Salish Sea Communications: April 2023

Friday, April 28, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 28 2023

[NPR]

Aloha Friday!
The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, recorded in Abbey Road Studios goes to number one on the US Billboard chart, beginning a record-breaking 741-week chart run.

Port of Vancouver's Roberts Bank Terminal 2: 6 things to know about the contentious $3.5B proposal
Federal approval of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 grants environmental green light for $3.5 billion project heralded as critical step in expanding container trade, but is decried by conservationists.

Washington Legislature unveils $69.2B two-year state budget
Completed with less than 36 hours left in the 2023 session, the budget boosts funding for state worker wages, special education and climate issues. WA Legislature sends $13.4 billion transportation budget to governor for signature Washington state lawmakers on Saturday passed a $13.4 billion transportation budget for the 2023-25 biennium, with major investments in the ferry system, transportation workforce, traffic safety and keeping projects on track that are already in the works.

Biden to Create White House Office of Environmental Justice
A new executive order requires every federal agency to address the disproportionate impact of pollution and climate change on minority communities.

Tribe to fish for salmon on Elwha River a decade after dams fell
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Monday that the tribal ceremonial and subsistence fishery for coho salmon on the Elwha will open this fall.

Coast Salish youth reconnect with Indigenous lifeways, lands
Children and teens from seven tribes gathered on Whidbey Island to explore the traditional food culture of their ancestors.

These Rare BC Reefs Are No Longer Threatened by Offshore Drilling
Two multinational oil companies, ExxonMobil and Chevron Canada, have voluntarily given up offshore exploratory oil and gas permits they held in B.C. after the environmental law charity Ecojustice, on behalf of environmental organizations the David Suzuki Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada, challenged the legality of the permits.

Oregon commission petitions to add southern resident orcas to the endangered species list
With Chinook salmon numbers dwindling along the Oregon Coast, the southern resident orcas who live in the Pacific Northwest increasingly face the risk of starvation. Oregon has listed the salmon as an endangered species, and now a state commission is petitioning to add the orcas to the same list.

Protected areas, fishery closures announced to help protect B.C.'s threatened southern resident killer whales
The federal departments of fisheries, environment and transport have outlined what they describe as a fifth consecutive year of strong action to protect and restore the southern resident population. But a scientist says the measures need to go much further to help the animals thrive.

‘Deeply troubling’: BC Hydro secretly handed out $430 million in Site C dam contracts
Beleaguered engineering firm SNC-Lavalin was among the big winners of no-bid contracts for the over-budget hydro project on B.C.’s Peace River, according to documents obtained by The Narwhal.

EPA proposal starts a new chapter in Duwamish Superfund cleanup
The Environmental Protection Agency released a long-awaited proposed cleanup plan last week for the East Waterway in Seattle.

These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Friday, April 21, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 21 2023

Aloha Earth Day Friday!
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2023 is Invest In Our Planet. (Wikipedia)

Confusion rises over plans to bring Tokitae back to Puget Sound
Over the weekend, plans to return an orca to the Pacific Northwest got a bit more confusing—with the benefactor footing the bill announcing details of a plan, while the CEO of the aquarium in charge responded online calling the statements a "misunderstanding."

Orca study shows up hunting differences
...Tracked in waters off Port Hardy, the best hunters among the northern resident whales were female...While northern females dominated their pod’s hunt, females in the southern resident killer whales with a calf were among the least efficient hunters.

Green groups sue EPA over decades-old water pollution rules
A coalition of 13 green groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has violated federal law by repeatedly failing to update regulations on water pollution for seven industrial sectors.

Fairy Creek old-growth protesters celebrate as a slew of contempt charges are withdrawn
The B.C. Prosecution Service says it has withdrawn contempt charges against 11 old-growth logging protesters accused of breaching a court injunction during blockades at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island.

Sea-Tac, Alaska and Delta accused of harming health of 300K residents
A potential class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Alaska Air Group and Delta Air Lines are polluting King County towns within a 5-mile radius of the airport.

US plans new forest protections, issues old-growth inventory
The Biden administration has identified more than 175,000 square miles (453,000 square kilometers) of old growth and mature forests on U.S. government land and plans to craft a new rule to better protect the nation’s woodlands from fires, insects and other side effects of climate change.

Washington can now look to out-of-state shipbuilders for its next ferries
The Washington Legislature gave final approval and sent to the governor HB 1846 which allows the state to seek bids for ferry construction from shipyards outside the state.

