WEB NOTICE: Well Logs is still unavailable

Ecology notification

We are experiencing technical difficulties with an application server and our Well Logs Database is currently unavailable.

We are working to restore this tool as quickly as possible.

For assistance with well log information, please see our Wells web page. An Ecology staff person in your region can do searches on our intranet site and send the results to you as an attachment to an email.

We are also experiencing intermittent disruptions with some of our other application databases.

Thank you for your patience while we work to fix this issue.

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Tacoma Smelter Plume: Sampling begins on southern Vashon-Maury Island and in north Tacoma

By Jill Jacobson, Yard Program Outreach Coordinator, Toxics Cleanup Program

Ecology's Residential Yard Sampling and Cleanup Program (Yard Program) has started soil sampling in north Tacoma and on southern Vashon-Maury Island.

We are sampling residential yards for arsenic and lead contamination from the former Tacoma Asarco smelter.

To find out if your property is in the Yard Program service area, please visit our interactive map.

Sampling Schedule

Ecology plans to sample thousands of properties within the Yard Program service area (map to right), working neighborhood by neighborhood.

Tacoma Area

Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) is leading the sampling efforts in west Tacoma. TPCHD started contacting homeowners and collecting samples last month in area A of Pierce County (map to right).

Vashon-Maury Island

Ecology sent letters to offer soil sampling to 350 homeowners in area A of Vashon-Maury Island. During the first week of October, Ecology's sampling team will begin knocking on the doors of homes that have not responded. They will begin sampling in Area A during the second week of October.

To learn more about Ecology's schedule in your neighborhood, please visit the Yard Program webpage or contact Jill Jacobson, Yard Program Outreach Coordinator at (360) 407-6245 or Jill.Jacobson@ecy.wa.gov.

Soil Sampling Steps

Soil sampling takes about 1-2 hours. The samplers will dig 16-32 small, six inch deep holes and refill them.

Once the lab results are ready, Ecology will send the results to the homeowner with a letter explaining next steps.

If the yard qualifies for cleanup, Ecology will remove the contaminated soil, replace it with new soil and restore the landscaping.

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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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Lake Spokane shoreline goes au natural

By Jamie Gardipe, Water Quality Program, Eastern Regional Office

Project partners include: Avista Corporation, Ecology, The Governor’s Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance, Lake Spokane Association, Stevens County Conservation District, and Spokane Conservation District.

Why replace bulkheads with natural shorelines? While bulkheads can provide protection to property where they are built, they can also cause problems for neighbors, and overtime often fail. Bulkheads transfer wave energy to other areas where it may result in more erosion. Unlike natural shorelines, bulkheads don’t provide habitat for fish and wildlife. Additionally, lawn to the edge of bulkhead doesn’t provide the right vegetation to filter runoff before it enters the water.

• help protect the shoreline from erosion
• decrease the intensity of waves
• provide habitat for fish and wildlife
• increase safety by providing a gradual slope rather than a drop-off to the water
• reduce polluted run-off
• increase the aesthetic value of the property

In the spring of 2012 Ecology began working with local partners to identify potential property owners interested in naturalizing their shoreline on Lake Spokane. The lake, known for low dissolved oxygen problems, is actually a reservoir on the Spokane River controlled by Avista Utilities’ hydropower operations. Run-off and other non-point source pollution from homes contribute to the lake’s water quality problem. In order to help address these impacts the project team pursued a demonstration bulkhead removal and shoreline naturalization project.

Eric and Alycia Staggs decided their property located on the southeast corner of Lake Spokane was the perfect guinea pig for the project. Their bulkhead was failing and they were excited about making the change to a naturalized shoreline. The majority of the project was funded through Ecology’s Water Quality Program’s Direct Implementation Fund, a subset of federal grant funds dedicated sources of pollution like residential runoff and erosion. The Spokane Conservation District supplied engineering and design grant funds and the Staggs family purchased the plant material.

Spokane Conservation District was key to success of the project. Their staff provided technical assistance by working with the project engineer on the design, providing additional funding, applying for permits, and supervising construction contractors. After obtaining all the permits required, the project began in February 2013 following reservoir drawdown. The district spent four days on-site overseeing bulkhead demolition and re-grading of the shoreline, returned in the spring to plant shoreline vegetation, and later repaired erosion caused by high lake levels and rain. The homeowners used time-lapse video to show the project transformation from start to finish.

For more information on protecting clean water and natural shorelines visit: Our Living Shorelines: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/livingshorelines/index.html

Spokane River Basin: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/geographic/spokane/spokane_river_basin.htm
Spokane Conservation District: http://www.sccd.org/

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WEB NOTICE: Several of our online applications are currently unavailable.

