Locke calls for action to clean up Puget Sound

Thursday, July 10, 2003

By LISA STIFFLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The governor yesterday again pledged his support for the restoration of Puget Sound, where numbers of orcas, marine birds and salmon have declined precipitously.

In February, Gov. Gary Locke called for action to help save the Sound. At a news conference yesterday he updated the progress made and directed state agencies to keep striving to clean up the Sound and recover critters that are disappearing.

He credited a group of activists for their contributions and said that if residents and volunteer organizations work together, he was confident the Sound could be saved. He urged agencies that affect the Sound to take measurable steps to help it.

"Puget Sound is a great natural resource," Locke said. "It is our responsibility to treat it as such."

Local environmentalists were pleased by the announcements.

"There is so much work to be done, Puget Sound can only benefit from the governor making it a priority and giving direction to some of his agencies," said Pam Johnson, field director for People for Puget Sound.

Some of the recent accomplishments include securing funding for a rescue tug at Neah Bay that can helps ships in distress, funding for research into the loss of some marine birds and passage of a bill that bans some products containing mercury in an effort to reduce the amount of the toxin into the environment.

The governor also attended for the first time since his 1997 inauguration a full meeting of the agency and advisory council that act as the Sound's watchdog, the Puget Sound Action Team. The group is working on developing a set of priorities that will focus efforts on restoration of the Sound. They include:

Cleaning up contaminated sites and reducing new pollution, including pollution from sewage plants and septic systems

Cleaning up storm water runoff

Preserving and restoring shorelines

Creating and implementing recovery plans for orca, salmon, bottomfish and small forage fish.

While progress has been made, there are plenty of reasons for concern about the health of the Sound.

The new budget does not include funding for a program trying to reduce releases of certain long-lived toxic substances. Authority over a program that has successfully reduced the amount of farm animal waste released into streams has been shifted from the Department of Ecology to Agriculture, concerning some shellfish farmers. And the Legislature failed to strengthen regulations over construction and development of fragile shoreline areas.

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Local headlines to