How could our Brownfields program help your community?

Travel through a community of any size and you’re likely to see old gas stations, shuttered industrial facilities, or former farms – all of which may have environmental contamination. These abandoned or underutilized properties are known as brownfields. Our Brownfields Program helps put them back into use, allowing communities to bring their redevelopment visions to life.

Remediation realized

Ecology works with local governments, non-profits, tribes, and community stakeholders across Washington who are interested in cleaning up brownfields. We can help match your project to one or more of the wide range of federal and state funding and technical assistance opportunities.

Need inspiration to get your brownfield project going? Watch Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove share how his city partnered with Ecology and others to clean up the abandoned, contaminated Palouse Producers property on their main street:



Have a project of your own in mind? We invite you to join our Washington-Brownfields email list to receive updates about our efforts to support communities with redevelopment.

Learn more online

Following on the success of our 2019 Washington State Brownfields Conference, our updated brownfields website includes more information about funding opportunities, how to locate brownfield properties in your community, and access to print materials and presentations from the conference.

If you missed the conference, visit the Center for Creative Land Recycling blog, where they recapped the highlights in their “Brownfield Spotlight in Spokane” June 6 post. Big thanks to the Northwest Environmental Business Council and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as to our sponsors, session presenters, and attendees for bringing your knowledge and interest to this important topic! We’ll use feedback received on the follow-up survey to plan future conferences and workshops.

Upcoming events

• Infrastructure Assistance Coordinating Council Conference; October 22–24, 2019; Wenatchee, WA. Come see us; we’re presenting at a few sessions!
• Brownfields 2019: Sustainable Communities Start Here; December 11–13, 2019; Los Angeles, CA
• Stay tuned for information on the spring 2020 Oregon Brownfields Conference. 2018 conference materials are available.

Composting at the office turns would-be waste into valuable product

By Michelle Andrews, organics specialist, and Erika Holmes, communications

Food is the largest component of our garbage by weight, at 17 percent in Washington and 21 percent nationwide. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, about 40 percent of the food grown in the United States isn’t eaten. Meanwhile, about 15 percent of our population doesn’t know where their next meal will come from.

Ecology Experts Assist Craft Brew Alliance to Produce Better Beer with a Better Bottom Line

By Joanne Lind, communications, Hazardous Waste & Toxics Reduction

Most breweries are focused on getting product out the door. They have little time to consider what their wastes are costing them.

Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) is trying a new approach with the help of Ecology’s Technical Resources for Engineering Efficiency (TREE) team. CBA’s sustainability manager Julia Person asked us to assist her team in cutting waste and increasing efficiency. The goal was to eliminate as much waste as possible, while becoming more productive and continuing to produce great libations.

CBA is the merger of leading Pacific Northwest craft brewers: Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing, and Kona Brewing Company. Together they aim to preserve and grow one-of-a-kind craft beers and brands. The TREE team focused on the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville. The facility’s expansive grounds host many events and include a tasting room and a full-service restaurant. Redhook wanted to improve their solid waste handling and recycling.

Cutting waste and increasing energy efficiency saves money

Our TREE team visited Redhook several times (at no charge to the company) and suggested a number of ways to reduce waste and save money. One was to carefully separate bottles, cans, and other recyclables from solid wastes coming out of the restaurant.

But the brewery also had high surcharges on their sewer bill due to excessive organic material in their discharge. Breweries struggle with this type of waste because their discharges contain expired beer product, spent grain liquids, and other brewery liquids. The trick was figuring out how to better manage these wastes. We recommended diverting spent yeast, grains, and liquids from the sewer, and instead providing them to local dairy farms for cattle feed. This got the organic materials out of their discharges and ended the high sewer surcharge.

Ecology audit identifies waste

To help Redhook with energy costs, the TREE team conducted an audit of machinery on their production line. We used an infrared device to find compressor air leaks and motors not functioning efficiently. The air leak audit found 48 leaks costing the company about $19,000 each year in electricity. The motor function audit found 18 motors and 20 gear boxes running hotter than normal.

Fixing these problems will save the brewery about 216,531 kilowatt hours per year and cut more than 17,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions - in addition to the money saved.

