View From the Helm: Going Strong

By Bob Beckman, Executive Director & Puget Soundkeeper 

Ten weeks have blown by since I assumed the helm at Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (PSA)!  Thank you for so graciously welcoming me aboard and thank you volunteers for your incredible work on cleanups, water patrols, special events, site visits and committees! Thank you to Tom Putnam for standing in as Interim Puget Soundkeeper for two months between the end of Sue Joerger’s tenure and the beginning of mine. A special thanks for our sponsors, volunteers, board, staff and vendors who produced our fun Oktoberfest & superb Salute to the Sound!

One of my priorities as Puget Soundkeeper is to rapidly respond to our members and to the public when they witness water pollution.  We fact find diligently, make the calls and get the pollution stopped. Sometimes these episodes are rapidly resolved (see Volunteer Discovers Sewer Leak Under West Seattle Bridge). Other episodes take much longer. Recently we received a call from a citizen who observed and documented airborne particulate pollution on his boat and on the surrounding water from a nearby industrial facility. Because this was an ongoing issue, this citizen called the polluting facility and complained to the manager. When he was rebuffed by the manager, the citizen contacted the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency with his complaint. He related that an agency inspector was scheduled to visit but was a no show. The citizen found PSA’s contact number on a PSA brochure that his wife had picked up at a local community event and called us--Could Puget Soundkeeper Alliance get the air and water pollution stopped?

I arranged a patrol boat inspection of his marina and we met and reviewed his photo documentation. Although there was no airborne pollution on the day of our visit, this citizen had documented other days when air and water pollution occurred. I learned that the suspected facility has an airborne emissions permit from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. I also learned that their complaint protocols require one of their inspectors to witness the airborne pollution first hand. They counseled our citizen to keep calling their complaint hotline each and every time he witnessed pollution and hopefully one of their inspectors would be able to witness this pollution and then take action to stop the pollution.

What could we do? I asked our attorneys to do some research and in the process, we learned that this facility was out of compliance with their industrial stormwater permit. After reviewing the evidence, PSA decided to proceed with legal action to stop this air and water pollution. We mailed our notice of intent to sue with our offer to settle as long as the facility agreed to full compliance with their permits, payment of a penalty for mitigation and recovery of our legal costs. We are currently beginning settlement talks with the facility’s legal team. Total elapsed time from receiving the complaint to today – 7 weeks and the pollution has not stopped. It is tough to be patient while we work through the resolution of this case. However, I am confident that our methods protect Puget Sound.  The Clean Water Act clearly gives citizens the right to enforce documented water quality violations. Similar to PSA’s previous cases, the outcome we seek is an on-the-ground change to establish compliance and protect water quality in Puget Sound.

Eight Dumpsters Pulled out of Ship Canal! 

The Annual Seattle Maritime Business Coalition Ship Canal Cleanup was held on a cool, breezy Saturday morning at the beginning of October. Based out of Fisherman’s Terminal, the event was once again a success as 84 volunteers teamed up to collect marine debris and urban trash from the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks to the Fremont Bridge. To aid in the effort, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance provided 11 kayaks, 1 canoe and 25 volunteers to comb the shallow areas along the bank and transfer that trash to larger vessels including the PSA Patrol Boat, four tugs and eight other vessels of all sizes.  The larger vessels transferred the trash to the shore where Port Staff were ready to unload on the west wall of the Terminal.  Ballard Oil hosted a barbecue of halibut for all participants and awards were given for the oddest jetsam picked up and for the most debris collected.  Puget Soundkeeper Alliance is proud to be part of the annual Ship Canal Cleanup – Thank you to all who participated!

