Bite-Sized Bits of News From Around Puget Sound

Attacking “self-serving claims” by oil giant BP Amoco PLC, a federal appeals court ruled that the company’s expansion of a dock at its Cherry Point refinery was built without a required environmental study. BP will have to reduce the amount of crude oil it takes to the refinery near Bellingham Point from Alaska’s North Slope while the legality of the bigger dock is sorted out, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said. Environmentalists say the bigger dock means more tanker traffic and a bigger risk of an oil spill. The ruling rejects reasoning by BP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which authorized the work, that expanding the dock would not result in an illegal increase in the amount of crude oil being refined there. (03/16/04), Seattle P-I. From Tidepool.org.

Washington state’s population growth held steady in 2003 at a slim 1.1 percent, according to Census Bureau estimates released in April. That’s the state’s lowest growth rate since 1986. “It’s because of the relatively flat economy,” said state demographer Theresa Lowe. “It’s lack of job growth.” Still, she said, the number of Californians moving to Washington has been creeping upward, because the economy is even worse there. (04/09/04), Tacoma News Tribune, From Tidepool.org.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ regional office covering Oregon and Washington has agreed to extend Clean Water Act protections to irrigation canals and drainage ditches that are connected to navigable or interstate waterways. As part of a settlement resolving a legal challenge by an environmental group, the wetlands and streams that flow into these man-made channels also will be granted protections from being polluted or filled by developers. The settlement follows the Supreme Court’s rejection in April of developers’ appeals contesting decisions by corps districts to assert Clean Water Act jurisdiction over ditches leading to larger waterways. Together, they strongly suggest the development of a legal and regulatory consensus that these waterways and the wetlands connected to them deserve protection under the law. (04/09/04), San Francisco Chronicle. From Tidepool.org.

Get ready for another long, hot, dry and potentially fiery summer. Forest scientists say unless we get some much-needed spring rain, sections of British Columbia could be in danger of suffering the same kind of forest fires that saw hundreds of thousands of square kilometres burn last year. In Vancouver, we may face serious water shortages. “We’re in for a filthy ride,” said Reece Halter, a tree physiologist with Global Forest Science, a forest biology research institute of over 140 forest scientists in eight countries. “The models are saying it’s going to be a very warm and, more important, very dry summer.” (04/09/04), Vancouver Sun. From Tidepool.org.

Cities and towns along the West Coast of the U.S. could be suffering from a serious water shortage by 2050, thanks to global warming. As Arctic sea ice melts, annual rainfall may drop by as much as 30 percent from Seattle to Los Angeles, and inland as far as the Rocky Mountains. As temperatures rise over the next 50 years, the area of Arctic sea ice is predicted to shrink by as much as 50 percent in some areas during the summer. To find out what this would mean for climate, Jacob Sewall and Lisa Cirbus Sloan from the University of California at Santa Cruz first used a climate model to work out how sea ice cover was likely to change through the rest of the year. Then they took these values for sea ice cover and the resulting sea surface temperatures, and plugged those into a global climate model to see which areas of the world would be most affected. They found that the sea ice changes are likely to mean significantly fewer storms will pass over the West Coast of the U.S. (04/08/04), New Scientist. From Tidepool.org.

The Snoqualmie Tribe is a known entity, federally recognized in 1999, its name echoed in natural wonders enjoyed by millions of people. But the Snoqualmoos? Who are they? They are a native group of about 300 people who share a dynamic blend of similarities and bitter disagreements with the Snoqualmie. The two groups lived as one tribe in the Snoqualmie Valley for thousands of years and as recently as the 1800s. Despite keeping a relatively low profile over the years, the Snoqualmoo gained new prominence by publicly opposing an expansion of Salish Lodge near Snoqualmie Falls, which the tribe considers a sacred site. The members’ re-emergence is the latest chapter in a complicated history inseparable from their more prominent, wealthier cousins. (03/28/04), Seattle Times. From Tidepool.org.

Former Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck told a group of environmental law students in Portland that President Bush could burnish his legacy by protecting old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. Dombeck, delivering the keynote address of the National Center of Environmental Law Societies conference at Lewis & Clark College, addressed the lingering controversy over cutting old growth in the so-called spotted owl forests of Western Washington, Oregon and Northern California. “If this administration really wanted to make a lasting legacy, they would call a halt to commercial timber harvest of old growth,” said Dombeck, who served as chief from 1997 until 2001. (03/28/04), Vancouver Columbian. From Tidepool.org.

A week after the Legislature gave them the land they needed to build on, Monroe dairy farmers and the Tulalip Tribes announced in March that they are pushing forward with their bid to convert cow manure into electricity. Four Skykomish Valley dairies produce enough animal dung to support a manure-to-electricity plant, according to an ongoing feasibility study. But the report on whether the project would generate enough electricity to pay for itself is not finished yet. (03/17/04), Everett Herald. From Tidepool.org.

It’s an extraordinary but not unprecedented step in the recreation fee rebellion. The case reveals the level of indignation that some people have for federal fees on public lands. It also shows the lengths they’ll go to challenge a program that Congress has extended repeatedly since creating what was supposed to be a two-year pilot project in 1996. The fees are required at thousands of trailheads, boat ramps, rustic campsites, interpretive centers and other day-use areas on public lands across the country, with at least 80 percent of the proceeds going back to those sites for upkeep. In Oregon and Washington, the Northwest Forest Pass costs $5 a day or $30 a year and is required at more than 1,000 sites, though that number will drop to about 680 on May 1. As the fees have become a fixture, federal officers have boosted enforcement. And with that, recreation fee opponents have stepped up their resistance. Scores of Northwest residents have appeared before federal judges to proclaim their innocence, complain about how officers issued the citations, etc. (03/14/04), Eugene Register Guard. From Tidepool.org. §