Redhook boasts impressive results. So far, they:

• Reduced the costs of both sewer and electricity.
• Eliminated the water-soap mixture used to move bottles in favor of a liquid-free bottling line. This is expected to bring an even larger drop in water usage and sewer fees.
• Educated others by hosting a workshop to share what they learned. They also helped other breweries connect with resources throughout the Northwest Region, such as our TREE team and the Pollution Prevention Resource Center.

CBA is applying the improved practices they learned from Ecology’s TREE team to their other brewery facilities. And they’re discovering more improvements and innovations on their own. They realize cutting waste and conserving water and energy are big money savers and good for business. Beer drinkers can toast to that!

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Janicki Industries scores triple win: A P2 success story

By Mariann Cook-Andrews, Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist, Hazardous Waste & Toxics Reduction Program

Janicki workers apply a “peel ply” to a tool surface before

infusing the part with resin.

Janicki Industries, a composite fabrication company, scored a triple win on the preventing pollution (P2) scoreboard in 2013. They cut their dangerous waste by 20,000 pounds, saving $50,000 in the process, and improving their employees’ working conditions!

“It’s a lot cleaner environment for employees,” said Darren Wilson, Janicki’s Environmental Health and Safety Officer.

Janicki produces large-scale, high-precision molds and prototypes in its Hamilton and Sedro-Woolley facilities. They make templates in the Sedro-Woolley shop and use those templates to produce final products from carbon-fiber fabric and resin at the Hamilton shop.

Lower styrene emissions from process changes

Janicki lowered their styrene emissions at the Sedro-Woolley shop by switching to low-pressure impingement-spray equipment for resin.

Previously they used high pressure and a single nozzle for spraying. That pressure wasted material because it created an atomized “mist” of resin around the spray stream. Now, two nozzles using lower pressure “impinge” the spray streams into each other. This creates a “flow coat” without the wasted mist.

The vacuum-infusion system they use for some products also helps the air quality. Workers lay the carbon-fiber fabric on the template, then bag and seal the entire item. A vacuum pump sucks epoxy resin into the bag and throughout the fabric. The only emission is the exhaust from the vacuum pump.

“It looks like a shop where they’re [just] putting tools together. You’d hardly notice that they’re using resins,” said Wilson.

Shop towels dropped from two drums per day to one drum per week

Workers use hundreds of shop towels for cleaning the tools and products. At one time Janicki was filling two 55-gallon drums with solvent-soaked disposable rags every day. This was all dangerous waste they had to manage and dispose of at considerable cost. Switching to reusable rags has cut the waste to one drum per week. An industrial laundry cleans and returns the reusable rags.

Special orders can create more waste

The company also reduced their hazardous waste by instituting a better system for buying and storing materials. Janicki is a custom shop, where customers set the specifications. Each job is a special order and may use special supplies. They frequently had to dispose of off-specification materials. The materials also have a shelf life and may expire before the company can use them up. This added to the company’s dangerous waste. Their new system is “still a work in progress,” according to Wilson, but it is already helping the company cut back on the amount of dangerous waste they create.

Impressive? Yes, and you can find more inspiring stories on Ecology’s Pollution Prevention Success Stories web pages.

Could your business benefit from a visit with our Toxics Reduction staff? They can help with your pollution prevention (P2) efforts. Contact your regional office.

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IDEX goes from large to small generator and $aves thousands: A P2 success story

How waste designation saved IDEX in disposal costs

By Erin Jeffries, Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist, Hazardous Waste & Toxics Reduction Program

IDEX Health and Science in Oak Harbor, WA

The company

IDEX Health and Science is a global manufacturer. Their facility in Oak Harbor, Washington, makes products under the Upchurch Scientific and ISMATEC brands. They make fluidics – the tiny tubes, pumps, fittings, and filters used in labs and medical facilities. These products must meet precise standards.  

Know if a waste is dangerous – Designation changes everything

Businesses are required to “designate” their wastes. Designation assigns each type of waste a code. It helps determine whether a waste is considered dangerous and how it must be managed.