Sponsored by the Seattle Marine Business Coalition
Partners: Ballard Oil, Port of Seattle, US Army Corps of Engineers, Pacific Coast Seafoods, Foss Shipyard, Western Towboat

The Duwamish River: Industrial Pollution Site & Home to Puget Sound Wildlife 

Trucks thunder 50 yards overhead, a couple of homeless shelters are nestled in the bushes, discarded fishing nets are caught in the rip rap and trash floats along the current--So why should anyone care? One answer is found in the image of the grandfather great blue heron or the baby seal left by its mother while she fishes for a meal. We are all part of this closed system we call earth, and we are all connected.  (photo by Neal Chism)

The Duwamish River is a river with much history and one man has made it his job to clean up a small area beneath the West Seattle lower bridge on the Harbor Island shoreline.  Neal Chism is an engineer and a recreational boater who moors his boat in a small marina on the Duwamish and he first contacted Puget Soundkeeper Alliance this year in August.  He started his personal cleanup operation in the marina – “I typically collect 3-6 cubic feet of trash per week” he reported.  Two weeks later he asked if we knew who to call to remove the mountain of trash he had removed from an additional area under the bridge.  Since PSA partners with Seattle Public Utilities on many of our large cleanup events, we asked for their help and they were quick to assist with the project.

It was also Neal’s vigilance that helped stop raw sewage from flowing into the Duwamish when he and his friend spotted a leak (see complete story).  With our help and the quick response of Seattle Public Utilities, the leak was stopped, and now Seattle has a newly installed pipe line.

Neal was recently featured in a West Seattle blog written by Tracy Record.

Success at PSA’s Salute to the Sound

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance thanks our Partnering, Sound and Salute Sponsors of the event who made this event possible:

Partnering Sponsors: Nucor Steel Seattle - Peter Goldman & Martha Kongsgaard
Sound Sponsors: KCTS 9 - Taylor Shellfish Farms
Salute Sponsors: Puget Sound Pilots - Sterling Savings Bank.

Our 6th Annual Salute to the Sound was held on a typical Seattle fall evening with the rain spritzing on and off as our guests assembled in the Naval Reserve Building at the south end of Lake Union.  Everyone was welcomed into the Great Hall with hors d’oeuvres provided by Bacchus & Arianna Catering, geoduck seviche by Xinh Dwelley and a raw oyster bar by Taylor Shellfish Farms.  As everyone mingled and enjoyed the silent auction, they were offered a choice of a glass of Firesteed wine or a pint from Fish Brewing Co.

Once dinner was served, former Secretary of State, Ralph Munro welcomed everyone to Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s Salute to the Sound and introduced the speakers for the evening.  PSA was very fortunate to have Frontline correspondent Hedrick Smith join us to showcase his latest documentary, Poisoned Waters, which details the widespread pollution from stormwater runoff into Puget Sound.  As our speakers all stated, the future health of Puget Sound lies with PSA’s continued efforts to stop toxic pollution at the source. 

The Docket 

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance continues its efforts to enforce municipal and industrial stormwater permits under the Clean Water Act.

Industrial Stormwater General Permit
Since July 2009, PSA has filed one new Clean Water Act 60-day notice of intent to sue against an industrial facility. We completed our site visit to the facility and are currently reviewing their Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, analyzing their discharge monitoring reports and drafting a settlement offer.
PSA has settled with three companies: Achilles USA Inc., Canyon Lumber Co. Inc. and Recycling & Disposal Services, Inc. Achilles USA Inc. is coming into compliance with their permit by installing stormwater treatment and is funding a $30,000 mitigation project by Adopt a Stream Foundation. Canyon Lumber Co. Inc. is coming into compliance with their permit and is funding a $40,000 mitigation project by Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force. Recycling and Disposal Services, Inc. is coming into compliance with their permit and is funding a $10,000 mitigation project by RE Sources for Sustainable Communities.

PSA has withdrawn one action against a recycling company which documented its compliance with its permit.

PSA was represented in all five cases by Bridget Baker-White and Brian Knutsen of Smith and Lowney, PLLC.

