Free community forum on ocean acidification in Port Angeles April 15

By Sandy Howard, communication manager, water quality and environmental assessment programs

Ocean acidification, its effects and local solutions will be highlighted at a community forum in Port Angeles featuring speakers from the Washington state Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification.

The public is invited to attend the community forum from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 15 at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 East 7th Street.

Speakers include Eric Swenson, communications and outreach director for the Global Ocean Health Program, who will present “The Science of Ocean Acidification.”

NOAA scientist Nina Bednarsek will speak on “Ocean Acidification’s Effects on Pteropods,” which are an important food source for salmon and other fish.

Brad Warren, director for the Global Ocean Health Program, will present “Recommendations, Partnerships and Actions.”

Betsy Peabody, founder of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund, will describe “Local Impacts, Local Solutions.”

John Forster, Port Angeles aquaculture consultant, will address “Seaweed Farming: A Potential Counter-measure to Acidification and Global Hunger.”

Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty will welcome the panelists and attendees.

The forum is hosted by the Clallam County Marine Resources Committee.

In addition to the Clallam County MRC, the event is sponsored by the Northwest Straits Commission, Puget Sound Partnership, Puget Sound Restoration Fund, National Fisheries Conservation Center and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.

To address the threat of increasingly corrosive marine waters, former Washington Gov.Chris Gregoire appointed the 28-member Panel on Ocean Acidification in February 2012. 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 Nov. 27, 2012. Learn more online.

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Around the Sound: Ratfish in the Sound and other news

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

In its Pacific Magazine, the Seattle Times presents an in-depth look at the large population of ratfish and other species in Puget Sound.

• The Bellingham Herald has this piece on sampling planned at a cleanup site in Bellingham’s popular Boulevard Park. And here’s Ecology's original news release on the work.
  
  
• The Peninsula Daily News has this take on a tribal vision for the former Rayonier mill cleanup site in Port Angeles. The Rayonier site is drawing a lot of attention in Port Angeles these days – here’s some background on the site.

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Around the Sound: Rayonier submits key deliverable for Port Angeles cleanup work

By Rebecca Lawson, regional Toxics Cleanup Program manager

Right on schedule, Ecology received from Rayonier yesterday a deliverable that’s key to finishing the upland cleanup investigation at the company’s former mill in Port Angeles.

Rayonier submitted what’s known as a work plan for the upland property. The plan details where groundwater, shoreline seep and soil samples will be taken.

Once sampling is done and results verified, we’ll know how deep contamination goes and how widespread different toxic materials are across the property. In other words, some significant gaps in what we know about upland contamination will be filled.

This is a huge step in the long process to design actual cleanup in the study area (upland and marine).

What’s next?

My team is now double-checking the work plan. But once approved, sampling can begin. There won’t be a comment period on the plan, but Ecology will make the final plan available to the public.

Rayonier has tentative plans to start the sampling in the second half of August. The first phase includes collecting samples from existing wells and from areas where groundwater seeps/discharges into the harbor. The second phase will likely start in the fall and involve drilling new wells and taking soil samples.

Timeline

We’ve added a new timeline feature to the Rayonier Mill cleanup page. It’s also a visual indicator of our progress under the agreed order Ecology and Rayonier signed in March 2010. We also have a list of other cleanups – known as interim actions – that have happened on the property since 2000.

We have a lot of work to do, and I’ll be using Ecology’s blog, Twitter and our news page to keep you posted on accomplishments large and small.

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Around the Sound: Questions from Olympic Environmental Council’s forum on Rayonier

By Rebecca Lawson

On June 10th, the Olympic Environmental Council (OEC) held a forum in Port Angeles on the Rayonier cleanup and how certain structures, such as the dock pictured here, might impact cleanup and reuse of the property. Ecology provides the group with a Public Participation Grant to support this type of educational event. I was invited to sit on a panel, which included John Cambalik of the Puget Sound Partnership, Brady Scott of the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Robbie and Jim Mantooth of Ennis Arbor Farm, and Darlene Schanfald of OEC.

The cleanup perspective

I was there to give some background on the cleanup process and help respond to audience questions. In terms of meeting state cleanup law, we have some strict requirements, but also some flexibility. The ultimate goal is protection of human health and the environment. If a structure prevents cleanup, in some cases it might have to be removed. For example, if sediment cleanup is needed under that dock, we would look at whether or not it can be done with the structure in place. Those decisions will be made further down the road, when Rayonier evaluates cleanup alternatives.

Ecology does have the flexibility to work with Rayonier and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe if they agree to go beyond what cleanup law requires. Projects like Ennis Creek restoration could be integrated into the cleanup process, and Ecology supports that type of initiative. There are possible incentives for Rayonier, the tribe, and Ecology to work together on this project that would have many ecological and community benefits.

I heard a number of participants say that they strongly support Ennis Creek restoration, but also that they understand it needs to be sequenced with cleanup and will take time. We will share more about this effort as it develops.

The five-million gallon tank on the Rayonier property (also pictured here) offers another way to improve the local environment. The City of Port Angeles proposes using the tank to store sewer overflow during storm events. This would help reduce the overall amount of pollution flowing into Port Angeles Harbor, and both the Toxics Cleanup Program and Water Quality Program are working on that issue.

Audience questions

I really appreciate the chance to hear community questions and concerns. These types of events help Ecology understand what issues are important and what we need to communicate better. I wanted to highlight a couple of complex issues our audience raised, and address them in future blogs:

• How does future land use affect what cleanup levels are chosen?
  
  
• What are all of the different agreements that govern the Rayonier cleanup and who is involved?

If you are interested in learning more about the Rayonier cleanup, please check back or contact Hannah Aoyagi at hannah.aoyagi@ecy.wa.gov to join our mailing list.

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