Correctly designating their wastes saved IDEX about $2,500 annually.

IDEX already reduced pollution by switching to a non-halogenated coolant, but they were disposing of it as dangerous, persistent waste. During a routine inspection, an Ecology dangerous waste inspector suggested testing the waste to help designate correctly.

IDEX followed up and tested their spent coolant. In this case, they needed to analyze it with a fish bioassay test. They discovered that it’s not considered dangerous waste, which saved disposal costs for 1,200 pounds of spent coolant per year.

The company later decided to look at their spent citric acid waste. Citric acid is used to protect stainless steel in their products from rust. Using the designation process, they discovered that their spent citric acid was not considered dangerous waste. This reduced their waste generation by 1,100 pounds per year.

Equipment improvements gain efficiencies

IDEX uses a saline solution in the equipment that cuts stainless steel tubing. A new kind of equipment requires only one percent of the saline compared to what they were using. Upgrading the cutting equipment reduced the saline waste by 1,600 pounds per year. As a result, they no longer have to dispose spent saline as dangerous waste.

The new equipment requires less water, so the upgrade also cut most of the water used in the process.

Results

Reducing dangerous waste meant big results. IDEX was able to move from being a Large Quantity Generator of Dangerous Waste to a Medium Quantity Generator in 2005, then to a Small Quantity Generator in 2012. This means IDEX now has lower disposal costs and they save on their Pollution Prevention Planning Fee. They also have fewer regulations to follow – which reduces waste management costs.

Ecology Toxics Reduction Engineer Dan Ferguson said, “IDEX Oak Harbor put a lot of effort into reducing waste generation through research, testing, pilot projects, and working with its employees to find solutions.”

Reductions of dangerous waste per year:

• 1,000 pounds spent coolant
• 1,100 pounds spent citric acid
• 1,600 pounds spent saline

Annual cost savings:

• $4,290 in waste disposal
• Reduced regulatory requirements, reducing staff time spent on waste management

Could your business benefit from a visit with our Toxics Reduction staff? They can help with your pollution prevention (P2) efforts. Contact your regional office.

For more P2 success stories, visit Ecology's website.

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Earth ... pass it on: Spills Prevention

Spills Prevention Team helps safeguard Puget Sound

by Lisa Copeland, communications manager, Spills Program

They aren’t a huge team, but they have a tall order. The Spills Prevention Team is helping ensure our waters stay clean by keeping spills from happening in the first place.

On a daily basis, Ecology’s team of maritime and environmental experts conduct ship inspections (which includes fishing vessels, container ships, car carriers, grain ships, log ships, and general cargo ships) and passenger ship inspections on board ships of 300 gross tons and larger. These ships range in length of approximately 150 feet to over 1100 feet long.


Ecology’s Laura Stratton, vessel inspector,

reviews  required documentation for oil-spill prevention.

Inspectors are looking at the equipment used when bunkering (fueling from a barge), the process used during fuel transfers, procedures in place in the event of a spill, and any gaps that can be identified that increase efficiency and minimize the chance of human error.

Ships' officers and Ecology work together

“Vessel inspectors talk with senior officers on the ships that call in our waters,” said Laura Stratton, vessel inspector. “Our objective is to raise their awareness of the importance of preventing oil spills and serious marine accidents. The face-to-face discussion on how to accomplish this is what makes the difference.”

Areas of discussion include work and rest hours, preventive maintenance, emergency procedures, training, and much more. Inspectors verify that crews are following state and federal rules and they provide recommendations for improvement. But how do they know when they are successful? How does one capture the number of spills that almost occurred? It’s not easy, but every now again inspectors receive feedback like the following letter from YM that confirms the work they’re doing is valued and taken seriously. And who knows? Maybe a spill or two was avoided.

Letter from a ship's captain

Good morning!

With reference to the Vessel Boarding Evaluation conducted on board YM North at your good port firstly, I want to express my sincere gratitude for your valuable recommendations aiming at upgrading the vessels’ capability as to environmental protection and secondly, I would like to take this opportunity to explain what have been done in addressing the recommendations.

