View from the Helm

Coming into Compliance:  Five Boatyard Legal Actions Settled

by Bob Beckman, Executive Director & Puget Soundkeeper

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance settled out of court with five Seattle area boatyards to achieve compliance with Washington State’s Boatyard General Stormwater Permit.

As part of this process, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and Northwest Marine Trade Association representative board members and staff met twice with facilitation assistance from the William D. Ruckelshaus Center in February and March 2010 to forge a new collaborative path forward on boatyard issues. We agreed on and committed to three initiatives to mutually work on in the coming months: (1) creation of a voluntary clean boatyard program; (2) research non-toxic bottom paints & plan for the phase-out of toxic bottom paints; and (3) negotiate an agreement between Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and the Northwest Marine Trade Association on how to achieve boatyard compliance with the stormwater permit without further litigation.
The motivation behind Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s decision to file 60-day notice letters with the five boatyards is the high level of copper in their stormwater discharges.  According to the 2007 Update of Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Copper by the US Environmental Protection Agency, copper is fatal to Chinook and coho salmon and rainbow trout or steelhead at an average concentration of 22-25 parts per billion (ppb).   At even lower levels, it can disrupt crucial survival behaviors like feeding, predator avoidance and migration. 

Terms of the individual settlement agreements will have each boatyard taking necessary steps over the coming months to reduce their discharges of copper to Lake Union and Lake Washington.  The parties agreed to comply with all conditions of the stormwater permit and any successor National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit authorizing discharges from their facilities. Three of the boatyards agreed to penalty payments of $1,000 and $5,000 which will fund restoration projects conducted by other non-profit groups; two of the boatyards paid no penalties due to their financial condition.

Since 1995, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance has worked collaboratively with the Northwest Marine Trade Association on boater education at NMTA boat shows, training on stormwater permit compliance, the Clean Marina program and the Boatyard Stormwater Treatment Technology Pilot Study. Both groups plan to continue this working partnership.

Clean Marina Turns 50!

by Chris Wilke, Pollution Prevention Director

In April 2010, the Clean Marina Washington program reached a major milestone in the effort to stop pollution from recreational and commercial boating. On Earth Day 2010, the program announced five new certified marinas, bringing the total to 50 – nearly a quarter of all facilities in the state.

Since that milestone, two more marinas have joined the fold, bringing the total to 52, making the Washington program one of the fastest growing Clean Marina programs in the country.

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s Chris Wilke is a founding member of the Clean Marina Partnership and has served as the statewide manager of the program since its inception in 2005. The program is a comprehensive, incentive-based program aimed at protecting the marine environment from a variety of pollution sources associated with boating and marina operations. Under the program marinas must be in full compliance with environmental regulations, implement a comprehensive list of best management practices and pass a site visit inspection. The program is currently funded by a Washington Department of Ecology PPG grant.

Washington’s program is unique in that it is a true partnership and the only program in the country led by an environmental non-profit organization. The partnership of businesses, public agencies and environmental groups assists marinas and boaters to prevent oil, sewage and hazardous waste spills – helping them recognize that even small quantities add up to cause significant environmental harm to our waters.

The 7 newly certified marinas are:
•    Pleasant Harbor Marina, Brinnon, Wash., Jefferson County
•    Port of Port Townsend, Point Hudson Marina, Jefferson County
•    Port of Port Townsend, Port Townsend Boat Haven, Jefferson County
•    Winslow Wharf Marina, Bainbridge Island, Kitsap County
•    Islands Marine Center,  Lopez Island, San Juan County
•    Port of South Whidbey at Langley
•    Point Defiance Marina Complex
Larry Crocket, Executive Director of the Port of Port Townsend sums up the benefits: “The Port of Port Townsend takes its environmental stewardship role seriously.   Clean Marina certification is one more step toward demonstrating our efforts to protect Puget Sound.”

