Post on 06-Apr-2016
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Published by:
Wild Game Fish Conservation
International
On the cover: Adams River Sockeye
Reba Rose DeGuevara
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Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Game Fish Conservation International (WGFCI): Established to
advocate for wild game fish, their fragile ecosystems and the cultures and economies that rely on their robust populations.
LEGACY – Journal of Wild Game Fish Conservation: Complimentary, no-
nonsense, monthly publication by conservationists for conservationists
LEGACY, the WGFCI Facebook page and the WGFCI website are utilized
to better equip fellow conservationists, elected officials, business owners and others regarding wild game fish, their contributions to society and the varied and complex issues impacting them and those who rely on their sustainability.
LEGACY exposes impacts to wild game fish while featuring wild game fish
conservation projects, fishing adventures, wildlife art, accommodations, equipment and more. Your photos and articles featuring wild game fish from around planet earth are
welcome for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of LEGACY. E-mail them with
captions and credits to Jim (wilcoxj@katewwdb.com).
Successful wild game fish conservation efforts around planet earth will ensure existence of these precious natural resources and their ecosystems for future
generations to enjoy and appreciate. This is our LEGACY.
LLeeggaaccyy
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
Founders
Bruce Treichler Jim Wilcox
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Contents WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook _________________________________________________________ 5
Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Walk __________________________________________________ 6
Joe Durham __________________________________________________________________________________________ 6
Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny: __________________________________ 9
Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf _______________________________ 9
Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014 _________________________________________ 10
Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits _____________________________________________ 11
Warning: Eating Farmed Salmon May Affect Your Baby _________________________________________________ 11
Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:___________________________________________ 12
Fish tale: New study evaluates antibiotic content in farm-raised fish _____________________________________ 13
Sushi lover's entire body left riddled with WORMS after eating contaminated sashimi _____________________ 16
WGFCI: Writing to protect what needs protected ___________________________________________________ 18
Commission for Environmental Cooperation ___________________________________________________________ 18
Preliminary examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial
salmon feed _________________________________________________________________________________________ 18
Barak Obama ________________________________________________________________________________________ 22
Randi Thurston ______________________________________________________________________________________ 22
Community Activism, Education, Litigation and Outreach ___________________________________________ 23
Recommended reading: “Great Bear Wild” _____________________________________________________________ 24
Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register _________________________________________________________ 25
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings ________________________________________ 26
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio – Recent Archives _________________________________________________________ 27
FISHING WILLAPA BAY FOR FALL SALMON ___________________________________________________________ 28
Salmon feedlots __________________________________________________________________________________ 29
GM salmon company Aquabounty fined by Panama ____________________________________________________ 30
TUC Responds to Proposed Aquaculture Activities Regulations _________________________________________ 33
Salmon Farms can have Significant Impact on Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Stocks ________________________ 34
Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind _______________ 35
Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked _________________________________________________________ 36
Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen ________________________________ 36
U.S. and China Reach Climate Accord After Months of Talks ____________________________________________ 37
The oil boom in one slick infographic __________________________________________________________________ 37
Study questions benefits of Kinder Morgan's proposed Trans Mountain expansion _______________________ 41
U.S. Tribes To Canada: Please Don’t Allow Tar Sands Pipeline To Pollute Our Waters _____________________ 43
Harper government under fire after ‘blind luck’ keeps drifting ship afloat near Haida Gwaii ________________ 45
Crude oil spills into Caddo bayou, kills wildlife _________________________________________________________ 47
Port has valid concerns about oil trains ________________________________________________________________ 50
Citizens say no oil by rail during Olympia public hearing ________________________________________________ 52
Coal ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 55
TransAlta Power Plant Leads State in Greenhouse Gas Pollution ________________________________________ 55
Hydropower ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 57
Pe Ell Meeting Addresses Potential Dam _______________________________________________________________ 57
Solar __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 60
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Game Fish Management _____________________________________________________________________ 61
3 ANGLERS BUSTED ON TAHUYA FOR SNAGGING, WASTING WILD COHO ______________________________ 61
Wildlife Artists: __________________________________________________________________________________ 64
Derek DeYoung Art: “Dream Double 2” (SOLD) _________________________________________________________ 65
Diane Michelin - Fly Fishing Fine Art: "GET’EM" ________________________________________________________ 66
Dan Wallace: Passion for Authenticity _________________________________________________________________ 67
Conservation-minded businesses – please support these fine businesses ___________________________ 68
Kingfish West Coast Adventure Tours _________________________________________________________________ 68
Dave and Kim Egdorf's Western Alaska Sport Fishing __________________________________________________ 69
Spirit Bear Coffee Company ___________________________________________________________________________ 70
Hidden Paths - Slovenia ______________________________________________________________________________ 71
ProFishGuide: Coastal Fishing at its Best ______________________________________________________________ 72
Silversides Fishing Adventures _______________________________________________________________________ 73
UWET "STAY-DRY" UNDERWATER TOURS ____________________________________________________________ 74
Rhett Weber’s Charterboat “Slammer” _________________________________________________________________ 75
Riverman Guide Service – since 1969 __________________________________________________________________ 76
Learn to fish: experienced, conservation-minded professional instructors ________________________________ 77
Forward The December 2014 issue of Legacy marks thirty eight consecutive months of our
complimentary eMagazine; the no-holds-barred, watchdog journal published by Wild Game Fish Conservation International. Legacy is published each month to expose risks to the future of wild game fish and
their fragile ecosystems around planet earth. This unique magazine also introduces
leading edge alternatives to today’s unsustainable practices. Each month Legacy selects wildlife artists to feature, several conservation-minded
businesses to promote and several fishing photos from around planet Earth. We continue to urge our readers to speak out passionately and to demonstrate
peacefully for wild game fish and their ecosystems; ecosystems that we are but one small component of. As recreational fishermen, conservation of wild game fish is our passion. Publishing “Legacy” each month is our self imposed responsibility to help ensure the future of
these precious gifts that have been entrusted for safekeeping to our generation.
Bruce Treichler James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Walk
Joe Durham
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny:
Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf
Base camp: Aqua Boa Amazon Lodge Dates: December 18-27. 2014 Est. cost: $4,000
Book your Peacock Bass fishing adventure with Fishing with Larry
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AAAmmmaaazzzooonnn iiinnn DDDeeeccceeemmmbbbeeerrr 222000111444!!!
WWWhhhooo wwwaaannntttsss tttooo jjjoooiiinnn mmmeee???
CCCaaammmiiilllllleee
You can land 30 to 100+ peacock bass per day. Some will be huge. The lodge has exclusive rights to over 100-miles of the Agua Boa River so you literally have an entire river to yourself.
There is a giant reserve area – birds, wildlife, no people, no mosquitoes. There is one guide per two anglers per boat.
Includes: airport reception, all transfers in Brazil, 240-mile deluxe roundtrip flight Manaus, Brazil to lodge, lodging, daily laundry service, meals, soft drinks, beer, wine, and local liquor, fishing license, free copy of Larry’s 40-page book Fly fishing for Peacock Bass. We also supply all flies, and fly patterns. Plus, courtesy of Agua Boa Amazon Lodge - Free 8-day Global Rescue Insurance, a $119.00 value.
Does not include: international airfare, Brazilian visa, satellite telephone calls, liquor, airport taxes, overnight hotel and meals in Manaus, and tackle. (Our hosted groups usually stay together at a nicer hotel in Manaus.)
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits
Warning: Eating Farmed Salmon May Affect Your Baby
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fish tale: New study evaluates antibiotic content in farm-raised fish
October 20, 2014
Antibiotics -- one of modernity's great success stories -- are charms that come with a curse. Their
overuse in human and animal populations can lead to the development of resistant microbial strains,
posing a dire threat to global health.
In a new study, Hanna Done, PhD candidate, and Rolf Halden, PhD, researchers at Arizona State
University's Biodesign Institute, examine antibiotic use in the rapidly expanding world of global
aquaculture.
Done and Halden measured the presence of antibiotics in shrimp, salmon, catfish, trout, tilapia and
swai, originating from 11 countries. Data showed traces of 5 of the 47 antibiotics evaluated.
The research findings and a discussion of their implications appear in the current issue of the Journal
of Hazardous Materials.
Charting resistance
The menace of germs bearing resistance to our best medical defenses is reaching crisis proportions.
Each year, resistant microbes sicken some 2 million people in the U.S. alone and kill about 23, 000,
according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
On September 18, President Obama proposed the first governmental steps to address the problem,
establishing a task force to be co-chaired by the secretaries of Health and Human Services, the
Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture.
The new initiative to reign in antibiotic overuse has been welcomed in the medical community, though
many believe that much more needs to be done to safeguard society. The chief complaint is that the
proposed measures largely ignore the largest consumers of antibiotics -- animals farmed for human
consumption, including fish.
"The threat of living in a post-antibiotic era cannot be avoided without revising current practices in the
use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, including in aquaculture," says Halden.
Halden, who directs the Biodesign Institute's Center for Environmental Security, is a leading authority
on the human and environmental impact of chemicals, (particularly their fate once their useful life has
ended). In previous research, he has explored the intricate pathways from production to post-
consumption fate of antimicrobials and the risks posed.
