Air Time: Winds providing some relief in E WA

Air Quality Program, Air monitoring update

Here is the air monitor and weather update for Sunday (Sept. 30, 2012). For more information, check http://wasmoke.blogspot.com/.

A passing cold front brought smoke clearing as anticipated on Saturday. After showing “good” air for about 10 hours, fine particle pollution levels in Wenatchee increased to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” within two hours

Air Time: Saturday's smoke monitors and weather update

Air Quality Program, Air monitoring update

Here is the air monitor and weather update for Saturday (Sept. 29, 2012). For more information, check http://wasmoke.blogspot.com/.

Other than Wenatchee (“very unhealthy”) and Chelan (“unhealthy”), other monitors at the Cascade foothills and Columbia Basin are reporting a mix of “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” “moderate” and “good.” Several of the

Air Time: Air quality erodes in some places, but may improve this weekend

Air Quality Program, Air monitoring update

Friday's news release on smoke conditions and weather ...

Continuing wildfire smoke has driven air quality into the “hazardous” and “very unhealthy” ranges in several Central Washington communities.
This morning (Friday, Sept. 28, 2012), a newly relocated air monitor showed air quality was “hazardous” in Liberty. Air also was “hazardous” in Cashmere,

Tacoma Smelter Plume: What park cleanup looks like

By John Zinza, Field Coordinator, Toxics Cleanup Program

We're on week two of our schedule for cleaning up contaminated soil at seven parks and making good progress.

This work is part of the Soil Safety Program, which cleans up park, school, childcare, and camp play areas contaminated by air emissions from the old Asarco smelter in Tacoma.

To give you an idea of what our program looks like,

Air Time: Air quality 'hazardous' again in Wenatchee, Cashmere

Air Quality Program, Air monitoring update

Here's the air quality conditions and weather forecast for Thursday, Sept. 27 ...

Wildfire smoke has poured back into the Wenatchee and Cashmere areas, plunging air quality there back into the “hazardous” category.

Both communities have been hammered by smoke carried by winds from area wildfires. Some afternoon clearing occurs when the inversion

Air Time: Smoke returning after day of respite

Air Quality Program, air monitoring updates

Here is today’s (Sept. 26, 2012) conditions update and weather forecast for Eastern Washington …


Wenatchee and Cashmere enjoyed relatively clean air for about half a day before smoke from the area wildfires returned Tuesday evening, according to the Washington Department of Ecology. Smoke is also lingering elsewhere in Eastern Washington.
This

Air Time: Air quality in Eastern WA shows short-term improvement

Air Quality Program, air monitoring updates


Here's the conditions update and weather forecast for today (Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012).


YAKIMA — For the first time in nearly two weeks, none of the air quality monitors in the state are recording hazardous conditions. Pateros comes precariously close, though, with air quality there degraded today while other nearby sites showed improvement in

Air Time: Governor extends Eastern WA burn ban

Air Quality Program, air monitoring updates

The Governor's Office issued the following news release late Monday (Sept. 24, 2012). For more information on the current wildfires in Washington, see
http://wasmoke.blogspot.com/.

Gov. Gregoire extends Eastern Washington burn ban

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire tonight extended a burn ban for all counties east of the Cascade crest, prohibiting all

Air Time: Air quality still poor throughout Central WA

by Seth Preston, Air Quality Program, communication manager

Here’s today’s news release on wildfire smoke, air quality conditions and weather forecasts...


Photo from KIMA TV

From Winthrop and Okanogan to Toppenish, air quality in Central Washington is “unhealthy” for everyone today. And in both Wenatchee and Ellensburg air quality is worse and registers as “hazardous” and “very unhealthy”

Air Time: Air still poor in Wenatchee, but improvements elsewhere

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program

The Wenatchee, Pateros and Cashmere areas have seen slight clearing in wildfire smoke, but air quality there still remains in the “hazardous” category.

Other areas of Eastern Washington – such as Entiat, Quincy, Leavenworth, Chelan, Yakima, White Swan, and Toppenish – experienced some clearing, but still not enough to return to

Air Time: Wenatchee air quality still hazardous

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program

Saturday morning (Sept. 22, 2012) Air quality remains in the “hazardous” category in the Wenatchee area and nearby communities such as Cashmere and Pateros, according to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology).

However, some areas along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains did see some improvement in air quality

Doing well by doing right – Pollution Prevention Planning

By K Seiler, Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction manager


This is Pollution Prevention Week (Sept. 17-23), designated at both the national and Washington State level. For more than two decades, government and business have worked together to build the concepts of pollution prevention into our daily lives and consciousness. So we are frequently asked, “Is the job done? Has 20 years been enough?”

Air Time: Wildfire smoke not letting up

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program


The weekend weather forecast offers little relief for many smoke-blanketed communities in Eastern Washington, especially those along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, according to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology).

“Air quality in the Wenatchee area has remained in the ‘hazardous’ category for over a week now,

Fecal Matters: Join us to Discover the Mountains and the Sea at Larrabee State Park!

