Electric vehicles hit the road

By Eli Levitt and Johanna Ofner, Climate Policy GroupThanks to a federal grant from the Department of Energy, Ecology recently installed an electric vehicle charging station at our Lacey Headquarters. If you’ve visited our facility, you might have noticed some rather unusual vehicles parked in front of it.Have you seen the brand new Nissan Leaf? How about the yellow Volkswagen Plugbug? Or the

Around the Sound: Irondale cleanup slated for summer 2012

By Diana Smith, Public Involvement CoordinatorView of Indian Island from atop a pile of slag and rubble remaining on the shoreline.Cleanup and restoration work at the former Irondale Iron and Steel site are now being planned for summer 2012. Cleanup will include removing contaminated soils, sediments, and slag; capping remaining contamination; and restoring the beach.The site in Jefferson County

Quick Response Protects People from Harmful Smoke

By Joye Redfield-Wilder, Communication Manager, Central Regional Office^Smoke from the Monastery Complex fire on Satus Pass^Ecology staff Stan Rauh and Greg Hannahs with the mobile monitor.^Air quality monitoring reportTalk about turnaround time — it was midday Friday, Sept. 9, and a request had come in from the Klickitat County Health Department for air quality monitoring in Goldendale. The

Air Time: The latest on ozone

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality ProgramAlthough EPA’s plan to strengthen the nation’s health-based air quality standard for ozone levels has been delayed (Air Time, Sept. 2), there’s still movement on that front.That’s because the previous standard proposed by the Bush-era EPA still needs to be officially enacted. This piece from the New York Times explains what’s going

Our Changing Climate: Policy, politics and what people actually see

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality ProgramHere are recent, interesting articles and newspaper editorials on climate change policy and politics: Syndicated columnist Neal Peirce writes about how more and more business leaders are realizing that addressing climate change makes business sense. The Associated Press offers this special report about climate change denial in the United

Around the Sound: Catching up ...

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup ProgramJust a few interesting things that have come up in the past couple of weeks... The Kitsap Sun offers this rundown on a two-day event in October called “Water Courses: Connecting West Sound.” Looks like there are a number of interesting speakers and topics on the schedule. The Associated Press reported recently on national

Fecal Matters: Seahurst County Park is Open for Swimming

BEACH Program Update

Seahurst County Park in Burien, WA is open for swimming! Sample results show bacteria concentrations have dropped to background levels. The swimming beach was previously closed on September 16, 2011 due to a sewage spill.

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

Boots on the Ground: WCC provides critical support for Olympic Peninsula wildfire fighting efforts

By Bridget Mason, WCC Coordinator, Washington Conservation CorpsAdaptability is not just a slogan for our Washington Conservation Corps members. It’s a fact. We must continuously stay flexible to meet community needs whenever help is required.Washington Department of Natural Resources asks for firefighting helpOn September 6, 2011, our WCC members were working hard on their typical projects –

Fecal Matters: Sewage Spill Near Swimming Beach at Seahurst County Park

BEACH Program Update

The King County Health District closed the beach at Seahurst County Park in Burien after receiving notification of a sewage spill near the beach.

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

Brazilian nuclear experts get well-rounded education in Richland

By Dieter Bohrmann, Communications Consultant, Nuclear Waste ProgramA group of five nuclear experts from Brazil had a lot of serious questions when they visited Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program in Richland last month. One less serious – but no less important – question was: “How is the quality of your wine?”A team of high-ranking officials in the Brazilian government’s nuclear energy sector

Cleaning Up: New initiative focuses on Eastern Washington sites

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup ProgramThe 2011 Legislature provided Ecology with $6 million in the 2011-13 budget to work with communities to clean up several sites in Central and Eastern Washington.The money comes from the state’s voter-approved tax on hazardous substances. Funds will be used exclusively in Eastern Washington to clean up properties where the responsible

Late Summer at the Lake? Watch for blue-green algae

by Jani Gilbert, communication manager, Eastern Regional OfficePhotos: Lake SpokaneCaution!Go ahead! Enjoy your late summer swim in the lake! But avoid areas where the water looks like scummy green paint. It's probably a bloom of blue-green algae and sometimes it contains toxins.The algae blooms show up every year in many of our lakes and even rivers, often in late summer or early fall when the

Around the Sound: The changing face of a cleanup site

By Seth Preston Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program Here's a series of images that shows how cleanup work is remaking the Custom Plywood site on the Fidalgo Bay shore in Anacortes.The first photo, on the left, shows how the site — once home to a plywood mill, which burned down about 20 years ago — looked in March 2010.The middle photo was taken after work started in July 2011.The last

Fecal Matters: Bay View State Park is Open for Swimming

BEACH Program Update

Bay View State Park in Skagit County is open for swimming! Additional samples collected show bacteria concentrations have dropped to background levels.

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

Our Changing Climate: Resources for students

Our Changing Climate: Resources for students | ECOconnect blog | Washington State Department of EcologyBy Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Programfrom the EPA website A Student's Guide to Global Climate ChangeDepending on where you live, the K-12 school year either is under way or preparing to start. So it makes sense to offer some kid-friendly climate change resources.First,

Air Time: President stops new ozone standard

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program

President Obama has announced that he is pulling the plug on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to tighten the health-based standard for ozone emissions.

EPA first announced plans to revise the standard in January 2010. But since then, a decision has been delayed repeatedly because of strong pushback from business,

B&L Woodwaste Cleanup: Partial Closure of Interurban Trail

Diana Smith, Public Involvement Coordinator

As part of the B&L Woodwaste landfill cleanup, a section of Interurban Trail in Milton will be closed September 6—9 from 8:00 a.m.—4:30 p.m. The trail will be closed between Fife Way and I-5. Click to see a map of the area that will be closed.

The trail is being closed so workers can build a temporary road for cleanup work at the landfill and wetlands

Fecal Matters: Swimming Advisory at Bay View State Park

BEACH Program Update

Marine water sampling results indicate high bacteria levels at Bay View State Park in Skagit County. The beach will be posted with a swimming advisory on Friday, September 2, 2011. Follow up samples will be collected next week.

Contact with fecal contaminated waters can result in gastroenteritis, skin rashes, upper respiratory infections and other illnesses. Children and

Cleaning Up: New series focuses on polluted sites

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

We try to highlight some of our Puget Sound work and Sound issues of interest in the “Around the Sound” blog series.

But there’s a lot of cleanup work being done throughout the state by the Toxics Cleanup Program that is not connected to Puget Sound. So this new “Cleaning Up” series will attempt to provide some helpful information

Wanted: Nominees for advisory group on ocean policy

By Curt Hart, Communications Manager, Shorelands and Environmental Assistance Program

Do you know someone who might be interested in helping direct and guide ocean policy and management issues along Washington’s Pacific Coast?

If so, Ecology is seeking nominations for membership on an advisory group for ocean policy.

Advisory group will help State Ocean CaucusThe group will advise the State