The new study examines the persistence of antibiotics in seafood raised by modern aquaculture. The
research area is largely unexplored, as the primary focus of studies of antibiotics has been on drugs
used in human medicine.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
The current research is the first to evaluate previously unmonitored antibiotics; it represents the
largest reconnaissance conducted to date on antibiotics present in seafood.
Farming lifestyle
Aquaculture has undergone rapid growth to meet the burgeoning global demand, nearly tripling over
the past 20 years to an estimated 83 million metric tons in 2013. The large increase has led to
widespread antibiotic use, applied both to prevent and treat pathogens known to infect fish. The
broad effects on health and the environment associated with these practices remain speculative.
Several natural mechanisms exist to help pathogenic microbes evade immune responses or develop
drug resistance over time. The overuse of antibiotics, whether for human ingestion in hospitals or for
agricultural or aquacultural use, can seriously exacerbate this problem, enriching microbes that bear
particular genetic mutations, rendering them antibiotic resistant. In a biological arms race, antibiotics
applied to combat disease run the risk of producing multi-drug resistant organisms that are
increasingly difficult to kill.
In the new study, 27 seafood samples were examined for the presence of antibiotics. The samples
represent five of the top 10 most consumed seafood varieties in the U.S.: shrimp, tilapia, catfish,
swai, and Atlantic salmon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) acquired
the samples from stores in Arizona and California.
Five antibiotics were present in detectable amounts: oxytetracycline in wild shrimp, farmed tilapia,
farmed salmon and farmed trout; 4-epioxytetracycline in farmed salmon, sulfadimethoxine in farmed
shrimp, ormetoprim in farmed salmon, and virginiamycin in farmed salmon that had been marketed
as antibiotic-free.
Oxytetracycline, the most commonly used antibiotic in aquaculture, was the most prevalent in the
study samples. Surprisingly, the study also detected this antibiotic in wild-caught shrimp imported
from Mexico, which the authors suggest may be due to mislabeling, coastal pollution from sewage
contamination, or cross-contamination during handling and processing.
On the bright side, all seafood analyzed was found to be in compliance with U.S. FDA regulations;
however, the authors note that sub-regulatory antibiotic levels can promote resistance development,
according to their extensive meta-analysis of existing literature. (Publications linking aquaculture with
antibiotic resistance have increased more than 8-fold from 1991-2013.)
Antibiotics also have the potential to affect the animals themselves, producing alterations in how
genes are turned on or off and physiological anomalies. (The latter may include malformations of the
spine in trout exposed to the antibiotic oxytetracycline, though more work will be needed to clarify this
association.)
Proper monitoring of antibiotic residues in seafood is particularly critical, due to the fact that many
antibiotics used in aquaculture are also used in human medicine, for example amoxicillin and
ampicillin -- common therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections, including pneumonia and
gastroenteritis.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
The future of fish
The use of antibiotics in aquaculture can produce a variety of unintended consequences in addition
to antibiotic resistance, including antibiotic dissemination into the surrounding environment, residual
concentrations remaining in seafood, and high antibiotic exposure for personnel working in
aquaculture facilities.
Changes in aquaculture are needed to ensure the practice can be carried out on a large scale in a
sustainable manner. Currently, massive aquaculture operations threaten the health of seas, due to
large volumes of fish waste emitted, containing excess nutrients, large amounts of pathogens, and
drug resistance genes.
Additionally, many types of farmed fish rely on fishmeal produced from by-catch caught in fishing
nets. Several pounds of fishmeal are often required to raise a single pound of farmed fish, thereby
contributing to the overfishing of the seas and depletion of ocean diversity.
The current study offers a warning that antibiotics present at levels well below regulatory limits can
still promote the development of drug-resistant microorganisms. The dramatic increase in resistant
and multi-drug resistant bacterial strains documented over the past three decades indicates that
much more thorough monitoring of seafood supplies is needed and a better scientific understanding
of the nexus of global aquaculture, antibiotic use, drug resistance emergence, and regulatory
measures.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Sushi lover's entire body left riddled with WORMS after eating contaminated
sashimi
Chinese man went to his doctor with stomach ache and itchy skin. Scans revealed his entire body had been infected with tapeworm Doctors say this is due to the large amount of raw fish he had eaten. Cases such as this have increased due to the soaring popularity of sushi
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
It is the most expensive - and many would argue delicious - part of a sushi menu.
But one man's love of sashimi nearly killed him after it led to his body becoming riddled with tapeworm.
The Chinese man had gone to his doctor complaining of stomach ache and itchy skin.
To his horror, scans revealed his entire body had been infected with tapeworm after eating too much sashimi - raw slices of fish.
Doctors believe some of the uncooked Japanese delicacy of raw meat or fish must have become contaminated.
He was treated at the Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital in Guangdong Province, in eastern China.
Research has shown that eating raw or undercooked fish can lead to a variety of parasitic infections.
Tapeworm infections occur after ingesting the larvae of diphyllobothrium, found in freshwater fish such as salmon, although marinated and smoked fish can also transmit the worm.
While cases have increased in poorer areas due to improved sanitation, cases have increased in more developed countries,.
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This is most likely due to the soaring popularity of sushi, say doctors writing in the journal Canadian Family Physician.
Study author Nancy Craig wrote: 'The widespread popularity of Japanese sushi and sashimi (slices of raw fish) is a contributor.
'But other popular dishes might also be implicated, such as raw salted or marinated fillets - which originate from Baltic and Scandinavian countries - carpaccio - very thin slices of raw fish common in Italy, raw salmon and ceviche - lightly marinated fish.'
Dr Yin, of Guangzhou No. 8 People’s Hospital, told the website that'smags.com that eating uncooked food contaminated with tapeworms' eggs could eventually cause cysticercosis, when the adult worms enters a person’s blood stream.
This type of infection is life-threatening once it reaches the brain.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
WGFCI: Writing to protect what needs protected
October 27, 2014
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Anne Berns (United States)
Lainy Destin (Canada)
Rodrigo García Galindo (Mexico)
Re: Vote on Factual Record for BC Salmon Farms Submittal (SEM-12-001)
On February 10, 2012, the Center for Biological Diversity (U.S.), Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society
(Canada), Kwikwasu’tinuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation (Canada), and Pacific Coast Federation of
Fishermen’s Associations (U.S.) filed Submission SEM-12-001 (BC Salmon Farms) with the
Secretariat of the CEC, a submission on enforcement matters pursuant to Article 14 of the North
American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
On May 12, 2014 the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (“CEC”) Council responded to this
submission recommending that a formal investigation be conducted into whether Canada is failing in
its responsibility to NAFTA to protect wild salmon from disease and parasites from industrial salmon
farms.
Article 15(2) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation provided the
commission 60 days to vote on whether to instruct the Secretariat to prepare a factual record
regarding submittal SEM-12-001(BC Salmon Farms). Reporting on this vote is now 2 months
overdue; in all it has been 32 months since the petition was filed.
Submission SEM-12-001 documented the Government of Canada’s failure to effectively enforce
sections 35 and 36 of the federal Fisheries Act in relation to salmon aquaculture operations, allowing
harmful pollutants, viruses and parasites from industrial fish farms to pollute waters used by wild
salmon in British Columbia.
On May 7, 2014 the Secretariat issued a determination that it was proceeding with its consideration,
pursuant to Article 15(1), in relation to the Submitters’ assertions involving section 36 (but not section
35) of the Fisheries Act.
On May 12, 2014 The CEC Secretariat issued a determination that the preparation of a factual record
is warranted in order to gather additional information concerning the matters raised in the
submission.
“The preparation of a factual record is therefore warranted in order to gather additional information
concerning the matters raised in Submission SEM-12-001 (BC Salmon Farms), and is necessary for
a thorough consideration of the assertions that Canada is failing to effectively enforce section 36 of
Canada’s Fisheries Act.”
The CEC Secretariat noted that in accordance with Article 15(2) and Guideline 19.4 the Council had
60 working days, that is, until 12 August, 2014, to vote on whether to instruct the Secretariat to
prepare a factual record.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
The CEC Secretariat specifically noted CEC Council guidelines, including target deadlines for
completing various steps in the submissions process to “improve the timeliness, accessibility, and
transparency of the SEM process.”
Since Submission SEM-12-001 was filed:
More than half a million Atlantic salmon were culled and quarantined in BC due to an IHN viral
outbreak.
The Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River
concluded that salmon farms have the potential for “serious or irreversible” harm to wild
salmon through disease transfer.
The Cohen Commission recommended a freeze on farmed salmon production along part of
the Fraser sockeye migration route until 2020, at which time all farms should be removed
unless Canada produces hard evidence that the farms are doing no more than minimal harm.
Research was published reporting a Norwegian strain of piscine virus that appears to have
entered BC around 2007. This virus, known to spread easily and associated with a disease
that weakens the heart muscle of salmon, has been identified in nearly 100% of farmed
salmon raised and sold in BC.
In a letter to one of the petitioners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency revealed that there
had been no follow-up testing on the internationally reportable ISA virus, despite positive test
results in BC farmed salmon.
In January 2014, without any response to the Cohen Commission recommendations, Canada
opened the BC coast to more salmon farms.
Canada is considering removal of section 36 from the Fisheries Act to accommodate the
salmon farmers’ need for stronger de-lousing drugs.
In June 2014, Canada’s Aquaculture Licence was challenged in federal court to determine if it
is in fact legal to give salmon farming companies the power to transfer diseased salmon into
net pens in the ocean. A decision is pending.