Ecology notification

We are experiencing technical difficulties with an application server which have caused 4 applications to be unavailable. The affected online tools are:

• Well Logs Database
• Online Permit Assistance System (OPAS)
• Environmental Permit Handbook
• Industrial Permits

In addition, our online Public Involvement Calendar has been experiencing intermittent issues.

We are working with Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) to restore all these tools as quickly as possible.

For assistance with well log information, please see our Wells web page. An Ecology staff person in your region can do searches on our intranet site and send the results to you as an attachment to an email.

Thank you for your patience while we work to fix this issue.

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Garden Talk: Food Bank accepts flowers, too!

by: Marisol Novak, Garden Coordinator

Row of Marigolds lining the edges of the garden

Who doesn’t like the sight of towering sunflowers in the summer? This year, Ecology’s Food Bank Garden accepted a generous donation of sunflower starts to brighten up the fallow side of the field. The cheerful sunflowers not only dazzled those passing on their lunchtime walks around the meadow, but the topic of flowers in the vegetable garden raised a few questions. “What are you going to do with the sunflowers? Will the Food Bank even accept flowers?”

The answer to the latter is yes; the Thurston County Food Bank happily accepts flowers. Trader Joe’s grocery store regularly donates the bulk of fresh cut flowers to the Food Bank, so Ecology’s garden team decided to follow a similar model. After the sunflowers grew tall and healthy, the team donated the flowers for others to enjoy. Garden volunteers clipped and bundled the flowers before delivering them to the Food Bank.

Flowers are lively and fun, but they also create diverse and successful ecosystems necessary for healthy gardens. Flowers attract a variety of pollinators and pests. Ecology’s garden planted a row of Marigolds, which are known to attract slugs and other pests, leaving vegetables to thrive. Come check out Ecology’s flower varieties!

What’s happening in the garden?

On October 5^th, from 9:00-2:00, the garden team is hosting the annual Potato Harvest. Lunch is included! Contact Laura at lino461@ecy.wa.gov with questions.

Not partial to potatoes? Don’t forget to visit us in the garden on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00-1:00 for weekly work parties.

Buckets of sunflowers donated to the Food Bank

Tall sunflower stalks in Ecology's garden

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Fecal Matters: Evergreen Park, Lions Field, and Lents Landing in Bremerton, WA are Open for Swimming

BEACH Program Update

Kitsap County -The Kitsap County Health District removed the no contact advisory signs at Evergreen Park, Lions Field, and Lents Landing.  Advisory signs were previously posted on September 6, 2013.

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.

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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and is available at 360-407-6543 or julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov for questions.

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"Eyes Over Puget Sound" - September 11, 2013

By Sandy Howard, Environmental Assessment Program

A furry visitor takes a rest on the float plane. High river flows lead to striking fronts of turquoise-colored water carrying glacial flour in many northeastern regions. Satellite and aerial images show widespread phytoplankton blooms in Whidbey Basin, Hood Canal, South Puget Sound and West Bay of Orcas Island. We see lots of large debris patches in Hood Canal, Central Sound and South Sound Inlets.

After two years of colder temperatures and higher oxygen, Puget Sound waters are returning to expected or lower levels of dissolved oxygen.

All this and more in the September 11th edition of Eyes Over Puget Sound.

"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.

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

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http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/mar_wat/surface.html

Fecal Matters: Howarth Park and Pigeon Creek in Everett, WA are Open for Swimming

BEACH Program Update

Snohomish County - On September 9, 2013 the City of Everett's Public Works Department removed the swimming advisory signs at Howarth Park and Pigeon Creek.  Advisory signs were previously posted on August 29, 2013, due to a combined sewer overflow (CSO) caused by heavy rains.

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.

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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and is available at 360-407-6543 or julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov for questions.

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New Video Emphasizes Why Salmon Are Important to Washington State

By Dustin Bilhimer, Water Quality Program

Photo Credit: Lloyd Moody

Earlier this year, the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO) published the 2012 State of Salmon in Watersheds Report describing the importance of improving salmon habitat, water quality, and salmon populations in our state. GSRO recently produced an excellent, 10-minute video titled “State of Salmon: Restoring a Washington Icon” (now available on YouTube) about why salmon are important, and it includes perspectives from tribes, agencies, scientists, public citizens and other salmon recovery partners working to bring salmon back from the brink of extinction.

