Combined Sewer Overflow Programs: Protecting our waters from stormwater, raw sewage and industrial pollution

By Kelly Susewind, Manager, Department of Ecology Water Quality Program



Projects to control combined sewer overflows provide an important solution to raw sewage discharges and stormwater treatment in the 11 Washington cities that have combined sewer and stormwater systems. Without controls over combined sewer overflows, heavy rains and snowmelt can cause large quantities of raw sewage from

Around the Sound: Coal! Cleanups! And whales! Oh my!

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup ProgramI’ve been on the road for most of the past two weeks, so I have some catching up to do. Let’s get to it …Cherry Point marine terminal Gov. Chris Gregoire spoke Monday (July 25) to a packed room at the Bellingham City Club forum. The audience was eager to hear what she had to say about the idea of building and operated a coal terminal

Fecal Matters: Pomeroy Park - Manchester Beach Open for Swimming

BEACH Program Update

Pomeroy Park - Manchester Beach in Kitsap County is open for swimming. Additional samples collected show bacteria concentrations have dropped to background levels. Kitsap County Health District removed the closed signs today previously posted on July 12, 2011.

Visit the BEACH web site to find the latest results for these and other saltwater beaches: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/

Around the Sound: Work in full swing at Anacortes cleanup site

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup ProgramCheck out these photos of work being done to clean up part of the old Custom Plywood mill site in Anacortes.Ecology is overseeing the cleanup of part of the site off 35th Street and V Avenue. A sawmill, a wood box factory and a plywood mill previously operated on the site. Fire destroyed the closed plywood mill in 1992.Cleaning up

Air Time: Beware of blowing dust!

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality ProgramHave you seen the images of the massive dust storms rolling through Arizona? Jaw-dropping, freaky … pick your own description.Here are some more photos and TV footage from the latest big storm on Monday, July 18. (The image at the right was published in the Seattle Times.)Thankfully, we haven’t seen that kind of craziness here in

Rayonier Mill Soil Dioxin Study: What do the dioxin levels mean?

By Connie Groven, Project ManagerWhenever I hear a number or statistic, I instinctively look for a comparison point. I also think about how that number impacts me personally. The soil dioxin study results we released last week probably raised the same questions for many people.How are dioxin levels measured?Dioixn levels are usually reported as a toxic equivalents or TEQs. We multiply

Dog poop solution: It’s in the bag

by Justine Asohmbom, Puget Sound EducatorSummertime is an exciting, beautiful time of year to enjoy the Puget Sound outdoors with our families and our family pets – particularly our dogs. But I’ve done more than a few quicksteps around doggie poop on our sidewalks and open spaces. It’s something that’s given me cause to pause and ponder.Have you ever stepped in dog poop?Have you ever walked your

Old Hanford misconceptions come home to roost again

By Suzanne Dahl, Tank Waste Treatment manager, Nuclear Waste ProgramNothing is as frustrating as watching history repeat itself negatively.A July 10th Tri-City Herald article highlighted the findings from a recent federal advisory board’s report on tank waste treatment. The report recommends delaying a decision about additional low-activity waste treatment for another 3 to 5 years. Hanford’s

Dog Doogity: A good return on the state’s investment

By Sandy Howard, communication manager, Water Quality Program

Polluted stormwater runoff is the leading pollution problem in our state’s most populated areas. Lots of people and lots of dogs are a big part of that pollution problem.

When it rains, pollution on the land washes downstream, moving that pollution along into our waters.





Protecting our waters
Regulations alone cannot keep

Fecal Matters: High Bacteria Results in Kitsap County

BEACH Program Update

The Kitsap County Health District closed Pomeroy Park - Manchester Beach today. The District received a complaint and marine water sample results identified high bacteria levels.

Indianola Dock and Fay Bainbridge State Park in Kitsap County also had elevated bacteria results. The County will collect additional samples from all three beaches tomorrow.

Increased pathogen and

Rayonier Mill Soil Dioxin Study Report Available to the Public

By Connie Groven, Project ManagerThree years ago, Ecology began a study of dioxins and furans (we refer to them together as dioxins) in surface soils in areas of Port Angeles near the former Rayonier Mill. We looked at two things—the concentration of dioxins in soils, and whether the former Rayonier Mill’s air emissions could have contributed to what we measured. The report is now in and it

Boat grounding

Image of D’Boat on Long Island on June 24 Another boat is reported to have grounded in the San Juan Island area. This is the second in the last two weeks. Seven people were on board and two of them had to be airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.The weather has been unpredictable and the tides rather extreme. When boating, be safe not sorry.For more information:KOMO News video

Air Time: Summer brings welcome heat ... and air problems

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality ProgramWell, it looks like summertime temperatures are settling in after the long, cold, wet winter/spring.But with nice weather and heat come air quality challenges.FireworksWhat would summer and the Fourth of July holiday be without a barrage a fireworks in just about every community in the state?Well, for one thing, there would be a whole

Ecology, Coast Guard respond to grounded vessel

By Seth Preston, Communications ManagerThe state Department of Ecology and the U.S. Coast Guard are responding to the scene of a grounded vessel near Shaw Island in the San Juan Islands.The Coast Guard has removed seven people from the commercial crabbing vessel, which ran aground west of San Juan Island.For more informationD'Boat Grounding incident pageEcology Spills Program

Abandoned water wells can be life-threatening

by Lynne Geller, Outreach and Communications, Water Resources ProgramThe sad loss of two dogs who died recently after falling into an abandoned well on Vashon Island again brings to light the importance of properly filling in wells no longer in use.Old abandoned water wells are fairly common in Washington State. For example, there are estimated to be thousands of abandoned wells in King County

Nuke waste program experiment may improve state soil sampling standards

By Erika Holmes, Community Outreach & Environmental Education Specialist, Nuclear Waste ProgramLast week, we completed an exciting service-learning project with statistics students at Columbia Basin College. They helped Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program do statistical analysis on soil contamination data from Hanford’s 200 Area. Our goal was to see if new multi-increment soil sampling produces

Forests not the problem for toxics in Puget Sound

By Mindy Roberts, Environmental Assessment ProgramWe want to clarify some of the broad findings of the recent study, “Toxics in Surface Runoff to Puget Sound.” Here are the facts:The surface runoff study monitored levels of toxic chemicals in streams representing four major land cover types: commercial/industrial; residential; agricultural; and forest/field/other undeveloped lands.The purpose was