The numbers are in: Facts from the West Bay creosote removal project

Before and after removal. Looking south down West Bay toward the Washington State Capitol.
Top photo: Jordanna Black/DNR
Lower photo: Toni Droscher/DNR 

In February 2013, DNR and partners from the Squaxin Island Tribe, the Port of Olympia, the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group and private landowners joined together to remove toxic derelict pilings and structures from much of the southern end of Budd Inlet in Olympia.

With funding from the Washington Legislature’s 2012 Jobs Now Act, DNR hired Blackwater Marine, a diving and salvage firm from Kirkland, to do the removal project.

What was removed:

• 400 tons of pilings
• 394 pilings
• 23 piling stumps cut below the mud line (too impractical to remove them completely)
• 7,600 square feet of overwater structure

Plus:

• 12 tons of steel recycled
• 32 tons of concrete recycled

And finally:

• The project provided 1,350 hours of work for the local contractor and its employees
• Total cost of project: $360,700

Learn more about DNR’s Creosote Debris Removal Program.

View photos of the West Bay creosote removal project.

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Governor Inslee signs derelict vessel bill into law

Deep Sea is raised June 3, 2012, from where it sank in Penn Cove on Whidbey Island. Photo: DNR

Flanked by representatives of the marine trades, business, legislature, environmental community, DNR, the Washington Department of Ecology, and others, Gov. Jay Inslee today signed into law a bill that will strengthen the state’s ability to address derelict and abandoned vessels.

In the past year alone, several high-profile incidents caught the attention of the public and legislators—raising awareness about the problems these vessels cause to the environment, public safety, and the state’s economy.

Just a little more than a year ago, the 140-foot former crab-fishing vessel, the Deep Sea, caught fire and sank in Penn Cove. This unfortunate incident cause a world-renown shellfish farm to shut down for nearly a month.

The new law (ESHB 1245) holds vessel owners more accountable, helps prevent vessels from becoming derelict in the first place, improves enforcement, and shores up funding to help the state deal with these vessels.

Read more in our news release.

DNR manages the Derelict Vessel Removal Program, which provides funding and expertise to assist public agencies remove and dispose of vessels all over the state.

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DNR weekend reading: Economic value of urban trees, forests shifting northward and other stories

A snag like this one in Capitol State Forest can provide shelter and forage to birds, small mammals, and other wildlife. Photo: Jessica Payne/DNR.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

US Forest Service: US urban trees store carbon, provide billions in economic value
America’s urban forests store an estimated 708 million tons of carbon, an environmental service with an estimated value of $50 billion, according to a recent U.S. Forest Service study. The annual net carbon uptake by these trees is estimated at 21 million tons and their economic benefit at $1.5 billion.

NASA–Jet Propulsion Laboratory: NASA Opens New Era in Measuring Western U.S. Snowpack
A new NASA airborne mission has created the first maps of the entire snowpack of two major mountain watersheds in California and Colorado, producing the most accurate measurements to date of how much water they hold. The agency plans to exand the mapping to other mountain watersheds.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: New Study: As Climate Changes, Boreal Forests to Shift North and Relinquish More Carbon Than Expected
Boreal forests will likely shift north at a steady clip this century. Along the way, the vegetation will relinquish more trapped carbon than most current climate models predict.

University of Wisconsin: Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals
In a warming world, winter and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is in decline, putting at risk many plants and animals that depend on the space beneath the snow to survive the blustery chill of winter.

University of Calgary: Human impacts on natural world underestimated
A comprehensive five-year study by University of Calgary ecologists indicates that conservation research may not giving enough consideration to the influence of human activity on natural ecosystems and food chains.

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DNR weekend reading: Fiercer fires ahead, mysterious dark lightning, and other science news

Children learned proper tree planting techniques at Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, April 25, in Olympia. Photo: Jessica Payne/DNR.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

environment360: Fires Burn More Fiercely As Northern Forests Warm
From North America to Siberia, rising temperatures and drier woodlands are leading to a longer burning season and a significant increase in forest fires. Scientists warn that this trend is expected to continue in the years ahead.

American Geophysical Union: Wildfires can burn hot without ruining soil, new study finds
A fiery test on a 22-acre watershed in Portugal found that the hotter the fire—and the denser the vegetation feeding the flames—the less the underlying soil heated up, an inverse effect which runs contrary to previous studies and conventional wisdom

Florida International University: Researchers uncover mystery of charcoal’s fate
US and European researchers have established that black carbon, or biochar—most of it produced by wildfires and other biomass combustion—doesn’t stay in the soil indefinitely. Each year, around 27 million tons of it is transported to the sea by rivers and thus enters the carbon cycle.