The undersigned BC Indian Nations, petitioning organizations and Canadian and U.S. fishing and
salmon conservation groups respectfully request that the CEC Council vote to instruct the Secretariat
to prepare a factual record in this matter, as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Chief Bob Chamberlin
Kwikwasu'tinuxw Haxwa'mis First Nation
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip
President
Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs
Chief Judy Wilson
Neskonlith Indian Band
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Chief Darrell Bob
Xaxli'p
Chief Michelle Edwards
Cayoose Creek Indian Band
Kukpi7 Wunuxtsin
(Chief Wayne Christian)
Splatsin te Secwepemc
Chief Fred Sam
Nak’azdli Whut’en
Chief Bev Sellars
Xat'sull (Soda Creek) First Nation
Chief James Hobart
Spuzzum First Nation
Denise Alexis, MA
Executive Governance Facilitator
Gerald Michel
Lands and Resource Coordinator/Councilor
Bridge River Indian Band
Ed Hall
Councilor
Kwikwetlem First Nation
Bruce Burrows
Fisheries Coordinator
Musgamagw Dzawda'enuxw Tribal Council
Alexandra Morton
Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society
Jeff Miller
Center for Biological Diversity
Zeke Grader
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations
Gordon Becker
Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration
Bonny Glambeck, Dan Lewis
Clayoquot Action
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Beatrice Olivastri
Chief Executive Officer
Executive Friends of the Earth Canada
Christianne Wilhelmson
Director
Georgia Strait Alliance
Don Staniford
Director
Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture
Karen G. Wristen
Executive Director
Living Oceans Society
Ian McAllister
Pacific Wild.org
Chris Genovali
Raincoast Conservation
Don McEnhill
Russian Riverkeeper
Todd Steiner
Executive Director
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Professor Kevin Lynch
Environmental Law Clinic
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Craig Orr, Ph.D.
Watershed Watch Salmon Society
James E. Wilcox
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Barak Obama
President
United States of America
We urge you and your administration to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline.
Given cause-and-effect issues associated with burning fossil fuels it is irresponsible for the United
States of America to not expedite the transition to clean energy while conserving fossil fuels.
The very sustainability of planet Earth’s life-supporting water, land and air relies on the wise use of
our God-given, natural resources.
You have the unique opportunity to lead the USA and the world in the desperately needed transition
to a livable future, a future supported by renewable clean energy.
Randi Thurston
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
I'm writing as a concerned Washington state citizen and co-founder of Wild Game Fish Conservation
International to ask you how Washington's recently adopted Hydraulic Code will be incorporated into
the processes associated with the proposed Chehalis River dam.
Response from Randi Thurston
I know of the Chehalis River dam project but I don't know the specifics. WDFW staff from another
division is providing technical assistance on the dam project. New hydraulic projects would have
to comply with the revised rules. If an agreement or HPA permit has already issued for the project
then those conditions would apply. We will not modify current agreements/documents. These were
negotiated in good faith with the applicant so we will stand behind those agreements/permits. If there
is a specific project/activity associated with the project you have a question about, I can provide more
specifics
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Community Activism, Education, Litigation and Outreach
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Recommended reading: “Great Bear Wild”
Watch introduction HERE
For Book Tour schedule please visit: pacificwild.org/site/events/1409757487.html
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings
“Streaming like wild Pacific salmon”
http://wildsalmonwarriorradio.org/
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mmeeddiiaa..
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio – Recent Archives
October 28, 2014: Spirit Bears, Seafood traceability
November 4, 2014: Kinder Morgan litigation, Great Bear Rain Forest
November 11, 2014: Social responsibility, Kinder Morgan litigation
November 18, 2014: Kinder Morgan pipeline resistance – Do something
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
OLYMPIA CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED
NOVEMBER 19, 2014 7:00PM
NORTH OLYMPIA FIRE STATION
5046 BOSTON HARBOR ROAD NE
FISHING WILLAPA BAY FOR FALL SALMON
The public is invited to attend the November 19th meeting of the Olympia Chapter of Trout Unlimited
for a presentation by LeeRoy Wisner on Fishing Willapa Bay for Fall Salmon. With his many years of
experience fishing for salmon, specializing in estuary fishing, he has developed many techniques that
consistently put fish in a fish-box. He has introduced and taught many people to this realm of
protected water salmon fishing. Much of his knowledge is found through his website,
www.leeroysramblings which contains over 300 fishing, hunting, gunsmithing and outboard motor
repair articles. LeeRoy’s presentation will include where to go, when to be there, how to fish those
waters, what lures work, even tips on how to rig your boat if time admits. The rigging he developed
and uses in these estuaries has now become pretty well standard among most fishermen who ply
these waters in search of salmon. He will also cover how to best successfully land/net your salmon
when fishing solo. If these methods sound like they could be new to you come to the meeting and
get all your questions answered. Refreshments and a raffle will follow.
Bio: LeeRoy Wisner
LeeRoy Wisner is 78 years old, lived in Washington State all his life and fished/hunted since
boyhood. His profession was maintenance mechanic-machinist spending 14 years with Washington
State Dept of Institutions before leaving to run his own Gunsmithing Business. During the early
1990s, he had the largest gunsmithing shop on the US west coast, and provided factory warranty for
8 major firearms manufacturers. He built many fishing boats, one of which he used as a commercial
salmon troller out of Westport in the late 1960s and into the mid 1970s. He has made over 1,000 bar
crossing as skipper on major rivers of the Pacific Northwest. He has fished extensively from Mexico
to Alaska. LeeRoy has been very involved in fishing. He was appointed by the WDFW to the Grays
Harbor and Willapa Bay advisory committees. He also is involved in the North Of Falcon season
setting process.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Salmon feedlots
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fresh salmon. US company AquaBounty has applied to the US government to sell GM salmon in the US. If
approved it would set a precedent for the GM meat and seafood market there.
GM salmon company Aquabounty fined by Panama
US GM salmon company AquaBounty has been fined for regulatory failures at its Panama
plant in a move that could set back approval of GM meat and fish in the US, reports IPS
October 29, 2014
Officials in Panama have fined the local facility of a US biotechnology company for a series of
permitting and regulatory failures around a pioneering attempt to create genetically modified salmon.
The experiments are being carried out by researchers for AquaBounty Technologies, which currently
has an application with the US government to sell genetically modified (GM) salmon filets in this
country. If regulators approve that application, AquaBounty’s salmon would be the first genetically
modified meat sold for human consumption anywhere in the world.
Further, companies in the United States and around the globe are said to be actively watching US
regulators’ response to AquaBounty’s application as a critical indication of whether to proceed with
other GM meat projects.
“AquaBounty is really out front on this – the current case will set an important precedent,” Dana
Perls, a food and technology campaigner at Friends of the Earth told IPS.
“From what we know, there are about 35 other genetically modified species in the development
pipelines in other companies.
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
So depending on what happens in this case, we’ll likely either see a flow of other permits or this will
demonstrate that there isn’t room on the market for GM meat or seafood.”
AquaBounty’s application with the US government would involve getting filets of the new GM salmon
from the company’s breeding facility in Panama and into the US market. Advocates are now pointing
to the Panamanian authorities’ findings of regulations violations as an indication that the US
regulatory process is proceeding too quickly in considering the salmon application.
“The impacts GM foods will have on health and the environment have
not been sufficiently assessed to approve human consumption of this
salmon,” Luisa Arauz Arredondo, an attorney with the Panama Centre
for Environmental Advocacy, which filed the administrative complaint
against AquaBounty, told IPS.
She notes that while AquaBounty’s facilities in Panama have permission to run experiments on the
salmon, the country has not approved anything further.
“The salmon would not be sold to Panamanian consumers,” she says, “since the human consumption
of GM salmon has not been approved by Panama or the US.”
Repeat violations
The Panamanian regulatory decision, which was made public on Tuesday, actually stems from a
2012 investigation of AquaBounty’s facilities and was decided in July of this year. It found that the
company had failed to secure necessary permits, particularly around its use of water and pollution of
the local environment – potentially important, advocates say, given the possibility of contamination of
natural systems.
The authorities noted their view that the company had “repeatedly violated” these regulations, and
stated that these problems persisted into 2013. They deemed the transgressions significant enough
to levy almost the maximum fine allowable against the company.
AquaBounty Technologies suggests that the concerns outlined by Panama’s government were
largely administrative in nature and notes that any problems have all been dealt with already.
“It is important to emphasize that none of the issues in the Resolution questioned the containment,
health of the fish, or the environmental safety of the facility,” the company said in a statement sent to
IPS.
“When AquaBounty was informed of issues at our Panama facility, we immediately contacted Anam,
the Panamanian agency for the environment. We initiated a program to remedy the deficiencies and
the issues were formally resolved in August of 2014.”
The company notes that its Panama facility “continues to operate with no sanctions or restrictions.”
Whether the actions on the part of Panama’s government will impact on the ongoing consideration of
AquaBounty’s application by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remains to be seen.
A spokesperson for the FDA likewise pointed out that AquaBounty’s violations were based on a 2012
inspection, but also said the agency would “consider all relevant information as part of the decision-
making process”.
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The spokesperson noted that the agency is in the process of completing its review of the company’s
application, but declined to provide a timeline on when that decision will be made.