Besides Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, the Clean Marina Partnership includes the EnviroStars Cooperative, Northwest Marine Trade Association, Department of Ecology, Department of Natural Resources, Washington Sea Grant and Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Under the Partnership, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, EnviroStars and Washington Sea Grant perform the site visits and certifications. Complete list of Clean Marinas in Washington State.

BP Gulf Oil Disaster

by Chris Wilke, Pollution Prevention Director

If you are like us you have watched helplessly as the enormous slick from the BP Gulf Oil Disaster continues to get worse. Initially there was a fire where 11 lives were lost, then a map of the spill, then a haunting underwater video of gushing oil and now we are seeing photos of oiled wildlife and blackened beaches.

This photo by John Wathen shows a sperm whale trying to escape the sheen.

The president has assured us that BP will pay for this mess and they will make people whole.  But one has to wonder, can someone ever be made whole after they lose their livelihood, their way of life, their wildlife, their food supply? Unfortunately it is going to get worse down there before it gets better.

Fortunately there are seven Waterkeepers in the gulf region that are fighting the fight of their lives against this horrible oil disaster. These amazing people are the independent voices with a direct connection to their waters.  They are fishermen, scientists, lawyers and community organizers. They are from West to East: the Galveston Baykeeper, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisianna Bayoukeeper, Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, the Mobile Baykeeper, the Emerald Coastkeeper and the Apilachicola Riverkeeper. These people have local knowledge of their waterways, they can mobilize volunteers and are not afraid to tell the truth about what is happening.

Another person named John Wathen, who is the nearby Hurricane Creekkeeper in "upstate" Alabama has been shooting videos from the air with donated flights by his friends at South Wings.  His videos tell the story in a way you have not seen on the news. Last week his photos were shown to the UN.

These organizations did not budget for an oil spill. They had plenty to do fighting hog farms, cypress mulch production, stormwater, industry, sewage and coal mining.  Puget Soundkeeper Alliance encourages you to support our Gulf Keepers. 

Marine Debris Cleanup campaign off to a roaring start.

by Chris Wilke, Pollution Prevention Director

Bottle caps, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, syringes, computer monitors, fishing nets, discarded tires and toilets. Toilets? – Yes, even toilets.  Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (PSA) volunteers recovered three toilets from area waterways this spring.  Of all the items listed above, the toilets might be the most benign and could perhaps even provide habitat for marine life.  However, they are also symbolic of how people are treating the waters and are highly regarded as “trophy trash” in the marine debris removal crowd, so of course, we removed them.

Viewed as a whole, these items represent huge piles of junk that defile our waterways. Viewed individually, each item represents a significant long-term impact on the environment as well as a careless or deliberate action by someone who allowed the trash to enter the environment in the first place.

Plastic is a direct threat to marine life through ingestion, entanglement and strangulation.  Bottle caps and bottles, candy wrappers, Styrofoam and even cigarette butts are composed of plastic.  Sea birds feed directly on floating bits of plastic which they then feed to their young. Seals and other marine mammals are vulnerable to entanglement in derelict fishing nets. Besides these immediate threats, plastic presents a persistent problem because it never completely degrades.  Most forms of plastic simply break down from exposure to sunlight into smaller and smaller pieces that can more easily be ingested.  Many forms of plastic absorb toxic pollutants in the water and can achieve levels up to 1 million times that of the surrounding water.  We desperately need to confront this threat at the source, but we also can help
by cleaning up what already exists, which is precisely the effort that PSA is leading with partners and volunteers.

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance is on track to break records in our annual efforts to clean up trash and debris from our shorelines, lakes, bays and rivers.  Through a year-long grant from The Boeing Company and support from event sponsors, PSA’s work in the spring of 2010 included the following events bringing in over 3 tons of debris and involving over 600 volunteers.