American Geophysical Union: Scientists detect dark lightning linked to visible lightning
Dark lightning—the most energetic radiation produced naturally on Earth—was unknown before 1991. Scientists now know that these bursts of gamma rays occur in thunderstorms; next is figuring out ‘why.”

Soil Science Society of America: Study finds that residential lawns release more carbon dioxide than corn fields
A new study finds that more carbon dioxide is released from residential lawns than corn fields. Although the difference is attributable to higher soil temperatures in urbanized areas compared with agricultural lands, the implication is that even small urban ‘heat islands’ have an impact on carbon dioxide release amounts.

 

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DNR weekend reading: World’s largest underwater observatory will be off Washington’s coast, and other news

Pack animals helped haul gravel used to prepare trails in Capitol State Forest for the start of the motorized trail-use season in May. Photo: Diana Lofflin/DNR.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics  published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

KUOW-earthfix: Getting Ready For World’s Largest Underwater Observatory
The Regional Cabled Observatory is a $239 million project, funded by the National Science Foundation, that will place monitoring devices off the coast of Oregon and Washington to better understand and monitor the depths of the Pacific Ocean – from volcanic eruptions to deep-sea earthquakes that could lead to tsunamis.

National Science Foundation: Cutting Specific Atmospheric Pollutants Would Slow Sea Level Rise
With coastal areas bracing for rising sea levels, new research indicates that cutting emissions of four heat-trapping pollutants–methane, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon–that cycle comparatively quickly through the atmosphere could temporarily forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50 percent. 

WA State Legislature moves forward on derelict vessel bill

Tugs from Global Diving & Salvage prepare two derelict vessels for towing from Guemes Channel to Seattle, April 12, 2013. Photo: Dennis Clark/DNR

Late Friday afternoon, the Washington State Legislature gave their seal of approval to legislation that strengthens the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Derelict Vessel Removal Program while alleviating the taxpayers’ burden.

Both houses have passed the bill, ESHB 1245. The next step is for the House to concur on Senate amendments to the bill. Then, the bill will proceed to the Governor’s Office for signature.

Before the bill was introduced this legislative session, DNR met with stakeholders to listen to their ideas on how to address the growing problem of derelict and abandoned vessels in Washington’s waters. We met with many diverse groups, but everyone shared a common concern for the health and safety of our state’s waterways.

Stakeholders included legislators; recreational boaters; tribal governments; shellfish growers; local, state, and federal agencies; commercial fishing industry representatives; marine trade associations; ports; and conservation groups.

Thanks to everyone who participated in these discussions. And a big thanks to the legislators who worked so hard to pass this vital bill.

Learn more about DNR’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program.

The following selection of media coverage about recent derelict vessel crises illustrates the need to strengthen the state’s derelict vessel program:

• Abandon-ed ships (Skagit Valley Herald, April 14, 2013)
• State orders removal of derelict Tacoma ship (Seattle Times, April 2, 2013)
• Give DNR more tools to deal with derelict vessels (Tacoma News Tribune editorial, March 20, 2013)
• Editorial: State needs to get tougher on derelict vessels (Seattle Times, February 4, 2013)
• Two derelict ships sink at Tacoma marina (KING 5 TV, February 25, 2013)
• Sinking incident points to state’s struggle with derelict vessels (KPLU/NPR, January 25, 2013)
• DNR takes possession of derelict boat in Port Ludlow (Peninsula Daily News, January 3, 2013)
• Taxpayers on the hook for state’s derelict boats (KOMO 4 News, October 26, 2012)
• Ballard Diving & Salvage raises derelict vessel from Sinclair Inlet (Port Orchard Independent, October 25, 2012)
• Sunken boat to be removed from Port Orchard waterfront (October 21, 2012)
• Derelict vessels create headaches on NW waters (Seattle Times, September 9, 2012)
• The Deep Sea Debacle: State needs to address threat of derelict boats (Seattle Times Guest Editorial, June 12, 2013)
• Sunken crab boat could be raised Sunday (Whidbey News-Times, May 30, 2012)
• Sunken fishing boat is leaking fuel, endangering marine life (KOMO 4 News, May 14, 2012)
• Famed shellfish in jeopardy after boat fire, sinking (Seattle PI, May 13, 2012) 

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Eelgrass, DNR scientist featured in series about the health of Puget Sound

Jeff Gaeckle, DNR seagrass ecologist, studies an eelgrass bed near Mosquito Pass on San Juan Island. Photo: Anja Schanz.

Last week, Ear to the Ground reported on DNR scientist Helen Berry’s work to study the effects of the Elwha River dam removals on eelgrass and kelp in the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

This week, eelgrass continued to capture local media attention. The Kitsap Sun’s yearlong series: “Taking the Pulse of Puget Sound” took a closer look at eelgrass and the challenges to restoring  this key barometer of the health of the Sound’s marine environment. Reporter Chris Dunagan interviewed DNR eelgrass ecologist Jeff Gaeckle for this story.

