Future of Marine Spatial Planning undecided as legislature takes a break

In order for Marine Spatial Planning to move forward for Washington's Pacific Coast, the State Legislature needs to secure several million dollars in the state's budget. Yesterday, April 28th, state law makers allowed the last day of regular session to pass by without agreeing on a final budget. As a result, funding for Marine Spatial Planning is uncertain.

Marine Spatial Planning kicked off on Washington's coast with seed money from the State in 2012. Just last week, stakeholders and managers met in Aberdeen to discuss the goals for this process that would help shape the future of human uses on our coast. Casey Dennehy, Surfrider's Washington Coast Project Coordinator, attended these meetings and spoke in favor of protecting special places for recreation and healthy ecosystems.

The State Legislature will reconvene on May 13th and try to reach a compromise on numerous budget items, including Marine Spatial Planning. Hopefully they will do the right thing for our ocean and coast and continue the great work that has been started to map existing uses and consider how to balance new uses while protecting human enjoyment and a healthy ocean.

Japanese dock to be removed

A Japanese dock will soon be removed from a rugged and remote section of the Washington coast.

Set lose during the Japanese tsunami, the dock washed ashore within the boundaries of the Olympic National Park and the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary last December. According to a NOAA press release, the cost for removing the dock is over $620,000 and will be covered mostly by the government of Japan with some help from the National Park and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

The dock weighs approximately 185 tons and is 65 feet long, 20 feet wide and 7.5 feet tall. Removing it from the remote section of coast will require first dismantling it on the beach and then hauling away the debris with a helicopter.

Most of the dock is made of a Styrofoam-type material encased in steel-reinforced concrete.

Photo: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Proposed GPT Coal Terminal Receives Resistance

Opponents were out in force over the past 120 days voicing concerns about the Gateway Pacific coal export Terminal (GPT) proposed just north of Bellingham.  Agencies have received over 20,000 comments and a final number is still pending. The Washington Surfrider Chapters attended several of the 6 scoping comment hearings.  Most notably, the Northwest Straits Chapter made a strong presence at the first hearing in Bellingham and then the Seattle Chapter turned out for the final hearing held at the Washington Convention Center.  Activists submitted comments based on our love for marine recreation and passion for clean, healthy shorelines and oceans here in Washington. All the issues raised during the last four months must now be studied prior to the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

For Surfrider Foundation, the issues we raised included impacts to beach access cut off by intense train traffic, coal dust pollution on marine waters and public health, and the threat of a major oil spill from increased shipping of coal on coastal waters. Our comments were amplified the night of the Seattle public hearing when Seattle Treasurer Nemesia Herzstein spoke in front of over 1000 people at the Seattle hearing.  Click here for the YouTube video.

The comment period officially ended on January 22^nd and the future timeline is not necessarily clear at this point. The DEIS was expected to be completed by the end of 2013 but with such an outpouring of resistance during the scoping period it may take longer to complete the required studies identified through the scoping process. Once the DEIS is published then the public will be invited again to comment.

After months of hard work on the ground and through various media channels, opposition to the coal terminal was apparent. Please check back here, through our newsletter, or attend a chapter meeting if you are interested in continuing to follow the process.  It was a great effort by all those involved and now a little break is in order but it’s important to remember all that was done so when it’s time to comment again everyone with concerns is prepared.

Ocean Acidification - a plan and a call for action

Governor Gregoire left another legacy for Washington today when she signed an executive order calling for action on ocean acidification. The order acts on the recommendations of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification who released their final scientific report and recommended actions this morning. 

One of the most visible impacts of ocean acidification is the corrosive effects on shellfish. In Washington, shellfish growers have seen these impacts firsthand, witnessing the die off of juvenile oysters because their shells could not form properly in increasingly acidic waters.

The Blue Ribbon Panel recommends 42 actions to address ocean acidification, including efforts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, to minimize sources of local land-based pollution, including storm water, to invest more in research and monitoring, and to increase public awareness.

Washington State has fast become a national leader on responding to ocean acidification.  Learn more about State efforts.

Swimming Beaches in Puget Sound get a failing grade

In 2011, one quarter of the beaches monitored around Puget Sound were found to be unsafe for swimming because they failed to meet water quality standards. Since monitoring water quality at popular recreation beaches began in 2004, the number of unsafe beaches has increased by 12 percent.

The Puget Sound Partnership just released their 2012 State of the Sound report. In the report, swimming Beaches is just one of many indicators that suggests Puget Sound is imperiled and not improving. However, the report is not all bad news - over one thousand shellfish beds have been reopened to harvest and over two thousand acres of habitat have been restored. For more details, read the press release.

Celebrate Raptober!

Plastic trash is rapidly becoming one of the top threats to our ocean environments. Each year over one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals die from ingestion of, or entanglement in, plastic.  Even worse, in some areas of the ocean the amount of suspended plastic particles now outnumbers the ambient plankton!

For the entire month of October the Surfrider Foundation and our friends at Rusty will be celebrating Raptober.  We’ll be sharing plastic related facts as well as tips on how to reduce your individual plastic footprint.  Plus, special membership deals are available for a limited time. Learn more at http://bit.ly/RAPtober.

Report your surfing illnesses

Surfrider Foundation has just released our newest online reporting tool! Have you ever gotten sick after visiting the beach?  Now there’s a place to share your story and see where others are getting sick? Water pollution is the number one threat to surfer’s health in the ocean and we need your help tracking those potential sources. Check out our new tool to report an illness and read more on our coastal blog!