BEACH Program Update

The BEACH Program is excited to announce our attendance at a new festival at Larrabee State Park! Join us on Saturday, September 22nd to "Discover the Mountains and the Sea at Larrabee State Park".

This festival features live music, games, nature walks, geocaching, crafts, hand-on demonstrations, Raingutter Regatta races and more! The BEACH Program will be there to educate

Air Time: Some communities still plagued by wildfire smoke

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program

Some communities in Eastern Washington — particularly those in and near the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains — are still experiencing poor air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Here is the morning forecast for Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, along with some helpful hyperlinks:

Air Quality forecast, 8AM Tuesday 18 September 2012
Issued

Tacoma Smelter Plume: Park cleanups underway this week

By Hannah Aoyagi, Tacoma Smelter Plume Project, Toxics Cleanup Program


The Soil Safety Program will be busy this fall season, cleaning up play areas at seven parks in a six week span.  We are removing soils contaminated with arsenic and lead from the former Asarco smelter in north Tacoma.



The parks are:

Dottie Harper (Burien)
Sunset Playfields (SeaTac)
McMicken Heights (SeaTac)
Lake Grove (

Preventing pollution pays big dividends; lets keep at it!

By K Seiler, Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction manager

I’m excited to announce this week is National Pollution Prevention Week and an opportunity to recognize Washington State success stories achieved by industry! I’m energized by these results, and the savings of more than $45 million reported by a subset of Washington businesses through our state Pollution Prevention Program since 2005.

Here's the latest on E WA air quality

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program


Passing on some notes from today (Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012) …



Currently, there is an air stagnation advisory issued by the National Weather Service for these
counties through 5 p.m. Tuesday: Grant, Lincoln, Spokane, Adams, Whitman, and populated
areas of Garfield and Asotin counties (not the elevated portion in the Blue
Mountains).

Forecast offers some relief for E WA air quality, but ...

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program

The weekend weather outlook for Eastern Washington, from Ecology forecaster Ranil Dhammapala, offers some temporary relief for smoke-impaired air quality in embattled communities. The photo at right from a Forest Service camera reflects that.

But stagnant air conditions are expected during the coming week, which likely means a renewed

Eyes Over Puget Sound for Sept. 11, 2012

By Sandy Howard, Communication Manager, Environmental Assessment Program

We’ve got new aerial photos of Puget Sound surface conditions from Ecology’s Sept. 11 flight.

Strong sunshine, warm days, and cool nights have characterized the past week.

Extensive red-brown blooms continue in Inlets of South and Central Sound. Jellyfish are increasing in number and aggregate sizes.

We found

Update: Air quality worsening in some smoke-impacted areas

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program
The latest monitor readings show air quality is in the “unhealthy” category in the Ellensburg, Yakima, Twisp, Winthrop, and North Bend areas.
The air quality in Leavenworth has worsened from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy.”
Monitoring data currently is not available for the Wenatchee and Chelan areas via the Washington Air Quality

Air Time: Smoke at unhealthy levels in some E. WA counties

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program

Wildfire smoke continues to pour into some areas of Eastern Washington. This morning (Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012), air quality in the Wenatchee area was in the “hazardous” category in the Wenatchee area and “unhealthy” in the Leavenworth area. Those ratings are determined by the Washington Air Quality Advisory (WAQA).
(Note: This air

New report tells what happened in Puget Sound waters in 2011

By Sandy Howard, Environmental Assessment Program


The Puget Sound Marine Waters workgroup of the Puget Sound Environmental Monitoring Program (PSEMP), part of the collaborative effort of the Puget Sound Partnership, has released its first annual report on marine water conditions in Puget Sound.

The report combines a wealth of data from comprehensive monitoring programs and provides a concise

Boots on the Ground: WCC crews supporting ongoing firefighting efforts

By Bridget Mason, WCC Coordinator, Washington Conservation Corps





WCC crew moving fuel cans for equipment
Credit: Ernie Farmer
Ecology’s Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) members have been busy this wildfire season. We currently have two 10-person AmeriCorps crews responding to wildfires in Washington – with a third 10-person crew joining the response this evening.

Here’s a summary of the

Let’s Talk Science! Field scientist studies biocontrols in lake systems

by Joye Redfield-Wilder, communications manager, Central Regional Office

Aquatic plant specialist Jenifer Parsons has a unique position in Ecology. Jenifer’s interest in science sent her on a path to receive a bachelor’s degree is in biology from Boise State and a master’s in environmental science with an emphasis in aquatic ecology from Western Washington University. Aquatic plants and aquatic

Fecal Matters: Join us at the 36th Annual Wooden Boat Festival!

BEACH Program Update


The BEACH Program is excited to announce our attendance at the 36th annual Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, WA. This festival features more than 300 wooden boats, plenty of delicious food vendors, and artists galore. The BEACH Program will be there to educate kids and adults about sources of bacteria in our waterways. Our watershed demonstration model helps people of