Shoehorning regulation
For environmentalists, public interest groups and anti-GMO advocates, the Panama findings
underscore a potential weakness in the FDA’s regulatory process.
“This decision is also even further proof that FDA is dangerously out of
touch with the facts on the ground, advancing AquaBounty’s
application based on its promises, not reality,” George Kimbrell, a
senior attorney with the Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based
advocacy group, said Tuesday.
Friends of the Earth’s Perls says that the FDA’s current regulatory review of the GM salmon
application is based solely on the single AquaBounty facility in Panama.
“The FDA is going forward with its review based on the premise that this facility will be in compliance
with regulations, yet now we’re seeing it’s not,” she says. “It is increasingly clear that there is
inadequate regulation: the FDA is trying to shoehorn this new genetically engineered animal into a
completely ill-fitting regulatory process.”
Much of the concern here revolves around the potential for genetically modified hybrids to escape
into the wild, potentially outcompeting wild populations or introducing new diseases. Yet the issue
also runs up against the skepticism that continues to colour consumer response to genetically
modified foods – and the sense that regulators are moving too quickly to approve these products.
When the FDA in 2012 asked the public to weigh in on the AquaBounty salmon application, it
received some 1.8 million comments expressing overwhelming opposition. Members of the US
Congress have likewise expressed their concern, and legislation has been proposed that would
require the labelling of genetically modified fish.
As yet, there is no legal requirement in the US to label any genetically modified food or ingredient,
though the state of Vermont could soon impose such a mandate. According to a media
poll conducted last year, some 93% of people in the US support the labelling of genetically modified
foods, and three-quarters said they would not eat GM fish.
Yet perhaps the most significant indication of public sentiment on this issue has come from the
retailers that have pre-emptively stated that they would not sell genetically modified fish and seafood
– regardless of whether the FDA approves its sale. According to data compiled by Friends of the
Earth, some 60 major US food retailers have already pledged to do so, including several of the
country’s largest grocery chains.
“Should GE [GM] salmon come to market, we are not considering nor do we have any plans to carry
GE salmon,” Safeway, the second-largest grocer in the US, said in a policy statement released in
February. “Safeway’s [policy] calls for all of our fresh and frozen seafood to be responsibly sourced
and traceable or be in a time-bound improvement process by the end of 2015.”
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TUC Responds to Proposed Aquaculture Activities Regulations
On October 3, 2014 the Department of Fisheries and Oceans provided proposed regulation changes
and amendments to the Aquaculture Activities Regulations (Please click here to read the proposed
changes). Trout Unlimited Canada, along with other conservation organizations is concerned with
these changes and the long term effects fish farming has Canada's coldwater ecosystems.
Upon reviewing the proposed regulations, TUC is concerned that Canada's aquatic resources may
be compromised due to:
Loss of accuracy and diligence with a change to self-reporting
Lack of inspections
Lack of assessments regarding cumulative impacts on receiving waters
Delayed reporting
Industry self-regulation
TUC understands the need for an efficient process for both government and industry, but stresses
that the protection of the natural water is of the utmost importance. The long term health and stability
of Canada’s natural ecosystems are critical to the health and wellbeing of our communities.
TUC is concerned that the proposed change to industry self-regulation puts sustainability of the wild
fisheries and their habitats at risk. Trout Unlimited Canada has asked on behalf of its chapters,
members, supporters and volunteers for clarity on how DFO will balance private economic gain
against the protection of Canadian resources
TUC urges all chapters, members, supporters and volunteers to submit their own comments to
D.F.O. no later than October 22, 2014 by email or by fax to 613-993-8607 or by mail to:
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
C/O Ed Porter
Manager, Aquaculture Policy and Regulatory Initiatives
200 Kent Street, Room 8N187
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6.
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Salmon Farms can have Significant Impact on Wild Salmon and Sea Trout
Stocks
September 18, 2014
The Chairman and Board of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) have today (18.09.14) welcomed a
definitive review of over 300 scientific publications, which has just been published, on the effects sea
lice can have on sea trout stocks. A team of top international scientists from Norway, Scotland and
Ireland reviewed all available published studies on the effects of sea lice and have now concluded
that sea lice have negatively impacted wild sea trout stocks in salmon farming areas in Ireland,
Scotland and Norway.
Previously research was based on individually published studies but this new review reached its
conclusions based on comprehensive studies of the effects of salmon lice from over 300 scientific
publications. The project was funded by the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund which provides
investment in Norwegian seafood industry-based R&D with the objective of creating added value for
the seafood industry.
The study also examined the potential effect of sea lice on salmon and concluded that sea lice have
a potential significant and detrimental effect on marine survival of Atlantic salmon with potentially 12-
44% fewer salmon spawning in salmon farming areas. Chairman Brendan O’Mahony commented,
“These conclusions concur with previously published Inland Fisheries Ireland research on the
potential impact of sea lice from marine salmon farms on salmon survival.”
The studies reviewed indicate that salmon farming increases the abundance of lice in marine habitats
and that sea lice in intensively farmed areas have negatively impacted wild sea trout populations.
The effects of sea lice on sea trout are increased marine mortality and reduced marine growth. This
new study confirms the evidence collected since the early 1990’s in Ireland regarding the impact of
sea lice on wild sea trout stocks, particularly in relation to the collapse of Connemara’s sea trout
stocks. The Board of IFI has consistently called for marine salmon farms to maintain sea lice levels
close to zero prior to and during the wild sea trout and salmon smolt migration period in spring. IFI
has also raised concerns regarding the location of salmon farms in the estuaries of salmon and sea
trout rivers.
The Board of IFI believes this new review confirms the need for very tight regulation of sea lice levels
on salmon farms and raises legitimate concerns with regard to the potential impact of new, large
scale salmon farms, proposed along Ireland’s west coast, on salmon and sea trout stocks.
Regulators will now need to consider the results of this comprehensive review when making
decisions on the sustainability and approval of future marine salmon aquaculture licences and the
regulation of sea lice at existing sites so as to ensure no negative impact on salmon and sea trout
stocks.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind
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Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked
Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen
Watch video HERE
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China, with their delegations, met inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday
U.S. and China Reach Climate Accord After Months of Talks
November 11, 2014
BEIJING — China and the United States made common cause on Wednesday against the threat
of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur
nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases.
The landmark agreement, jointly announced here by President Obama and President Xi Jinping,
includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever
commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030.
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Administration officials said the agreement, which was worked out quietly between the United States
and China over nine months and included a letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. Xi proposing a joint
approach, could galvanize efforts to negotiate a new global climate agreement by 2015.
It was the signature achievement of an unexpectedly productive two days of meetings between the
leaders. Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi also agreed to a military accord designed to avert clashes between
Chinese and American planes and warships in the tense waters off the Chinese coast, as well as an
understanding to cut tariffs for technology products.
A climate deal between China and the United States, the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon polluters, is
viewed as essential to concluding a new global accord. Unless Beijing and Washington can resolve
their differences, climate experts say, few other countries will agree to mandatory cuts in emissions,
and any meaningful worldwide pact will be likely to founder.
“The United States and China have often been seen as antagonists,” said a senior official, speaking
in advance of Mr. Obama’s remarks. “We hope that this announcement can usher in a new day in
which China and the U.S. can act much more as partners.”
As part of the agreement, Mr. Obama announced that the United States would emit 26 percent to 28
percent less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005. That is double the pace of reduction it targeted for the
period from 2005 to 2020.
China’s pledge to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, if not sooner, is even more remarkable. To
reach that goal, Mr. Xi pledged that so-called clean energy sources, like solar power and windmills,
would account for 20 percent of China’s total energy production by 2030.
Administration officials acknowledged that Mr. Obama could face opposition to his plans from a
Republican-controlled Congress. While the agreement with China needs no congressional
ratification, lawmakers could try to roll back Mr. Obama’s initiatives, undermining the United States’
ability to meet the new reduction targets.
Still, Mr. Obama’s visit, which came days after a setback in the midterm elections, allowed him to
reclaim some of the momentum he lost at home. As the campaign was turning against the Democrats
last month, Mr. Obama quietly dispatched John Podesta, a senior adviser who oversees climate
policy, to Beijing to try to finalize a deal.
For all the talk of collaboration, the United States and China also displayed why they are still fierce
rivals for global economic primacy, promoting competing free-trade blocs for the Asian region even
as they reached climate and security deals.
The maneuvering came during a conference of Pacific Rim economies held in Beijing that has
showcased China’s growing dominance in Asia, but also the determination of the United States,
riding a resurgent economy, to reclaim its historical role as a Pacific power.
Adding to the historic nature of the visit, Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi were scheduled to give a joint news
conference on Wednesday that will include questions from reporters — a rare concession by the
Chinese leader to a visiting American president.
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On Tuesday evening, Mr. Xi invited Mr. Obama to dinner at his official residence, telling his guest he
hoped they had laid the foundation for a collaborative relationship — or, as he more metaphorically
put it, “A pool begins with many drops of water.”
Greeting Mr. Obama at the gate of the walled leadership compound next to the Forbidden City, Mr. Xi
squired him across a brightly lighted stone bridge and into the residence. Mr. Obama told the
Chinese president that he wanted to take the relationship “to a new level.”