In 2011, the Puget Sound Leadership Council formally adopted eelgrass as an indicator of Puget Sound’s health and set an ambitious target for recovering eelgrass by 20 percent by the year 2020.

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Dam fascinating: DNR’s nearshore team studying what happens to marine vegetation during and after Elwha River restoration

Sediment pours out of the Elwha River into the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Photo: Tom Roorda.

Just west of Port Angeles, an unprecedented scientific experiment is taking place on a grand scale. Researchers from a variety of disciplines are watching and studying what happens following the removal of the two large dams on the Elwha River.

Since the removal of the entire Elwha Dam and part of the Glines Canyon Dam last year, millions of cubic yards of sediment, held back by the dams for 100 years, have spilled down the course of the river and oozed out along the shoreline in the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Helen Berry, DNR nearshore scientist, has been studying the effects of Elwha dam removals on nearshore ecology and marine vegetation.

Scientists from DNR’s Nearshore Habitat Program want to know how the escape of these sediments will affect marine vegetation in the area.

In these early, post-dam days, they expected to see some changes; however…“What we’re seeing is a striking and dramatic impact from the outflow of sediments into the Straits,” says Helen Berry, DNR’s lead nearshore resource scientist.

During the dams’ rein over the natural flow of the Elwha, which effectivley stopped up sediments,  kelp beds became the dominant vegetation in the marine shoreline’s rocky substrate.

Free seminar on ocean acidification in Bellingham–March 28

Ocean acidification is having a profound effect on the development of young oysters. Photo: WA State Department of Health

The Whatcom County Marine Resources Committee and numerous co-sponsors are hosting a free seminar about ocean acidification on March 28 in Bellingham.

Learn about strategies and actions to protect the state’s marine resources.

Several members of the state’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification and others will provide their perspectives on this important issue.

What:    Ocean Acidification Forum
When:   6 to 8 p.m., March 28
Where:  Bellingham Cruise Terminal
355 Harris Ave., Bellingham
Directions

Agenda:

• What is Ocean Acidification?
  Dr. Brady Olson, Western Washington University, Shannon Point Marine Center
• Local Impacts, Local Solutions
  Betsy Peabody, Puget Sound Restoration Fund, Member of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification
• Recommendations, Partnerships, and Actions
  Brad Warren, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, Member of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification

A question-and-answer period follows the presentations.

For more information, contact Melissa Roberts, Whatcom County Public Works, 360-676-6876, ext. 50259 or visit the Whatcom County MRC webpage.

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DNR weekend reading: Lots and lots of sediment yet to flow down Elwha River, and other articles

Eocene continental sedimentary deposit of the Chuckanut formation in northwest Washington state. The formation’s deposits—fine-to-medium grained sandstones with lesser amounts of interbedded shale, conglomerate, and coal—and the presence of plant fossils indicate that the area was once a low-lying coastal plain with a subtropical climate. Photo: David Jeschke.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics  published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

University of Washington: Tracking sediments’ fate in largest-ever dam removal
Salmon are beginning to swim up the Elwha River for the first time in more than a century. But University of Washington marine geologists are watching what’s beginning to flow downstream—34 million cubic yards of sediments from the largest dam-removal project ever undertaken.

University of California-Santa Cruz: Bats not bothered by forest fires, study finds
A survey of bat activity in burned and unburned areas after a major wildfire in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains found no evidence of detrimental effects on bats one year after the fire. The findings suggest that bats are resilient to high-severity fire, and some species may even benefit from the effects of fire on the landscape.

Scientific American: Clearing Forests May Transform Local—and Global—Climate
In the last 15 years, 200,000 hectares of the Mau Forest in western Kenya have been converted to agricultural land. Previously called a “water tower” because it supplied water to the Rift Valley and Lake Victoria, the forest region has dried up; in 2009 the rainy season—from August to November—saw no rain, and since then precipitation has been modest.

Virginia Tech: Researchers propose innovative solution to ensure biofuel plants don’t become noxious weeds
Some plants that are ideal for bioenergy production can potentially become invasive weeds that can cause billions of dollars in economic damage. A Virginia Tech researcher proposes changes in the regulatory methodology for evaluating the invasive potential of plants that are under consideration for large-scale cultivation as biofuel feedstock.

Stanford University: Stanford scientists calculate the carbon footprint of grid-scale battery technologies
Solar and wind power pose a challenge for the U.S. electrical grid, which lacks the capacity to store surplus clean electricity and deliver it on demand. Researchers are developing grid-scale storage batteries, but the fossil fuel required to build these technologies could negate some of the environmental benefits of new solar and wind farms, say scientists.

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