• Duwamish River Kayak Cleanup in partnership with Boeing and DRCC - April 17
• Gary Manuel Salon Cleanup – April 21
• Snohomish Estuary Cleanup with Boeing and People for Puget Sound – April 24
• The Sweep: Lake Union, Portage Bay and Union Bay – May 15
• Jetty Island with Port of Everett and People for Puget Sound – May 15
• Ship Canal Shoreline Cleanup with Aptimus volunteers – May 21
• Creek Cleanup in Federal Way – May 28
• Hat Island Cleanup with WSU Beach Watchers– June 12

Join Us! More events are planned for the Summer of 2010. If you are interested in volunteering sign up or call 206-297-7002.

Upcoming events include:

• July 5th Fireworks Cleanup on Lake Union – sign up by emailing volunteer@pugetsoundkeeper.org
• August 7th Cedar River Cleanup
• August 14th Stillaguamish River Cleanup

The Docket

by Bob Beckman, Executive Director & Puget Soundkeeper

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance improves water quality in Puget Sound by enforcing the Federal Clean Water Act.

Our legal strategy is threefold:
•    Challenge Washington State Department of Ecology issued stormwater general permits for industrial, construction, sand & gravel, transportation, municipal & boatyard discharges when these permits fail to protect water quality in Puget Sound;
•    Take legal action on existing stormwater permittees who are egregiously out of compliance on their stormwater permits and for whom Washington State Department of Ecology fails to enforce compliance;
•    Search out and bring unpermitted stormwater dischargers into the regulated permit system.

Stormwater General Permit status report:
•    Puget Soundkeeper Alliance continues to participate with co-appellant People for Puget Sound in the stakeholder process advising Washington State Department of Ecology on modification of the Municipal Stormwater General Permit to implement low impact development required by our most recent appeal of this permit;
•    Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and co-appellants Columbia Riverkeeper and Olympians for Public Accountability are appealing the Industrial Stormwater General Permit with hearings set for January 2011; The Boeing Company, Copper Development Association, Inc., International Copper Association, Ltd., Gunderson Rail Services & Weyerhaeuser are also appealing this permit;
•    Puget Soundkeeper Alliance commented on the Draft Sand & Gravel Stormwater General Permit in February 2010; and
•    Puget Soundkeeper Alliance commented on the Draft Boatyard Stormwater General Permit in May 2010.

Citizen Lawsuits:
•    Puget Soundkeeper Alliance has settled eight Clean Water Act cases to date in 2010 with $39,500 in penalty payments funding five restoration projects implemented by five non-profit groups; five cases were boatyards, one was a municipality and two cases were industrial facilities;
•    Puget Soundkeeper Alliance has seven additional Clean Water Act cases in various stages of settlement.

The Clean Water Act allows citizens to file lawsuits against polluters to protect our water from illegal pollution. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s focus is on polluted stormwater runoff, which is recognized as the primary threat to the health of Puget Sound.

Partner Spotlight

Three years of partnership with the Aveda Corporation and local Aveda Washington salons and spas resulted in over $190,000 for clean water in Puget Sound. Thank you to the salon owners and employees who championed clean water in Puget Sound for the past three years! Click here for an Aveda Salon near you!

Donor's Corner

by Erica Slotkin, Program & Development Assistant

As part of the Penny Harvest program, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (PSA) is the proud recipient of a $333.33 grant from Emerson Elementary, a $333.00 grant from Wedgwood Elementary, and a $500.00 grant allocated by the Youth Board at the end of the school year.  Penny Harvest, a program of Solid Ground in Seattle, is a year-round series of service-learning activities that help students apply classroom learning to real-world problems culminating in Philanthropy Roundtables where the students learn about community causes and allocate grant funds.

This year, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance was chosen as an outreach presenter and a panel member at the Youth Philanthropic Summit at Seattle Center where PSA engaged and supported 4th and 5th graders in their quest for knowledge about local non-profits.  Seattle students collect pennies each fall, and then those in attendance at the Summit help educate their fellow students about organizations that will potentially receive grants.