It's not about whether China will honor its promise or not ... it's about Obama accomplishing what
seemed to be impossible and Xi's eagerness to be seen as a peer to Obama on the world stage.
“When the U.S. and China are able to work together effectively,” he added, “the whole world
benefits.”
But as the world witnessed this week, it is more complicated than that. Mr. Xi won approval Tuesday
from the 21 countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to study the creation of a
China-led free-trade zone that would be an alternative to Mr. Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, a
12-nation trading bloc that excludes China.
On Monday, Mr. Obama met with members of that group here and claimed progress in negotiating
the partnership, a centerpiece of his strategic shift to Asia.
Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership are much further along than those for the nascent
Chinese plan, known as the Free Trade Area of Asia Pacific, and some analysts said the approval by
the Pacific Rim nations of a two-year study was mainly a gesture to the Chinese hosts to give them
something to announce at the meeting.
For all the jockeying, the biggest trade headline was a breakthrough in negotiations with China to
eliminate tariffs on information technology products, from video-game consoles and computer
software to medical equipment and semiconductors.
The understanding, American officials said, opens the door to expanding a World Trade Organization
agreement on these products, assuming other countries can be persuaded to accept the same terms.
With China on board, officials predicted a broader deal would be reached swiftly.
“We’re going to take what’s been achieved here in Beijing back to Geneva to work with our W.T.O.
partners,” said Michael B. Froman, the United States trade representative. “While we don’t take
anything for granted, we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to work quickly” to conclude an expansion of the
agreement, known as the Information Technology Agreement.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Xi formally welcomed Mr. Obama at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the
People; they later toasted each other at a state banquet.
Administration officials said Mr. Obama had pressed Mr. Xi to resume a United States-China working
group on cyber security issues, which abruptly stopped its discussions after the United States
charged several Chinese military officers with hacking.
“We did see a chill in the cyber dialogue,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security
adviser. “We do believe it’s better if there’s a mechanism for dialogue.”
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On Tuesday, Mr. Obama credited APEC with originating the work on reducing tariffs, saying, “The
United States and China have reached an understanding that we hope will contribute to a rapid
conclusion of the broader negotiations in Geneva.”
Talks with China over expanding the 1997 accord on information technology broke down last year
over the scope of the products covered by the agreement. But after intensive negotiations leading up
to Mr. Obama’s visit, Mr. Froman said, the Americans and the Chinese agreed Monday evening to
eliminate more than 200 categories of tariffs.
While the United States still exports many high-technology goods, China is the world’s dominant
exporter of electronics and has much to gain from an elimination of tariffs. Taiwan, South Korea and
Japan increasingly find themselves supplying China’s huge electronics industry, deepening their
dependence on decisions made in Beijing.
The administration estimated that expanding the Information Technology Agreement would create up
to 60,000 jobs in the United States by eliminating tariffs on goods that generate $1 trillion in sales a
year. About $100 billion of those products are American-made. The administration faces a longer
path on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including whether Mr. Obama will obtain fast-track trade
authority from Congress. That could make it easier for the United States to extract concessions from
other countries, since they would have more confidence that the treaty would be ratified by Congress.
While Mr. Froman conceded that sticking points remained, he said, “It’s become clearer and clearer
what the landing zones are.” He said that Mr. Obama would seek fast-track authority, but that the
best way for him to win congressional passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be to negotiate
the best deal.
Beijing, China Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
The tank farm on Burnaby Mountain at the terminus of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline on Sept. 4, 2014.
Study questions benefits of Kinder Morgan's proposed Trans Mountain expansion
November 10, 2014
CALGARY - A new report says Kinder Morgan is overplaying the economic benefits, and
downplaying the costs of its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Simon Fraser University's Centre for Public Policy Research teamed with The Goodman Group Ltd.,
a California-based consulting firm, to examine the estimated impacts of the project.
The authors dispute Kinder Morgan's claim that 36,000 person-years of employment would be
created in British Columbia during the project's development.
More like 12,000, tops, they say — which is less than 0.2 per cent of total provincial employment.
"We correctly anticipated that the benefits from the pipeline would be small in the context of the
overall B.C. economy and mostly short-term," said Ian Goodman, president of the Goodman Group.
"But we were very surprised that the company has exaggerated the short-term jobs associated with
building the pipeline by a factor of three."
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The long-term jobs are also overstated, according to the report.
Kinder Morgan has projected 50 direct full-time jobs once the pipeline is up and running, with 2,000
resulting from the project's spinoff benefits. The report pegs the spinoff jobs at closer to 800.
The report's authors say B.C. government coffers will get a "tiny" benefit from the Trans Mountain
expansion, with Alberta and oilsands producers the main beneficiaries. Property tax benefits for B.C.
communities along the route would average less than one per cent of current total municipal
revenues.
On the cost side, the report also takes issue
with Kinder Morgan's numbers. The company's
most expensive spill scenario puts the cost at
$100 million to $300 million. Goodman and
Simon Fraser figure it would be in the
"multibillion-dollar range" if oil spills in a
populated area.
"KM has vastly underestimated the worst-case
costs for a catastrophic pipeline rupture.
Contrary to KM's findings, damage and
cleanup costs for major accidents are highly
correlated with population density," said Brigid
Rowan, Senior Energy Economist at The
Goodman Group, Ltd and co-author of the
report.
"So a worst-case scenario for TMX would involve a major accident in a more densely populated area
(such as Metro Vancouver) damaging and disrupting key infrastructure, and possibly resulting in a
spill to water and losses of human life."
Doug McArthur, director of the graduate school of public policy at SFU,
said the project is "highly questionable from a public policy point of
view."
"These findings, along with the increasing evidence from interveners in the NEB pipeline hearings
that Kinder Morgan is not providing accurate and complete data and information about the pipeline,
make it difficult to see how the NEB can approve this pipeline while fulfilling its obligation to uphold
the public interest."
The Trans Mountain pipeline currently ships 300,000 barrels of petroleum products per day from the
Edmonton area to the West Coast. The $5.4-billion expansion would nearly triple its capacity to
890,000 barrels a day.
Past research by The Goodman Group has taken aim at other projects' stated economic benefits,
such as Enbridge Inc.'s (TSX:ENB) Line 9 reversal between southern Ontario and Montreal and
TransCanada Corp.'s (TSX:TRP) Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S.
Editorial Comment:
North America must transition away from
fossil fuels exploration, extraction,
transportation and burning.
The asphalt-like material (bitumen)
extracted from Alberta is impossible to
clean up in the event of leaks, spills and
wrecks (trains, trucks, shipping).
Costs identified in this report do not
address transportation mishaps or the
infrastructure to prevent/minimize them.
Continued reliance on burning fossil fuels
is not in planet earth’s best interest
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Tribal canoes maneuver into position to be formally welcomed by members of the Muckleshoot tribe on their arrival Wednesday, July 20, 2011, at Seattle’s Alki Beach. Pacific Northwest tribes revived the canoe tradition in 1989 of bringing together to celebrate the connection to salmon, water and each other
U.S. Tribes To Canada: Please Don’t Allow Tar Sands Pipeline To Pollute Our Waters
October 23, 2014
The leaders of several Pacific Northwest Native American tribes are asking Canadian regulators not
to approve a huge expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline, saying approval
would result in a huge increase of oil tankers coming through tribal waters every day, increasing the
risk of a devastating spill.
Tribal leaders from the Washington-state based Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and the
Suquamish Tribe on the Kitsap Peninsula testified before Canada’s National Energy Board in
Chilliwack, B.C. on Wednesday, and leaders from two more U.S.-based tribes are expected to testify
Thursday. All four groups’ testimonies are in opposition to the $5.4 billion Trans Mountain project,
which would nearly triple the flow of oil through the existing Trans Mountain pipeline from Edmonton
to the British Columbia coast.
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
If the pipeline is approved, the number of oil tankers coming through
the Salish Sea — a marine ecosystem that sustains a number of First
Nations and Native American tribes on the west coast — would
increase from five oil tankers a month to 34 oil tankers a month.
“It’s not if, but when, one of these tankers run aground somewhere,” Brian Cladoosby, chairman of
the Swinomish Community, told the panel. “We are salmon people and [the water] is very, very
important to us. It’s central to our culture.”
This is the first time U.S. tribes have testified before Canadian energy regulators, according to
the AP.
The U.S.-based tribes testifying to Canadian regulators this week are Coast Salish peoples,
indigenous people from both Washington state and Canada who base their living off the Salish Sea.
More than seven tribes of Coast Salish peoples announced their intention to intervene in the legal
proceedings regarding Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline in February.
The proposed pipeline expansion would increase the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline system
from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day, — more than the 830,000 barrels that the controversial
Keystone XL pipeline would carry from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
Environmental law firm Earthjustice is representing the tribes in the legal proceedings. Their case is
based on the assertion that the Salish Sea is already ecologically stressed, and that the pipeline
expansion opens up unacceptable risks of a pollution event that could wipe out the tribes’ way of life.
“The fishing grounds of the Salish Sea are the lifeblood of our peoples,” Mel Sheldon, chairman of
the Tulalip Tribes, said in a statement. “We cannot sit idly by while these waters are threatened by
reckless increases in oil tanker traffic and increased risk of catastrophic oil spill.”
