the closure March 5, 2013 after multiple follow-up samples indicated low bacteria levels at the park beach.

Visit the BEACH web site to find the latest results for these and other saltwater beaches: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/beach/

Stay updated about water quality at your beaches by keeping up with us on our blog Fecal Matters, on Facebook, or join our listserv.

Christopher Clinton is the interim BEACH Program Manager and can be reached at christopher.clinton@ecy.wa.gov

Fecal Matters: Beach Closure at Lincoln Park in Seattle

BEACH Program Update

On March 2, 2013, the Seattle-King County Public Health District issued a beach closure at Lincoln Park in West Seattle. The closure was issued due to an overflow at a nearby sewer pump station. Crews responded immediately to stop the leak. The public is advised to avoid contact with the water. The utility is following up with water quality sampling.

Contact with fecal contaminated waters can result in gastroenteritis, skin rashes, upper respiratory infections and other illnesses. Children and the elderly may be more vulnerable to waterborne illnesses.

Stay updated about water quality at your beaches by keeping up with us on our blog Fecal Matters, on Facebook, or join our listserv.

Christopher Clinton is the interim BEACH Program Manager and is available at 360-407-6154 or christopher.clinton@ecy.wa.gov for questions.

Monday, March 4, 2013

NOAA to talk tsunami debris during March 6 ‘Tweetchat’

by Linda Kent, communication manager, Southwest Regional Office

In the two years since a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, state and federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have done much to prepare for the potential arrival of tsunami debris.

The March 11, 2011, tragedy claimed nearly 16,000 lives, injured about 6,000 people and destroyed or damaged countless buildings. The Japanese government estimates the tsunami swept about 5 million tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, but about 70 percent sank near shore shortly afterwards.

The remaining 1.5 million tons – much of it lumber and wood – dispersed far across the North Pacific Ocean, and some has reached U.S. shores – including Washington.

NOAA remains the best source for Japan tsunami marine debris information, including modeling predicting where and debris might arrive, protocols for handling marine debris, and frequently asked questions and answers about tsunami debris.

NOAA is collaborating with state, federal, tribal and local partners to collect data, assess the debris, and reduce possible tsunami debris impacts to our coastal communities and natural resources.

Participate in March 6 ‘Tweetchat’

NOAA will hold a ‘Tweetchat’ to talk about tsunami debris with Nancy Wallace, Director for NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, on Wednesday, March 6 starting at noon Pacific Time (3 p.m. Eastern Time).

To participate, Tweet your questions to @NOAAdebris using hashtag #TsunamiDebris

Get answers to questions such as:

What types of debris are expected to reach U.S. shores and where?
Is the debris radioactive?
What should I do if I see debris?

Learn more about the Tweetchat here: http://go.usa.gov/4SVT

Other information resources

More general tsunami debris information is available at NOAA's Information and FAQs page.
Learn more about Washington State efforts here: http://marinedebris.wa.gov/

Friday, March 1, 2013

Eyes Over Puget Sound for February 26

By Sandy Howard, Communications Manager, Environmental Assessment Program

We’ve just posted the latest aerial photos of Puget Sound surface conditions taken on Feb. 26 here.

Personal flight log

Better than a cup of coffee: Marine monitoring on the morning radio! Listen to marine flight technician Mya Keyzers discuss Eyes here.

Weather conditions

The weather has been cloudy but rivers are running below normal. Air temperatures are above normal in the extreme north and at or below normal over Puget Sound. Winds have been predominantly out of the south.

Water column and mooring

Does the 2-year pattern of colder, fresher and more oxygenated Puget Sound water persist? Possession Sound has very predictable dissolved oxygen layer at 11-16 meters.

Aerial photography

We saw many large tidal eddies. Jellyfish aggregations continue to go h3 this winter in many inlets. There is an early algae bloom in Hood Canal and Eld Inlet. We spotted multiple oil sheens in Seattle waterways.

Ferry and satellite

The Victoria Clipper IV has been moved to shipyard for annual maintenance so no data is available.

“Eyes Over Puget Sound” combines high-resolution photo observations with satellite images, en route ferry data between Seattle and Victoria BC, and measurements from our moored instruments.

Learn more about Ecology's marine water quality monitoring program and see more Eyes Over Puget Sound reports.

Sign up to receive email notifications about the latest “Eyes Over Puget Sound” by subscribing to Ecology’s email listserv.