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