Trans Mountain’s head of aboriginal engagement told the Associated Press that the company would
respectfully consider the tribes’ input and that it values its relationship with U.S. native tribes. “We will
continue to be committed to minimizing impact and protecting the marine environment,” he told the
AP.
As tar sands oil production booms, Native American and First Nation opposition to proposed pipeline
projects has grown with it. In a movement called “No Keystone XL pipeline will cross Lakota lands,”
the Honor the Earth, the Oglala Sioux Nation, Owe Aku, and Protect the Sacred tribes are peacefully
resisting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which many tribes are calling “The Black
Snake.”
Native groups at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota also held a blockade in 2012 to stop
trucks from bringing parts of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline through the reservation. Months
later, another tribe blockaded Idaho’s Highway 12 to the Alberta tar sands fields, preventing trucks
carrying mining equipment from coming through.
Tar sands oil is controversial because of its unique, thick, gooey makeup. Because of this quality,
producers must use “non-conventional” methods of getting the oil out of the ground and making it
viscous enough to use, such as pumping superheated steam underground to make the sand-laced oil
easier to extract. Those methods are more carbon-intensive, meaning they emit more greenhouse
gases than conventional oil production.
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Harper government under fire after ‘blind luck’ keeps drifting ship afloat near
Haida Gwaii
October 21, 2014
OTTAWA - B.C.’s northern coast dodged a bullet this week when a disabled cargo ship drifted
dangerously close to the shores of Haida Gwaii, opposition critics charged Monday in the House of
Commons.
The Russian-flagged Simushir has been safely towed to Prince Rupert by a commercial U.S. tug but
New Democrats and Liberals say the incident doesn’t bode well for a dramatic increase in
supertankers plying the same waters.
NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen demanded in the Commons to know whether the Conservative
government is comfortable with a marine safety plan he said is based on “blind luck” and American
intervention.
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea responded that “luck had nothing to do with the situation.”
Shea thanked the Canadian Coast Guard, which took just under 14 hours to reach the disabled ship,
and noted the Conservatives have promised a $6.8 billion shipbuilding program for the future.
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Cullen says a truly grateful government wouldn’t have cut the coast guard budget by $20 million
and let go 300 personnel.
A Canadian Coast Guard vessel that first reached the Simushir had its tow line break three times in
stormy seas, but did manage to move the disabled ship away from the marine sanctuary off the
Haida Gwaii islands.
The Fisheries minister repeatedly stressed that the Simushir had become disabled in international
waters.
“The private sector provides towing service to the marine industry but we are grateful that the
Canadian Coast Guard was able to keep the situation under control, which was in very difficult
conditions, until the (U.S.) tug arrived from Prince Rupert,” said Shea.
According to the U.S. company, the tug Barbara Foss usually tows a cargo barge between Prince
Rupert and Whittier, Alaska, and was arriving back in Rupert when the Simushir call came in. It
dropped its barge and headed out to aid the stricken vessel, a trip that took it almost two days.
“Foss left soon after getting the call and travelled as fast and as safely as they could in poor weather
conditions,” company spokeswoman Megan Aukema said in an email.
Mary Polak, B.C.’s environment minister, was less reassuring about how the incident played out
than her federal counterpart in Ottawa.
“We’ve said that there is more that needs to be done on our West Coast, we know that, we’ve said
that from the beginning and it’s been a consistent position of ours, we continue to hold that view,”
Polak said at the B.C. legislature in Victoria.
“This incident underlines the fact that we need to do more on our West Coast to be prepared.”
The Conservatives have conditionally approved a plan by Enbridge to build the Northern Gateway
pipeline to Kitimat, B.C., which will send hundreds of supertankers annually down the same storm-
tossed coast. Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline to Vancouver,
and a proposed LNG plant in the province, would further increase marine traffic.
Cullen, who represents a northern B.C. riding, demanded to know how anyone can back a
“government plan to put hundreds of oil supertankers off the B.C. coast when we don’t even have
the capacity to protect ourselves right now?”
Liberal MP Joyce Murray said the lesson from the incident is that “we cannot ever say that a major
oil spill will not occur on the coast of British Columbia.”
The Vancouver MP called it “pathetic” that Shea repeatedly cited future ship building, given the
government’s record on major military and naval procurement projects.
Cullen maintains that only good fortune prevented a disaster before help could arrive. Local
fishermen say the usual wind patterns following storms in the region are westerlies.
“If that had happened like it normally does, that ship would have run aground and we’d be having a
very different conversation this morning,” said Cullen.
“If dodging a bullet doesn’t wake you up, I don’t know what will. It’s important for Canadians to
understand how close this was.”
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Workers clean up the 4,000 barrels of crude oil that spilled in Tete Bayou. Sunoco Logistics, operator of the Mid-Valley Pipeline, has responded with more than 250 personnel to the site to contain and recover the oil, which entered Tete Bayou but did not reach Caddo Lake
Crude oil spills into Caddo bayou, kills wildlife
October 18, 2014
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
MOORINGSPORT – A major crude oil spill discovered near here Monday that stopped just shy of
Caddo Lake has already killed dozens of fish and some reptiles and will keep cleanup crews and
regulatory agencies on site likely for months to come.
"I would call it a significant size spill," Bill Rhotenberry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
federal on-scene coordinator said of the oil that leaked in a rural Caddo Parish bayou from a Mid-
Valley Pipeline.
The pipeline's owner, Sunoco Logistics, roughly estimated 4,000 barrels of crude oil had flowed into
Tete Bayou when control operators noticed a drop in pressure around 8 a.m. Monday. The line,
stretching 1,000 miles from Longview, Texas, to major oil refineries in Ohio and Michigan, was shut
down within 20 minutes, Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields said.
Shortly before noon, contractors searching from air and by foot tracked the source of the leak and
began immediate efforts to stop if from getting into Caddo Lake. "That was a priority," Shields said.
No oil sheens have been detected on the lake, but it will be monitored by air and boat as the cleanup
continues.
The spill area off Hereford Road, which dead ends at the lake, is sparsely inhabited where workers
are concentrating their efforts. Evacuations were not ordered; however, three families voluntarily left.
Sunoco is paying their expenses for the duration of the time they want to be away from their homes.
The company has approximately 250 contractors on scene mopping up the spilled crude. To work in
the area, the contractors must wear flame retardant clothing, hard hats, safety goggles and
respirators.
The pungent odor of oil fills the air closer to the work site. Air monitors are spaced throughout the
heavily wooded area and readings are taken to make sure the volatile organic contaminants, or
VOCs, do not reach a certain level to where it would cause a health risk. EPA is monitoring the air
quality independent of Sunoco.
"The only risk of VOCs is in the immediate area of the oil," Rhotenberry said. "Out of the spill's
pathway it's not as much of an issue." Readings have been low so far.
Shields estimates about 1,900 barrels of crude had been recovered from the bayou through
Saturday. Neither he nor Rhotenberry could offer a timeline for full removal, other than said it will take
months. A spill from the same pipeline in March in Cincinnati is still in the remediation phase.
Once the majority of the oil is removed then the focus will turn to remediation and restoration. Jeffrey
Meyers, spill response specialist with the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, said the time-
consuming task moving forward will be to locate the pockets of residual oil that can become trapped
in the soil and even in crawfish holes.
"After we get the black up we'll be looking for the sheen," Meyers said.
Natural bacteria aids in eating the oil but it's not as effective in the fall and winter months. So the
maintenance phase will include constant placement and exchange of oil-absorbing materials.
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
It will take a joint effort of Louisiana Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries, the oil spill coordinator's office and the Louisiana Department of
Environment Quality to keep an eye on the area long term.
Trees, vegetation and wildlife in a neighboring bayou will be used as a baseline to determine if Tete
Bayou is showing any unusual signs of damage. Through Saturday, the spill has proven deadly to
about 66 animals, Shields said, including 30 fish, crawfish and 10 reptiles. A wood duck was rescued
and is in the hands of a wildlife specialist that will stay on scene to assist with animal rehabilitation
needs.
Sunoco "understands its obligations well and understands it is liable for the cost," Shields said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
regulates pipeline spills and will oversee the investigation into how the leak occurred and if any action
will be taken against Sonoco.
The line was built in 1949-50.
For the short term and long term Sonoco will have to mitigate, Meyers said. "Nobody is walking away
from this so to speak."
Fortunately, the weather is cooperating. Heavy rains or warmer temperatures would only add to the
cleanup woes by increasing the harmful vapors.
In the meantime, travel on Hereford Road has limited access as workers are moving around in ATVs,
pickups and large trucks from the bridge to a staging area. Louisiana State Police Troop G
spokesman Matt Harris also cautions hunters to stay away because of the number of people who are
working in the woods.
"It's a safety concern, also because of their equipment," he said.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Rail shipments of crude oil from North Dakota in black tank cars are adding to the volume of rail traffic on Washington's rail network sit at the train yard
Port has valid concerns about oil trains
October 23, 2014
The Washington Public Ports Association publicly spanked the Olympia Port Commission for urging
the Port of Grays Harbor to reconsider its plan to build three new oil-by-rail terminals in Hoquiam.
The WPPA apparently objects to one port raising concerns about another port’s business.
But the Port of Olympia has a right to be concerned. In fact, all South Sound residents should worry
about the environmental and economic impacts of building terminals that could bring dangerous oil
tanker trains moving 175,000 barrels of highly flammable Bakken crude oil per day through Thurston
County.