1. A fleet circular “EMD-140303-1 CIRC-Precaution of Bunker Operations in US port” was issued on Mar/03/2014 describing the said recommendations in detail and means to achieve the relevant requirements.

2. Washington regulations with regard to bunkering were studied and Information was gained by shipboard experience from Chief Engineers for the preparation of revision to the SMS procedures.

3. Revision to the SMS procedures with regard to bunkering was announced to fleet by an Observation List required by Company internal procedures to request shipboard staff to take such recommendations and Company instructions into consideration while making risk assessment for bunkering prior to the dissemination of the revised SMS procedures.

I really hope the above can satisfy you that YM always commit in the continuous Improvement in safety, health and environmental protection and please contact me if you have any doubt or advices in this connection. ~ Capt. John Ba;

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Re-use Center saves money and resources

By Tina Simcich, Green Purchasing, Waste 2 Resource Program

Need some binder clips? Looking for office organizing supplies? Want file labels NOW?!

At Ecology’s Lacey building, you can quickly find these items and more just an elevator ride away. Instead of purchasing new products, staff and agency purchasing coordinators often find what they need in the Re-use Center. Our new video takes you on a journey to the “treasure trove” organized by shipping and receiving warehouse staff.



The Re-use Center a quick way to restock supply rooms at no cost. "I find something our program needs each time I go down there. Usually, I check the Re-use Center for an item before placing a purchase request. I think it’s a pretty cool place, and sometimes I find supplies are in packaging that isn’t even opened," Purchasing Coordinator Divina Clark remarked about her experience.

Ecology saves money by avoiding the purchase of new items. Reuse also means avoiding the hassle of putting in a purchasing order and takes a load off of Ecology’s busy staff.

Many agencies and businesses are seeking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, wastes and other environmental impacts through a focus on sustainable consumption, including source reduction. Source reduction minimizes the quantity and toxicity of materials that later need to be disposed. Re-use can be a big part of source reduction as each file folder, stapler or calculator can be used by several staff until its functional life is over.

The Benefits of Re-use 

• Eliminates the cost of and shipping fees for new products.
• Reduces waste that is sent to landfills.
• Reduces the costs and waste of new product packaging.
• Reduces staff time to process purchase orders.
• Reduces toxics and greenhouse gases associated with the lifecycle of new products.

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Protecting air, land, water ... and saving lives!

By Erika Holmes, communications manager, Lacey

Ecology sets the bar high for state agency blood drives. So much so that the Puget Sound Blood Center recognized our employees' contributions with the following note of gratitude:

"Each year, the Department of Ecology holds more blood drives than any other donor group, and their blood drives consistently achieve or exceed their registration goal. In 2013, Ecology held 12 blood drives -- 173 different donors collectively gave 408 pints of blood.

This group's most recent amazing accomplishment was having 59 donors come to their two-day blood drive held the Thursday and Friday before Christmas. Because each pint of blood is divided into three usable components, in 2013, 1,224 patients in our community received blood that was donated at the Department of Ecology. And this group has been consistently excellent for decades.

Since April of 1994, the Department of Ecology has held 149 blood drives with 6,456 registrations. That's an average of 43 donors per drive. There are 303 past donors at the Department of Ecology, and more than half of them, 164 to be exact, are members of the prestigious Gallon Club; 7 more will receive their gallon pin at their next donation. Every great group needs a great coordinator. Allen Robbins has been overseeing the Ecology blood drives and has done an extraordinary job." -- Tori Fairhurst, Donor Representative, Puget Sound Blood Center

Ecology's ample donations were recognized with a handmade glass bowl by artist Ginger Kelly at the Puget Sound Blood Center's 2014 Partners in Life awards ceremony. Allen Robbins, who's been coordinating blood drives at Ecology's Lacey office since 1994, accepted the award. He also organized another drive earlier this week!

For more photos of the 2014 Partners in Life awards ceremony in Olympia, view Puget Sound Blood Center's Flickr album.

