No stink from Ecology

The following article appeared in the March 30, 2006 Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News, which does not provide complete articles on their website.

Mr. Manning apparently noted a "dead" zone off Kala Point, in the context of the Hood Canal dissolved oxygen issues. We didn't know that Kala Point was on the Hood Canal, and Kala Point residents may be somewhat surprised to learn that they live on the Canal.

More importantly, Mr. Manning talked with the Peninsula Daily News editorial board about the Marrowstone Island public water system, after having brought it up as part of his presentation to the Port Angeles Rotary Club. According to the article, "Manning said Jefferson County Public Utility District, which is developing the pipeline, must receive a water right permit from Ecology to divert water from its sources in the Chimacum basin." A check with the PUD office finds that they are not aware of a new requirement for a water right, and that they already have the water rights needed to supply the system.

We've made contact with all three members of the 24th District's legislative team, and they are working to find out what is behind the information in the article.

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No stink from Ecology
PT Paper within emissions levels

By Rex Wilson
Peninsula Daily News

Any perception of increased odors from the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill isn't supported by pollution monitoring results from the state Department of Ecology, the department's director said Wednesday.

Jay Manning, a longtime environmental attorney who has held the state's top Ecology job for 13 months, said his department has received increasing complaints recently about smells emanating from the Glen Cove mill.

But monitoring data show that the mill is within its permitted emissions levels, Manning told Peninsula Daily News editors during a private meeting.

Ecology's conclusion, he said, is that additional housing built in areas near the mill has brought in new residents who are not used to the odors from a paper mill and have complained.

He called Port Townsend Paper a "pretty good citizen" in complying with Ecology's permits.

Operating under 15 different permits

Port Townsend Paper operates under at least 15 different environmental permits and programs at the federal, state and local levels, according to the company's Web site.

In a wide-ranging interview with PDN following an appearance before the Port Angeles Rotary Club, Manning said one of his priorities is restoring Hood Canal, part of a broader plan to clean up all of Puget Sound.

He defined Puget Sound as waters that extend from Olympia to the ocean entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, plus Hood Canal.

Noting that contaminated rainwater rolling into the Sound from roofs, pavements and contaminated soils is the biggest threat to the region's waters, Hood Canal's unusually low oxygen levels are of particular focus for Ecology.

Much of the oxygen problem is caused by septic systems leaching into the long waterway, causing abnormal amounts of nitrogen to build.

The nitrogen encourages underwater plant growth that eventually decays and absorbs the water's oxygen, thus creating "dead zones" for marine life in Hood Canal, Manning said.

Particularly "dead" areas include waters at Great Bend, Bangor and Kala Point.

Recent legislation signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire allocated $6.5 million to help 12 Puget Sound/Hood Canal counties — including Jefferson — to identify critical areas, pinpoint failing septic systems and get them repaired.

There's additional money in the state construction budget to clean up septic systems at state parks along the Hood Canal.

Using hospital terminology, Manning said Puget Sound is in "serious condition," and Hood Canal's condition is "critical."

Jefferson County issues

Other Jefferson County issues Manning commented on during his Rotary appearance and subsequent PDN interview:

• He commended the city of Port Townsend for being an "early adopter" of a shoreline master program, required in the next few years from all jurisdictions having shorelines.
  
  Port Townsend volunteered to be the first in the state to submit its shoreline program to Ecology, and the plan is a model for other communities.
  
  
• Ecology's reworking of in-stream flow rules in the Quilcene basin will take about a year, Manning said.
  
  Once completed, the revised rules, he said, will re-enter the public process in which local outcry developed last year over Ecology-proposed restrictions in Water Resource Inventory Area 17 that were designed to balance water needs with salmon restoration.
  
  Testimony in a public hearing at Fort Worden State Park last November revolved around fears that water rights would be reduced and property devalued.
  
  
• Water rights are also an issue in a proposed main water line running up Marrowstone Island to supplant private wells that have suffered saltwater intrusion.
  
  Manning said Jefferson County Public Utility District, which is developing the pipeline, must receive a water right permit from Ecology to divert water from its sources in the Chimacum basin.
  
  The Ecology director said water for the pipeline against groundwater issues is an example of the type of judgments his department makes daily around the state.
  
  
• Port Townsend is in the process of getting hundreds of feet of oil containment boom and equipment as well as Ecology staff training in how to use it, Manning said.
  
  He said the Port Townsend boom will be similar to that placed in Gig Harbor last August, just weeks before about 50 boats sank or were severely damaged in a marina fire.
  
  The Gig Harbor fire was less of a disaster, Manning said, because the boom was spread by Ecology-trained city crews within 10 minutes of the fire and successfully kept oil and other contaminants from spreading outside the marina area.

Executive Editor Rex Wilson can be reached at 360-417-3530 or rex.wilson@peninsuladailynews.com.