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Call for a complete cleanup of the Rayonier mill site

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At the public meeting earlier in July, I provided written comments to the Department of Ecology regarding the Rayonier Mill Cleanup. Here is what I told Ecology: Ecology has a remarkable opportunity to “renature” the Port Angeles waterfront. I worked for Ecology for over 30 years as an environmental engineer, mostly in EAP. I moved here several years ago. Almost immediately, I discovered the Olympic Discovery Trail and adopted a section as a volunteer steward. As such, I ride my bicycle through this area regularly.  It is a remarkable area with so much potential   to restore its natural capital and environmental services. It has cultural importance – the former location of a Native American village. It has importance as the mouth of Ennis Creek, the most important salmon stream between the Elwha River and Morse Creek. It has waterfront and nearshore marine habitat or priceless value.  I call this “renaturing” because we have an opportunity to create a magnificent natural ...
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The Water Service of Clallam PUD

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Time to wash dishes? Brush your teeth? Take a shower? Just turn on the water and out it comes. Sounds easy, right? Actually, getting that water to come out of your faucet is not so simple. Here’s one story about a Clallam County water utility. Although most folks in Clallam County are aware of Clallam PUD (Public Utility District) as an electric utility, you may not know that Clallam PUD is also a water utility.  I personally like to pay close attention to these folks because I get water at my home from the PUD. But also, in the early 2000’s I served as a Commissioner for Thurston PUD and learned a lot about the water utility business from that experience. Who do you get your water from? There’s a good chance it’s Clallam PUD. They own 6 systems, with over 5,000 connections and serving over 11,400 residents.  According to WDOH’s database ( https://doh.wa.gov/data-statistical-reports/environmental-health/drinking-water-system-data/data-download ), ) in Clallam County there ...
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Location: Port Angeles, WA, USA
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King Tides and Storm Surge along the Straits

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Yesterday the National Weather Service put out an alert for coastal flooding caused by high tides and storm surge. I went down the Olympic Discovery Trail to take a look. Waves were crashing on the rip-rap and spraying onto the trail. The tide had pushed up into the creeks. At 4 Seasons Ranch water was piling up in low spots. King Tides are exceptionally high tides, usually occurring around the full moon. Dec 15-17 will be this month's King tides dates, with high tides of 9 feet at Dungeness. Global warming can make King tides higher in several ways: - sea level rise when warmer oceans expand - more sea level rise from melting continental glaciers - higher storm surge from more intense storms Here's a website with a calendar of King Tides: https://wsg.washington.edu/.../hazar.../king-tides/calendar/ More information on King Tides at: https://wsg.washington.edu/community-outreach/hazard-resilience-and-climate-adaptation/king-tides/program/ and https://www.epa.gov/cre/climate-cha...
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Location: Port Angeles, WA, USA
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