Why Site C wants to leave construction debris at the bottom of the Peace River
B.C. Hydro's wants to flood an 80 kilometre-long swathe of the Peace River valley and leave behind 45 pieces of Site C dam structural construction debris because, it says, it is better for fish.

Feds approve major expansion B.C. container port despite environmental, labour opposition
The federal government has given the OK to a major new container terminal at Roberts Bank Terminal 2 in Delta. Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the expanded terminal will increase capacity by up to 60 per cent.

WA could get millions in federal salmon recovery dollars
More than $60 million in federal Climate-Ready Coasts initiative grants could soon be on the way to help Washington’s rivers, endangered salmon and native eelgrass.

Friday, April 14, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 14 2023

Aloha Dolphin Friday!
Dolphins are small-toothed cetaceans easily recognizable by their curved mouths, which give them a permanent “smile.” There are 36 dolphin species, found in every ocean. Most dolphins are marine and live in the ocean or brackish waters along coastlines. There are a few species, however, like the South Asian river dolphin and the Amazon river dolphin, or boto, that live in freshwater streams and rivers. The largest dolphin, the orca, can grow to be over 30 feet long. The smallest, the Maui dolphin, is just five feet long.

Fish get stuck at Hood Canal Bridge. Will this giant contraption save them from the seals?
...Crews installed a massive fish-guidance structure made of plastic pipes and sheets at the bridge this week. The aim is to direct steelhead around the bridge to safety.

Skagit Conservation Education Alliance to dissolve after 22 years
After dealing with staffing and board issues, including illness, the Skagit Conservation Education Alliance has announced it will dissolve June 30.

How Washington plans to spend money from the new carbon-cap law
Lawmakers are looking to invest revenue from the Climate Commitment Act in electric buses, ferries and more clean-energy projects around the state.

E.P.A. Lays Out Rules to Turbocharge Sales of Electric Cars and Trucks
The Biden administration is proposing rules to ensure that two-thirds of new cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the U.S. by 2032 are all-electric.

Oxygen for life: The biological impacts of low dissolved oxygen
“Hypoxia,” a word used to describe oxygen deficiency, first came into use in the medical field during studies of metabolic function in the 1940s.

Tacoma ship fire worse for climate than burning a million gallons of gasoline
...The fire on the Kodiak Enterprise released tons of one of the most dangerous substances for the global climate and the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

State House passes bill to protect endangered southern resident orcas
Senate Bill 5371 protects southern resident orcas by establishing a 1,000-yard setback for recreational vessels., the same as for commercial whate-watch vessels.

Friday, April 7, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 7 2023

Aloha Beaver Friday!
International Beaver Day was first celebrated in 2009, after being created by a nonprofit group called Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife. The group chose April 7 as the date because it is the birthday of Dorothy Richards (1894-1985), a woman who had studied beavers for almost 50 years at the Beaversprite Sanctuary in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

U.S. House Republicans halt plans to breach WA's Snake River dams
Previous plans to help endangered salmon by removing four dams are likely on hold with Republicans in the majority.

Bracing for Disasters
Climate calamities will increase in BC. What can we learn from survivors? What must be done to help evacuees and save lives? A special Tyee series.

Another Casualty of Climate Change: Dissolved Oxygen
Vast oxygen-depleted deserts are an expected feature of our warming oceans.

Deadly fungus that has wiped out bat populations detected in B.C.
A fungus causing a disease that has wiped out bat populations across North America has been detected in British Columbia, the province says.

How Plastic Opens Fish Up to Disease
Higher death rates, bigger viral loads, and more viral shedding—plastic causes big problems for rainbow trout trying to fend off a common disease.

Shellfish growers in Northwest's oyster capital want 'blitz' against invasive green crabs
Shellfish growers in Willapa Bay in southwest Washington, the self-styled "Oyster Capital of the World," are alarmed by an invasion of potentially destructive non-native European green crabs.

In Pristine Alaska, ConocoPhillips Prepares to Drill for Decades
Scientists say nations must stop new oil and gas projects to avoid climate catastrophe. But after the Biden administration greenlit the $8 billion Willow project, ConocoPhillips is racing ahead.

Low water levels in lake and rivers across B.C. have some worried
Snowmelt and spring rain could turn around a situation that looks ominous with many B.C. lakes and rivers at unusually low levels for this time of year.

Experts have ‘serious drought concerns’ for WA this summer. Here’s why they’re worried
Much of Washington is entering spring dangerously close to drought conditions, and the low snowpack in the Cascades and throughout eastern Washington isn’t doing much to alleviate conditions.