There are many valid reasons for Thurston County jurisdictions and residents to be concerned about
increased train traffic carrying hazardous cargoes.
The City of Olympia’s recently completed project to move its water supply uphill from the BNSF’s
main line was partly based on concerns that a catastrophic spill would pollute the city’s water source.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
The state Department of Ecology has started to prepare an emergency response plan for potential oil
spills into the Nisqually River.
Gov. Jay Inslee has urged the federal Transportation Department to quickly phase out outdated
tanker cars and impose a 30 mile-per-hour speed limit on oil trains that cross the state of
Washington.
Oil tanker cars in use today were designed for heavy crude oil extracted primarily in Texas. But the
Bakken oil is more volatile; it has vapors that ignite at a lower temperature. That requires thicker tank
shells, puncture-resistant shields and stronger valve fittings to prevent spills that could easily
explode.
The railway industry has agreed to retrofit its older cars and build new ones to higher standards, but
they want a 10-year timeline to complete the expensive process. That’s too long, considering the
skyrocketing growth in oil shipments. The governor wants a more reasonable one-year deadline.
Every taxpayer should also be concerned because we will pay the bill for oil spill prevention and
emergency cleanup. That’s something the Legislature should fix by adopting California’s 6.5-cent-
per-barrel fee on oil crossing the state by train. Oil shippers pay nothing now.
Oil train safety is everybody’s concerns, regardless of what the state
port association thinks.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Citizens say no oil by rail during Olympia public hearing
October 31, 2014
More than 600 people gathered in Olympia on Thursday night to show state regulators they’re
against rail shipments of crude oil and coal throughout the state.
A hearing at the Red Lion Hotel was preceded by a rally outside where concerned citizens gathered
to first speak their piece and encourage each other before staring down the Department of Ecology
representatives.
The hearing is part of a directive to the Department of Ecology put forth by Gov. Jay Inslee in June,
following what he saw as slow progress from a Legislature-directed and funded study on marine and
rail oil transportation.
Preliminary findings and recommendations were released on Oct. 1 and two public hearings were
held — last night’s and the first one on Tuesday in Spokane.
During the rally preceding the hearing, people gathered with large signs sporting slogans including
“No oil trains no way,” “Big oil riding the rails at our expense,” and “Turn back the trains.”
Guest speakers included Olympia Mayor Stephen Buxbaum, Quinault Indian Nation representative
Ed Johnstone and Washington State Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association representative Larry
Thevik of Ocean Shores.
Buxbaum commended the governor for putting the directive into motion, but wants to ensure things
don’t slow anytime soon.
“Let’s join our voices to urge state lawmakers to act swiftly on these recommendations and enact
provisions that keep our communities safe,” he said.
He also questioned why communities had to pay for their own oil spill response equipment and
training. “The cost to protect our communities and our transportation systems should fall on the oil
industry,” he said. “It shouldn’t be a burden that’s placed on the taxpayer.”
Buxbaum also advocated for clean energy.
Johnstone spoke for the Quinault Nation. “We’re here to stand with all of the tribal nations and say
we will not get on board with and we are opposed to oil by rail — not now, not ever,” he said.
Thevik pointed out that more than 30 percent of the Grays Harbor workforce is employed in marine
resource related jobs. Potential oil spills from rail transport could mean pollution to the resource.
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
“Our members have witnessed firsthand the difficult task of recovery of oil on water and shorelines,”
he said. “While there are many plans for a response in the case of spills, the practical reality is
recovery is daunting, desperate and it’s most often overwhelming.”
The jobs that could be created from the proposed terminals in Grays Harbor (three companies —
Imperium, Westway, and U.S. Development — currently are undergoing environmental impact
statements for terminals on the Harbor) are not enough to justify the dangers posed to the natural
resource, Thevik said.
“Proponents of the unprecedented expansion of crude by rail and the transport of oil through our
communities and waterways, knowingly or not, are systematically placing all the elements necessary
for one of the worst man-made disasters we could suffer,” he said.
Everybody then moved inside for the hearing.
Those wishing to comment were asked to sign up. About 150 people signed up, from throughout
Washington and northern Oregon.
Department of Ecology Program Manager Dale Jensen opened the meeting with a presentation
recapping the preliminary report.
After about 20 minutes, the crowd started to call out at him.
“You’ve talked long enough,” one person shouted from the back of the room to the applause of the
audience.
He rushed through the report’s recommendations, which include:
Adequately fund the state’s spill prevention, preparedness and response program.
The hiring of eight full-time employees for additional inspection.
Allow inspectors to enter a private shipper’s property.
Hire three full-time Ecology planners to develop and maintain response plans.
Continue funding for assessing oil transportation risks.
Enhance and provide oil spill response and first responder firefighter equipment.
Require local authorities to submit hazardous materials plans and updates every four years.
Allow designated first-class cities to opt in to the railroad crossing inspection and enforcement
program.
Provide funding for railroad and road reviews of high-risk crossings.
Issue certificates of financial responsibility to ensure that those transporting oil can pay for
cleanup costs and damages resulting from oil spills.
Providing comments to the department during the hearing were State Rep. Sam Hunt and Port of
Olympia Commissioner George Barner.
Barner and fellow commissioner Sue Gunn pushed through a resolution from their port commission
urging the Port of Grays Harbor to reconsider the proposed oil terminals.
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
It also urged the City of Hoquiam to deny permits for the terminals and requested action from state
lawmakers regarding rail transportation.
The Washington Public Ports Association later censured Barner and Gunn for the resolution.
Most of the public comments called for a moratorium on crude by rail and oil terminals statewide.
Those who didn’t specifically ask for a moratorium criticized the recommendations for not going far
enough.
Like Buxbaum, many want oil companies to prepare communities (supplying both equipment and
training) for possible spills.
Safety was the biggest issue. Proximity of “blast zone” to populated areas and schools, proximity of
rail to waterways, natural disasters and their effects on terminals and rail, and the chance of cars
derailing while shipping crude oil.
Damage to infrastructure from heavy oil cars, and the age of current infrastructure also was
concerning.
Many worry about the greater impact of oil in and of itself, citing their concerns about climate change.
Aberdeen City Councilman Alan Richrod told regulators:
“We’ve had four derailments — strike that, we had three because the first one wasn’t technically a
derailment,” he said. “The cars were sitting in the yard not hooked up to a train, and they fell over.”
The audience broke into laughter.
The hearing lasted about five hours, but many people left well before the last comments were heard.
Many who had signed up also left, and by the end of the meeting, a lot of time was consumed with
name cards being read aloud.
When each name card was either read or discarded because the person no longer was present, the
Department of Ecology allowed those remaining in the audience to give comments if they hadn’t
signed up.
The public hearing was just one of several steps in the process.
A final report will be submitted to the Legislature on March 1, 2015.
Between then and now, the Department of Ecology will continue to hold workshops,
intergovernmental meetings and public meetings.
Comments for the public hearing still can be made at
www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/OilMovement/StudyComments.html.
Comments close on Dec. 1.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Coal
TransAlta Power Plant Leads State in Greenhouse Gas Pollution
October 16, 2014
Legacy – December 2014
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SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state's major industrial sources released about 6 million more metric
tons of greenhouse gases in 2013, a 30 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest
data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The state's only coal burning power plant in Centralia topped the list, emitting 7.5 million metric tons
of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming. Emissions from the plant spiked up
about 82 percent from 2012, after experiencing a big drop the previous year.
TransAlta spokeswoman Leanne Yohemas said in an email that carbon dioxide emissions at the
company's Centralia plant were substantially below normal levels in 2012, which explains the
increase. In that year, she said, hydropower production was running high in the Northwest and the
Centralia plant also experienced "extended downtime" as a result of poor market conditions driven by
low natural gas prices.
Yohemas said the plant's emissions in 2013 were closer to normal levels and reduced from prior
years.
The Centralia power plant, the single largest source of carbon pollution in the state, is scheduled to
completely shut down by 2025 under a state law passed in 2011.
Facilities that release 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide or its equivalent are required to
report emissions to the EPA each year. The federal agency has collected such data for four years.
Last year in Washington state, 92 large facilities such as power plants, pulp and paper mills and steel
mills released a total of 25.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, compared with 19.6 million
metric tons in 2012. Total emissions from reporting facilities increased about 18 percent between
2011 and 2013.
The state's 14 power plants accounted for about 46 percent of that pollution. Many of them also
reported some of the largest emission hikes between 2012 and 2013.
Puget Sound Energy's generating stations in Ferndale, Bellingham and near Mount Vernon, for
example, more than doubled in emissions last year, after posting previous declines.
PSE spokesman Ray Lane said the utility reported much lower emissions in 2011 and 2012 because
hydropower operations were running high, well beyond normal levels. When hydroelectric power is
up, emissions are low, he said.
"We're currently running at more normal levels, which are similar to the figures seen in 2013," Lane
said in an email.
BP's Cherry Point Refinery was the second-highest single source of emissions in the state. It was
followed by Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes, Alcoa Intalco Works in Ferndale, Tesoro
Refinery in Anacortes, Phillips 66 refinery in Ferndale, Berkshire Hathaway's Chehalis Generation
plant, Clark Public Utilities River Road plant in Vancouver, and Puget Sound Energy's Mint Farm
power plant in Longview, Wash.