The video from GSRO does a fantastic job of highlighting some of these successes, and has interviews with salmon recovery partners who explain not only why this work is important for recovering salmon and restoring a part of our shared natural heritage, but also why it is good for the economy and people too. Salmon recovery is a part of our State’s economic recovery.

There are many different organizations and people that contribute to the recovery work, including the Department of Ecology. You can read about the water quality improvement work in the State of Salmon Report as well as on Ecology’s web pages for monitoring data and water quality improvement projects.

While all this work has resulted in some successes, there are still many more improvements needed. Partnerships, science-based management approaches, continued funding, and dedication from the people working to improve salmon populations are the ingredients necessary for successful recovery. However, the biggest variables in the recipe for salmon recovery and water quality improvement are the actions each of us can take to reduce our pollution impacts on our rivers, lakes, and the Puget Sound.

Here are some links to further information on ways to reduce pollution:

• How Ecology implements water quality improvements through regulations and financial assistance
• How Landowners can protect water quality
• What you can do to make a big difference

Be sure to check out this inspirational video! There are also additional 2-3 minute videos with extended interviews from some of the key leaders shown in the longer video available from the Washington RCO YouTube channel.

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Fecal Matters: Evergreen Park, Lions Field, and Lents Landing in Bremerton, WA are Closed

BEACH Program Update

On September 6, 2013, the Kitsap Public Health District issued a seven day no contact advisory for Evergreen Park, Lions Field, and Lents Landing. The advisory was issued due to heavy rains. The public is advised to avoid contact with the water until further notice.

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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and is available at 360-407-6543 or julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov for questions.

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Fecal Matters: Water Recreation Safety Tips During Wet Weather!

BEACH Program Update

In Washington State, all good, nice, dry weather must come to an end. For those of you planning to hit the beach for one last dip, just remember a few health and safety tips!

Heavy rains typically raise the amount of bacteria in water bodies. The BEACH Program advises to avoid water contact 48-hours after a rain event.

When heavy rains hit the Pacific Northwest, the BEACH Program receives many calls about sewage spills, combined sewer overflows, and problems at wastewater treatment plants. This weather can put a damper on outdoor fun, and it also overwhelms our wastewater treatment systems.

Keep in mind that some sewage spills, and combined sewer overflows aren’t reported soon enough to warn people, so be careful in areas that may be affected. Stay safe and dry!

Looking for more information about the BEACH Program? 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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and can be reached at julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov

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Fecal Matters: Mukilteo Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, WA is Open for Swimming!

BEACH Program Update

The beach at Mukilteo Lighthouse Park located in the City of Mukilteo is now open for swimming! Additional marine water samples collected this week show bacteria concentrations have dropped to background levels. A swimming advisory was previously issued for this beach on Friday, August 30, 2013.

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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and can be reached at julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov

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Around the Sound: Planned projects benefit Port Gamble Bay

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Work to improve, restore and protect the Port Gamble Bay ecosystem is moving ahead.

The package of land purchases and environmental projects announced today (Sept. 4, 2013) is separate from planned cleanup work at the bay. But this package and that cleanup will be major boons for Port Gamble Bay, one of Ecology's high-priority bays under the Puget Sound Initiative.

We'll keep you posted as work moves forward.

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Fecal Matters: Beach at Jetty Island Park in Snohomish County is Open for Water Recreation

BEACH Program Update

Snohomish County - On August 31, 2013 the City of Everett's Public Works Department removed swimming advisory signs at Jetty Island Park.  Advisory signs were previously posted on August 29, 2013, due to a combined sewer overflow (CSO) caused by heavy rains. Howarth Park and Pigeon Creek remain closed to swimming until further notice.

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.

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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and is available at 360-407-6543 or julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov for questions.

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Fecal Matters: Evergreen Park, Lions Field and Lents Landing in Bremerton are Open for Swimming

BEACH Program Update

Today, the Kitsap Public Health District opened the beaches at Evergreen Park, Lions Field and Lents Landing. No contact advisories were previously posted on August 29, 2013, due to a nearby combined sewer overflow.

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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and can be reached at julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov

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Fecal Matters: No Contact Advisory for Joel Pritchard Park and Eagle Harbor Waterfront Park, Bainbridge Island, WA

BEACH Program Update

On August 31, 2013, the Kitsap Public Health District issued a no contact advisory at Joel Pritchard Park and Eagle Harbor Waterfront Park on Bainbridge Island. The advisory was issued due to a nearby sewer line break. The public is advised to avoid contact with the water until further notice. 

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.

Julie Lowe is the BEACH Program Manager and is available at 360-407-6543 or julie.lowe@ecy.wa.gov for questions.

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