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Moses Lake Industries saves millions by shrinking waste: A P2 success story

By Erin Jeffries, Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist, Hazardous Waste & Toxics Reduction Program

Participating in the Department of Ecology's Pollution Prevention (P2) Program, Moses Lake Industries, Inc. (MLI) achieved several million dollars in savings over the last five years through waste reduction, on-site treatment, recycling, water reuse, and efficiency improvements.

The company

Moses Lake Industries, Inc.

Named after its hometown of Moses Lake, Washington, MLI specializes in producing ultra-high purity chemicals for the semiconductor industry. MLI products are used worldwide and have been recognized for their high quality. The company has received multiple product quality awards from customers for ten years in a row.

How they achieved results

In 2009, MLI began to treat their corrosive hazardous waste following the Department of Ecology’s Treatment by Generator guidance. Neutralizing the waste and evaporating its residue reduces the dangerous waste’s volume by up to 90 percent. Treating waste on site prevents potential pollution off site.

MLI also conserves water. They reuse plastic totes and drums returned from their customers, which are rinsed with high purity water before refilling. Rinsing generates a significant amount of corrosive wastewater. The company started a water reduction program that eliminates half of the dangerous wastewater.

Methanol is a byproduct of their manufacturing process. They use the methanol as fuel for their process boiler, reducing the need to purchase propane fuel. Surplus methanol has also been sold for use as a source material in the biodiesel industry.

In 2010, MLI jump-started their recycling program and was able to redirect 20 percent of solid waste to recycling. In the past three years, they have been able to recycle 50 percent of solid waste. They recycle a wide variety of products, including steel, aluminum, copper, plastic (like drums, totes, pallets, and sample bottles), paper, cardboard, e-waste, batteries, and bulbs.

In 2013, the company launched a pilot program to study the feasibility of using products that do not meet their high purity standard. The study explored possibly manufacturing copper oxide, a dry raw material used in many industries. The pilot was successful, and the results will be used to determine the economic benefit of a full-scale operation. One significant potential is the process could be used to turn waste materials into a marketable copper oxide product.

Less dangerous waste means less risk for workers

Keeping dangerous waste around means workers could be exposed to harmful chemicals. MLI is dedicated to plant safety, so they set annual goals for waste reduction, energy efficiency, and air quality.

Certain businesses are required to prepare Pollution Prevention Plans for voluntarily reducing their hazardous substance use and dangerous waste generation. MLI sets an excellent example for other businesses by following through with their pollution prevention opportunities.

Ecology recognized MLI’s efforts in 2003 with an Environmental Excellence Award for reducing toxic air pollution.

Managing dangerous waste is expensive. Moses Lake Industries’ culture of waste reduction saved them millions. Is your business next?

Help is available! To consult with Ecology’s Pollution Prevention experts about how to reduce waste at your Washington business, contact your regional office.

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Toxic releases increase in Washington while some industries reduce emissions

By Erika Holmes, Hazardous Waste & Toxics Reduction Program

Releases of toxic chemicals in Washington increased in 2012, according to data reported annually to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology). The data is part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report. Ecology works with reporting facilities to find ways to reduce toxic releases.

The annual TRI report provides key information about toxic releases to air, land, and water in our communities. Most of these releases are planned and managed, though some are accidental. TRI is a publicly available database of detailed information on nearly 650 chemicals disposed or otherwise released by nearly 21,000 industrial and federal facilities nationwide.

Washington's 2012 Report

In 2012, 310 Washington facilities reported releasing 19.6 million pounds of toxic chemicals to air, land, or water. Half of these releases were to air. Toxic releases in Washington increased 1.1 percent from 2011 to 2012.

 

More facilities are managing their waste on-site instead of disposing of it off-site. Washington facilities recovered 60.5 million pounds of waste for on-site energy, increasing 356 percent from 2011. On-site recycling and treatment also increased, reducing the pollution, cost of transportation, and risk of spills associated with moving waste off-site.

“Although we never want to see an increase in toxic releases, we are encouraged that some facilities reduced emissions through process improvement,” said K Seiler, who manages Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program. “Ecology works hard to create meaningful partnerships with industries to help them reduce or eliminate the use of toxics, often at a savings to the business.”