A Washington state law requires facilities that emit more than 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse
gases per year to report their pollution to the state Department of Ecology. Those sources have
reported their 2012 emissions to the Department of Ecology. Reports for 2013 emissions are due
later this month.
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Hydropower
Pe Ell Meeting Addresses Potential Dam
Community Input: Attendants Voice Opinions on Water Retention Facility on Chehalis River
October 16, 2014
Tensions ran high and residents filled the Pe Ell School’s small gymnasium Tuesday during a
presentation that depicted a strategy for reducing flood damage and restoring aquatic life in the
Chehalis River Basin.
The highly contentious topic that filled the gymnasium to standing
room only was the possibility of a dam that may be built near Pe Ell.
Jim Kramer, project manager for the research conducted by the William D. Ruckelshaus Center,
presented information to those in attendance on the history of flood damage in the area, and the
habitat degradation taking place affecting salmon.
“There has been a lot of information produced in the last couple of years and this is a brief summary
of that information with the focus for the end part of the presentation on the specifics of the potential
dam that is being considered upstream from the town of Pe Ell,” Kramer said.
There are three possibilities to the types of dam that may potentially be built. If the decision to build a
dam is approved by Gov. Jay Inslee, options are a flood retention dam, a multi-purpose dam or a
multipurpose rockfill dam.
Kramer said the problem is the Chehalis Basin continues to see large floods with little to no action
preventing future damage.
“You can see the trend … is that the five largest floods in the historical record of the basin have
occurred in the last 25 years or so,” he said, adding that the increasing magnitude of floods is
changing the prediction of what the largest floods in the basin are likely to be in the future.
With the prediction of future climate change, the range of possible changes in the magnitude of floods
is anywhere from an 18 to 90 percent increase in the size of floods predicted in the basin.
Not only is the basin plagued with flooding, but
in recent years a significant decline in salmon
populations and other species has been noted,
said Kramer. He said it is a problem that needs
to be addressed.
Editorial Comment:
Many who rely on Chehalis River basin flooding
rightly believe that flooding is a blessing as
Chehalis River floods deliver vital nutrients to
fertile farmlands and replenish aquifers.
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
There is potential to increase salmon populations by 50 percent
through habitat restoration actions that would include the removal of
barriers to fish passage and would reap the benefits of riparian
enhancement, Kramer said.
The discussion is timely because the Governor’s Chehalis Basin Work Group, a sub-group of the
Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority, is tasked with providing the governor a recommendation for a
long-term strategy and budget that will help reduce flood damage and enhance aquatic species. The
recommendations are due by mid-November.
A variety of options were presented to reduce flooding, some of which proved cost prohibitive, such
as protecting Interstate 5 with walls and levees. Flood proofing was found to be one of the most cost-
effective measures that could be taken, although Kramer said the question remains of whether it
would be a sufficient enough action.
The objectives of a potential dam were listed as providing a reduction
to flooding downstream, while minimizing fish and downstream
environmental impacts.
The smallest of the dams, the flood retention only dam would have a height of 227 feet and the
reservoir would stretch almost 7 miles, covering an area of 860 acres. This dam would only hold
water at times of flooding, creating a reservoir only 1 percent of the time based on the historic record.
The dam would cost $300 million to build.
The multipurpose dam would be 60 feet taller. The reservoir would be almost a mile longer and would
cover an extra 500 acres, but would also store water during the winter months, slowly releasing it in
the spring and summer.
A multipurpose rockfill dam has a much larger footprint and would have to include a separate bypass
structure, Kramer said.
The potential dam would help reduce flooding,
although he said it is important to note that it
would not eliminate flooding. A dam would
decrease fish populations by a total of 2
percent; however, if a dam was combined with
a high level of restoration, populations of
returning adult salmon would increase by 42
percent, Kramer said.
Participants at the meeting both supported and opposed the proposed dam.
“One thing to say, which is concerning to the people who live in Pe Ell, which is part of this whole
process, that for us to wake up every morning and look south and see a big concrete structure, a rock
structure, whatever you got that is holding that river back from inundating us, I think that everyone
else downstream ought to give us a little bit,” one audience member said.
Editorial Comment:
With no effective fish passage designed
for these proposed dams, salmon and
steelhead that rely on upper Chehalis
River spawning and rearing habitat will
be forever lost.
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
“How are you going to help us? How does this dam help the people
who live in the city of Pe Ell, but have never been affected by this?
That is my major issue.”
Other audience members noted the large cost of the project would be better spent on funding
education instead.
While some opposed the idea of a dam, many spoke out in support of the ongoing research into the
possibility.
“I don’t want to lose my property to a flood, but there are ways to save our livelihood, our children’s
future and our property,” said one attendee. “Why wouldn’t we explore those opportunities?”
If a dam is approved, the permit process from
both the state and federal government would
take approximately three to five years at a
minimum, and the construction of the dam,
depending on the type, would take another two
to four years.
Kramer said next month’s recommendations will be provided by the work group to the governor and
all the comments voiced in the meeting would be considered before a decision is made.
Editorial Comment:
These time estimates don’t take funding, tribal
opposition, conservationist opposition, litigation,
etc. into consideration
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Solar
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Wild Game Fish Management
3 ANGLERS BUSTED ON TAHUYA FOR SNAGGING, WASTING WILD COHO
October 24, 2014
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Three men are in trouble — apparently yet again — after being caught with dozens of skeins of eggs
allegedly stripped from bright wild coho they snagged out of a closed stretch of a Hood Canal river.
And then left the fish to waste.
Washington game wardens say they cited the trio on the Tahuya River, which at the time was running
very low but full of nice fish, creating ideal conditions for snaggers to take advantage of holed-up
salmon.
If WDFW’s allegations are true, it appears they thought they could collect a stash of eggs for winter-
run steelhead fishing later this year, but with poor angler behavior on the Tahuya in recent falls — not
to mention a slowly recovering salmon run — officers have been monitoring the river more closely.
Last week trail cam images told Officer Jeff Summit that three men had headed into a section of the
southwest Kitsap Peninsula river open for fishing but closed to retention, according to a WDFW post
on Facebook, so he waited for them to return.
Half an hour later they came out with rods rigged for salmon, and when asked what they had been up
to, said they’d been catching and releasing fish, according to the agency’s writeup.
The Tahuya from the North Shore Road Bridge upstream 1 mile to what’s known as the Steel Bridge
is open in October for up two coho a day in October, but the waters above the Steel Bridge aren’t.
Summit wasn’t quite convinced it had been a C&R outing. The officer asked one to open his
backpack for an inspection.
“The subject became very nervous and attempted to conceal the contents multiple times, unzipping
the same compartment repeatedly,” WDFW reported.
When the angler was finally able to figure out how to operate his pack correctly, Summit allegedly
discovered three gallon-sized ziplock bags full of salmon eggs.
He marched the men back to the Tahuya and had them retrieve 16 of 20 coho carcasses allegedly
tossed into the forest and log jams in the river.
“In my 20 years as a game warden, I don’t recall anyone taking eggs and discarding the carcasses
like that,” said Summit’s sergeant, Ted Jackson.
The thing is, if they snagged 20 coho hens, how many bucks did they also hook in the back, tail,
side?
As if somehow it could explain away the sickening wastage, the three claimed to be “avid”
steelheaders who were just going to use the eggs for bait, according to WDFW.
As an editorial aside, an “avid” angler is one who actually cares about the resource, who doesn’t
waste fish, who only takes what they’re going to eat, who gives back to the fish and habitat, who
packs out litter, who pays attention to a water’s issues, who educates others.
And who doesn’t break fishing laws.
That doesn’t appear to be the case here. The trio are frequent customers of local game wardens’
citation books, having been written up “multiple times for numerous fish and wildlife violations,”
according to WDFW.
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
This episode added several more to their rap sheet — second-degree trespassing, failure to submit to
a field inspection, possessing salmon eggs without the carcass of the fish, first-degree overlimits,
retention in a closed area, snagging and wastage.
I’d add the word wanton in front of wastage.
“I was surprised — discarding such good meat,” said Jackson of the still-fresh-from-the-salt coho.
Sadly, there was no food bank in the area to take the fish, he said, so they had to be disposed of.
No doubt the trio have more rods, but at least those used in this alleged crime were seized.
Besides issues of littering and trespassing, which led to a landowner on the river shutting down
access to their property, WDFW is also focusing law enforcement on the Tahuya because it is home
to federally listed summer chum salmon. Once extinct in the stream, the run is slowly
recovering thanks to a unique hatchery program using eggs from fish collected on the nearby Union
River.
Summit’s work drew widespread praise on WDFW’s Facebook page, and the case was noted
on several local fishing forums.
Jackson hopes the Mason County Prosecutors Office follows through on charges.
Legacy – December 2014
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wildlife Artists:
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Derek DeYoung Art: “Dream Double 2” (SOLD)
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Diane Michelin - Fly Fishing Fine Art: "GET’EM" Original watercolor 10" x 13"
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2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Dan Wallace: Passion for Authenticity
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Licensed and Insured Guide
Quality Float Trips – Western Washington Rivers – Steelhead, Salmon, Trout
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Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Learn to fish: experienced, conservation-minded professional instructors
View our six-panel, information brochure HERE
Legacy – December 2014
Wild Game Fish Conservation International
2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters