King County commissioned a study of the chemicals being introduced into the local waterways by its wastewater treatment plants and the estimated impacts on the marine ecosystem. The researchers recently presented the results. Full details can be found here.
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EPA’s new plan for lower Duwamish superfund site cleanup
The EPA has published a draft plan for a $290 million cleanup of the lower Duwamish River east waterway, one of two Superfund sites in the area that is heavily contaminated with PCBs from decades of industrial pollution. Public comments will be accepted through June 27.
Continue readingConsent decree for lower Duwamish superfund site cleanup
Last week the federal government, state government, and Muckleshoot and Suquamish tribes reached agreement with several local industrial corporations on a proposed consent decree for cleanup of decades of environmental pollution by industries operating on the Lower Duwamish River. The agreement calls for the companies to pay $550,000 for natural …
Continue readingSplit decision by state appeals court on Seattle City Light “greenwashing” case
Today the Washington State Court of Appeals handed down a mixed decision in a case filed by the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe accusing Seattle City Light of “greenwashing” its hydroelectric power plants. A lower court had dismissed the Tribe’s case in its entirety. The appeals court affirmed most of that decision, agreeing …
Continue readingSeattle Tree Canopy Assessment
The City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and the Environment recently released a study of the city’s tree canopy that it commissioned.
Continue readingSauk-Suiattle Tribe loses appeal over Gorge Dam
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ended the year by issuing a ruling in the lawsuit by the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe filed against Seattle City Light and the City of Seattle. The Tribe had argued that the Gorge Dam violated federal law, the federal act establishing the Washington Territory, and subsequently …
Continue readingShip Canal Water Quality Project update — it’s all bad news.
For several years now, King County and the City of Seattle have been jointly working on a project to supplement the “combined water outflow” sewer and storm drain system that during large rainstorms can dump raw sewage into the Ship Canal. The project is required under a consent decree that …
Continue readingSeattle’s annual greenhouse gas inventory
This week Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment published its biannual inventory on the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. It makes for an interesting read. As might be expected, emissions dropped dramatically in 2020 compared to 2018. It is unclear how much they have already returned to pre-pandemic levels. I hope …
Continue readingSeattle preliminary tree canopy assessment
Today the City of Seattle released the preliminary results of its tree canopy assessment, in which it found that between 2016 to 2021 the city lost 255 acres of trees. I hope you found this article valuable. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support …
Continue readingPort of Seattle lawsuit against Boeing for Duwamish river PCB dumping
As first reported by Axios this morning, the Port of Seattle is suing the Boeing Corporation under the state Model Toxics Control Act and the federal Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation and Liability Act to force the company to pay more to clean up decades of PCB dumping into the lower …
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