Two facilities stood out for cutting their toxic releases:

• Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) reduced ammonia emissions to the air at its Aberdeen plant by more than half.  SPI, a wood products company, generates renewable electricity by burning wood waste from its sawmill to power steam turbines. To reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, the company injects ammonia into the exhaust gases. Too much ammonia is itself a challenge, however, so in 2010 SPI began installing monitoring equipment to ensure it is using just the right amount. The new equipment allowed SPI to cut its ammonia emissions from 87,377 pounds in 2011 to 42,825 pounds in 2012.
• Tesoro Refining & Marketing installed emissions control equipment on their stacks, decreasing sulfuric acid aerosols reaching the air. By doing so, the company reduced those emissions from 158,095 pounds in 2011 to 120,091 pounds in 2012.

Ecology leads the state’s efforts to reduce toxics in our air, land, and water by:

• Providing free technical assistance to help facilities prevent pollution.
• Encouraging the use of safer alternatives to harmful chemicals.
• Promoting green chemistry.

To learn more about Washington’s 2012 TRI data, please visit Ecology’s 2012 Washington Toxics Release Inventory web page. You may also contact Ecology’s TRI Coordinator, Diane Fowler at (360) 407-6171.  

Find out more about toxic chemicals in your community – it’s your right to know!

You can access EPA’s data about releases of toxic chemicals to better understand the types and amounts of releases and the potential related risks in your community. TRI is an especially important data source for environmental releases of chemicals of particular concern, such as mercury, dioxins, and other persistent, bio-accumulative, toxic (PBT) chemicals. 

Access TRI data online

Envirofacts provides access to TRI and other EPA databases that contain information about environmental activities that can affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. Use Envirofacts to learn more about these environmental activities in an area or generate maps of environmental information.

TRI Explorer is a searchable database of TRI data to help communities identify facilities and chemical releases or other waste management activities that warrant further study and analysis. Combined with hazard and exposure information, the TRI Explorer can be a valuable tool for identifying potential chemical hazards in communities.

The Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) provides information about risks to human health related to potential exposures to TRI chemicals. RSEI is a screening-level model that combines TRI information on the amount of toxic chemical releases with other risk factors to help assess the relative hazard and risk of chemicals, facilities and industries.

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Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Poulsbo Cleans up a Lot on Liberty Bay

Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Poulsbo Cleans up a Lot on Liberty Bay

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

Parking lot at Anderson Parkway near Liberty Bay after improvements.

Liberty Bay is an important waterway that supports commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting. For the city of Poulsbo, which sits at the top of Liberty Bay, it’s no wonder the people put the Anderson Parkway parking lot right next to the bay so folks can drive right up.

The Problem

The 2.1 acre Anderson Parkway is the single largest hard, non-porous surface in downtown Poulsbo. Rainwater lands on the Parkway, picks up pollution, and discharges untreated stormwater directly to Liberty Bay. The runoff from cars results in relatively high amounts of toxic contaminant loading to Liberty Bay.

Large portions of Poulsbo were developed over 100 years ago and have no stormwater treatment facilities. The city recognized that significant improvements could be achieved by retrofitting these developed areas, especially large paved areas near the water.

To find out how the city of Poulsbo dealt with the stormwater discharging into Liberty Bay, read this full story online, which was written by 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 our Ecology's water quality success stories, and check out our complete catalog of stories.

Bottleworks shows manufacturing good for economy and the environment

by Ken Zarker, pollution prevention specialist, Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program

Tim Andis, president and CEO of Liberty Bottleworks, shows his company’s award to his local congressman, Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington’s 4th District.

Liberty Bottleworks of Union Gap, Washington, took top honors at the 2013 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Sept. 19 (see MVP2 press release).

I was invited to help present the national award for excellence in sustainable manufacturing and pollution prevention to Tim Andis, Liberty’s president and CEO.

The process started earlier this year, when I reviewed the winners of the Association of Washington Business (AWB) Environmental Excellence Award. I selected companies from these winners to nominate to the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s annual awards program. I was impressed with several of AWB’s winners, and I submitted applications for Liberty Bottleworks, Watson Furniture Group, and Earth Friendly Products.

