Kelly Susewind, Water Quality Program Manager for Washington Department of Ecology, provides an editorial supporting moving forward with implementing the Spokane River Dissolved Oxygen TMDL (water cleanup) plan. An Inlander commentary.
The successful EnviroStars program in the Puget Sound area is now available to Spokane County businesses. EnviroStars is a voluntary program that certifies small businesses that have practices and policies in place that reduce hazardous waste and protect the environment.
The EnviroStars program started in King County in 1995 and now more than 700 businesses are participating in Western Washington.
Kelly Susewind, Water Quality Program Manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology, provided the Coeur d’Alene Press a guest editorial regarding implementation of the Spokane River clean up plan (or DO TMDL) and litigation Idaho municipalities filed challenging the plan.
Idaho Governor Otter and Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss how Idaho agencies that discharge wastewater to the river can avoid a costly court battle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Although Friends of the Falls and other proponents continue to actively work on the project, building of the park is unlikely before 2012. The Spokane River Forum reports on why.
People hanging out in Riverfront Park or crossing downtown bridges may have noticed cranes, sandbags and people in the north channel of the Spokane River. What’s going on is Avista conducting an “Upper Falls Aesthetic Spill Pilot Test,” a condition of Avista’s new FERC license for the Spokane River Hydroelectric Project. The Spokane River Forum reports.
A lawsuit over river discharges threatens the January 2012 startup of a new Spokane County sewage treatment plant, so officials are working on a backup. Plan B, restoration of a wetland with treated wastewater, requires county officials to exercise many of the land-use tools in their kit – and one that doesn’t yet exist. The Spokesman Review reports.
Bart Mihailovich, a talented young writer and passionate environmentalist has been selected to be the new point person for the Spokane Riverkeeper project. The Center for Justice Reports.
Hundreds of people are enjoying the Spokane River on hot summer days. The sheriff’s office is taking action to assure people are wearing life jackets. The Spokesman Review reports.
The city of Spokane’s newly updated Shoreline Master Program has been approved by the Washington Department of Ecology. The Spokesman Review reports.