New Industrial Stormwater General Permit Issued
Washington Department of Ecology issued a new Industrial Stormwater General Permit on October 21st, 2009.  PSA had submitted 26 pages of comments on the draft permit and is in the process of reviewing the new permit which will become effective January 1st, 2010. The permit will cover more than 1,200 industrial sites.

Municipal Phase I Permit Update
The Low Impact Development Implementation Advisory Committee stakeholder 8-10 month process has started with PSA represented by Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice and Bruce Wishart of People for the Puget Sound. The Pollution Control Hearing Board's precedent-setting ruling on PSA's appeal of the Municipal Phase I Permit directed the Washington State Department of Ecology to require municipalities to utilize low impact development “where feasible” to minimize stormwater impacts. The stakeholder process will recommend standards and processes concerning low impact development to be added to the permit.

Boatyard General Permit Update
PSA sent a letter to all Washington boatyards in September 2009 reviewing the status of the Boatyard General Permit. PSA learned that Washington State Department of Ecology had offered inconsistent or bad advice to some boatyards leaving these boatyards with the impression that Ecology would not review any required engineering reports until the final modification to the permit was issued. PSA reviewed its collaboration with the Northwest Marine Trade Association in drafting the permit modification almost a year ago. PSA referred boatyards to the Boatyard Stormwater Treatment Technology Study which identified systems that are capable of substantially reducing metals in stormwater. PSA has reviewed many of the boatyard files at Ecology and found a significant number of boatyards which appear to be in violation of the 2005 permit. PSA reminded boatyards that the 2005 permit remains in full effect and that those boatyards long out of compliance may be subject to the citizen lawsuit provisions of the Clean Water Act.

Washington State Department of Ecology released a draft of the Economic Impact Analysis for the draft General Permit for Boatyards. Ecology used data from Arcadis on the Stormwater Treatment Technology Study to inform their analysis. PSA examined the assumptions, methodology and data used in this analysis and provided comments to Ecology. The stated purpose of the analysis is to estimate the cost of complying with the permit for all businesses and specifically the cost of compliance for small businesses (those with 50 or fewer employees). 

Clean Marina Update

Port of Shelton’s Oakland Bay Marina and the Port of Camas-Washougal became the two newest marinas certified as part of the growing Clean Marina Washington program. With these two newly-certified marinas, the program has grown to 45 certified facilities in our state, making Washington one of the fastest growing Clean Marina programs in the country. Port of Shelton’s Oakland Bay Marina and the Port of Camas-Washougal became the two newest marinas certified as part of the growing Clean Marina Washington program. With these two newly-certified marinas, the program has grown to 45 certified facilities in our state, making Washington one of the fastest growing Clean Marina programs in the country. The biggest news is that with the addition of Camas-Washougal on the Columbia River, the program has now expanded certifications outside of the Puget Sound area. Camas-Washougal’s achievements include providing hazardous waste disposal for tenants and special fuel dock training. Thanks to the staff at Camas-Washougal and Eric Olsson with Washington Sea Grant for taking the lead roles on this effort. In addition to the Camas-Washougal facility, Port of Shelton was recognized for their whole-site approach to achieving certification, which included upland improvements to prevent stormwater pollution, as well as a proactive approach to boater education and involvement. The Port of Shelton also earned points for their newly-installed floating restroom which encourages better practices at the marina and will help protect nearby shellfish beds.

Certified marinas earn the right to the fly the flag when they implement certain required and optional elements for preventing pollution and protecting water quality.  This voluntary program is a partnership between the marine industry, non-profit environmental advocates and government agencies. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s Chris Wilke helped to found this award-winning program in 2005. He actively certifies new marinas and manages the overall effort in coordination with the Clean Marina Partnership.  More information and a list of certified marinas is available at www.cleanmarinawashington.org. 

Donor's Corner - Metropolitan Market 

Metropolitan Market donated all of the 5-cent contributions from their shoppers who chose to donate their reusable shopping bag rebate rather than keeping it during 2008. PSA received $5,217 for our clean water efforts. Thank you for reusing your bags!