Liberty started with the idea to create a zero-waste manufacturing facility with a connection to the local economy in Yakima County. A short video shows how Liberty produces reusable water bottles from 100 percent recycled aluminum. They got their start when retailers in the U.S. started looking for domestically produced metal water bottles in an effort to source products locally. As a result, the first delivery of water bottles was shipped to REI, Inc., on December 31, 2010.

Liberty Bottleworks is committed to sustainable and “green” manufacturing practices. Their facility uses highly efficient motors and water-based inks (cured with ultraviolet light). Liberty’s unique powder coat is cured using infrared thermal technology that increases efficiency and saves energy. Water used in the manufacturing process is cleaned and reused four times and finally filtered before it leaves the building. This efficient use of water avoids pollution of local water resources. Liberty bottles are made of recycled aluminum, contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and are 100 percent recyclable.

Liberty has delivered more than a half million bottles to retailers since 2010. This translates into more than 62,000 pounds of aluminum recycled. In addition, using an aluminum bottle provides customers an alternative to plastic bottles that may end up going to a landfill.

Each year, Liberty gives school tours to highlight sustainable manufacturing processes. Also, they work closely with Reverb, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable and environmental practices. Reverb reached more than 13.5 million music fans, “greened” over 2,700 events, and involved more than 2,900 organizations. Because of this shared environmental commitment, Reverb routinely uses Liberty as their preferred water bottle supplier to convey the message of sustainability.

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Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Stormwater Sleuths Solve the Mystery of the Putrid Pipe - Pullman’s hunt for the elusive, illicit discharge

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

Dye testing to determine illicit connection of a sanitary sewer to a stormwater outfall.
Photo credit: Pullman Stormwater Services

The illicit stormwater discharge often lurks out of sight under a city’s buildings and streets. The challenge for cities, regulated under the state’s Municipal Stormwater Permit, is to locate and eliminate this pollution source.

Problem

In every city across the nation, mistakes happen during construction. After all, when you are connecting pipes underground they all pretty much look the same. But it is important to make sure the drains from sinks and toilets lead to the sanitary sewer and not the stormwater sewer. A misconnection could mean raw sewage going directly to a stream without treatment. An illicit discharge is any discharge to a stormwater system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.

City crews working on an infrastructure replacement project in Pullman’s downtown business district noticed “suspicious material”. The obviously illicit connection was traced back to a historic office building. A true team effort of private contractors and public staff was required to fully unravel the mystery.

• To learn more about this illicit discharge, read this full story online
• Story written by Elaine Snouwaert, Ecology Eastern 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.

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Home Septic System Successes

By Dustin Bilhimer, Water Quality Program

Is your septic system acting up? When your home's septic system fails, it's more than a wet stinky mess. It's expensive to repair and it's a health hazard to you and your family.

A lot of people have learned the hard way that regular inspection and maintenance can prevent system failures and save you money in repair costs.

The Department of Ecology is working with local governments (contact your local health district here) and citizens to help cover costs for septic system repair/replacement where we find water pollution problems are caused by failing residential septic systems.

These partnerships are leading to improved working relationships between the public and government agencies. This cooperation leads to clean water solutions.

A recent success story from the Colville River watershed highlighted how homeowners received grant money from Ecology and the Conservation Commission to replace their septic systems.

Actions followed the implementation of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and water quality improvement plan to clean-up fecal coliform bacteria pollution in the Colville watershed. After homeowners got their problem septic systems repaired, the district's water quality monitoring began showing signs of cleaner water.

Ecology and local governments offer different combinations of loans and grants to ease the cost of replacing failing septic systems where water quality needs to be improved. Here are several examples of Ecology providing financial assistance in other parts of the state:

• Skagit County pollution reductions
• Little Bear Creek, Snohomish County
• Puget Sound and Hood Canal

Do you know how to properly maintain your septic system to prevent problems? Click here to learn how or go to Ecology’s Washington Waters homepage to learn more about what you can do to protect our water quality.

Are you interested in other water quality success stories? Click here.

Want to find out if there is a TMDL in your area? Click here.