Housing Kitsap, formerly known as the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority (KCCHA) will resume cleanup work on the Mitchell Avenue Phase II Site located at 980 Mitchell Avenue, near the intersection of Mitchell Avenue and Mile Hill Drive.

The one-acre property is bordered by the Mitchell Avenue Phase I Site on the north, which contains senior housing. In 1999, the City Council passed a resolution which targeted the site to provide affordable housing opportunities for low-income seniors.

In late 2005 a Phase II ESA investigation of the site was completed using funds from a $55,000 EPA Assessment grant. The purpose of the Phase II ESA was to define the extent of soil and groundwater contamination for KCCHA to identify the rationale for field activities, the site conditions and previous investigations, the project organization and projected schedule for completion of work, and Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP). read more »

Returning for its third year, the 2010 Brownfields Redevelopment Conference will once again bring together the diverse parties that collaborate to put contaminated properties back into productive use.

The third annual Brownfields Redevelopment regional conference, sponsored by the Northwest Environmental Business Council (NEBC) and Washington State Department of Ecology will take place at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center at 1500 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402. Full conference information can be found at this link.

The conference offers an opportunity to learn what it takes to effectively manage transactions and projects, meet and network with leading experts, colleagues, potential partners, and customers. read more »

Fish will soon swim more freely in Bjorgen and Lemolo creeks, tributaries to Liberty Bay, near Poulsbo.

Tree felling operations marked the beginning as WSDOT and Frank Coluccio Construction Co. began the $3.8 million project July 12. Work, which will occur from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. read more »

In a period of uncertain and troubling economic times and as the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history unfolds in the Gulf of Mexico, one might ponder how we would avoid similar devastation here in Puget Sound.

On Dec. 30, 2003, about 5,000 gallons of oil poured into Puget Sound in Shoreline. The heavy bunker oil overflowed from a Foss Maritime barge while being loaded from the former Chevron/Texaco terminal. Rules in place at the time permitted such transfers without deploying protective containment boom around the vessel beforehand. read more »

Bremerton: Illahee Creek stormwater surges have been a major concern of the Port of Illahee district for years. Sediment carried by these surges has quickly filled the new culvert (built in 1999) and turbid stormwater continues to plume out into the bay. With increasing mud and sediment deposited out into the saltwater delta area and under the nearby Illahee dock read more »

Born in 1970, the event is cause for celebration — and a midlife crisis — as this year Earth day turned 40 and its founders mostly 60-somethings.

Then-Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), who died in 2005, had visited a huge oil spill off Santa Barbara in 1969 when he had the idea to hold a “teach-in” — much like the campus discussions on the Vietnam War — focused on the environment. read more »

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST), through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will begin environmental assessment activities on the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribal Lands and areas in the Kingston/Port Gamble Bay vicinity.

Assessments are the first step in addressing potential hazardous substances and petroleum contaminated areas. Eventual Cleanup and reinvesting in these properties takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, which both improves and protects the environment. read more »

Large ‘Silicone Valley’ corporations have been testing a new device created to generate power on the spot, without being connected to the electric grid. After almost a decade of development and hundreds of millions in investment, Bloom Energy is coming out with theirs having unveiled their little “power plant-in-a-box” on 60-minutes aired Sunday, February 21. Until now, all journalists were able to garner were “no comments” from their marketing people. read more »

Fall and winter weather in most of the state was unpredictable and dramatic, resulting in record lows and severe storms that posed health and safety risks to people caught in its path. Record rains churned up rivers and caused landslides and floods around Western Washington. read more »