November 3, 2016 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 26 (18 of 38 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
November 3, 2016 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Page
A-26 - She#on-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016
Homecoming court
The North Mason High School Royal Homecoming Court poses
football game.
Herald photo by Shawna Whelan
for pictures Oct. 28 before the
Canal
The Hood Salmon
Enhancement Group and
the Washington State De-
partment of Natural Resources
are partnering to restore critical
salmon habitat in the Dosewal-
lips River Estuary.
The project seeks
to restore natural
estuarine habitat at
the mouth of Walker
Creek, which feeds
into the greater
Dosewallips River
estuary complex,
near Brinnon, in
Jefferson County. By KEVAN
Much of the work MOORE
entailed removing a
large creosote-treated
barge embedded in the shoreline.
Since creosoted wood can leach
toxic chemical compounds into
the aquatic environment, remov-
ing this barge will improve water
quality and habitat value. Work
also included removing large
amounts of fill and regrading the
shoreline. HCSEG will be adding
habitat enhancement features
such as logs and root-wads, and
planting native vegetation along
the shoreline.
Creosote contains a harm-
ful group of chemicals known as
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs). Juvenile salmon migrat-
ing through urban estuaries show
reduced disease resistance, and
changes in growth and metabo-
lism, with similar results as seen
with PAH exposed animals in lab
studies. Salmon are only one of
the many species subject to harm-
ful exposure of the chemicals
present in the creosote-treated
lumber in this barge. In addition
to being a source of toxic
chemicals, this barge is
associated with large quan-
tities of fill material that
were brought in and placed
right in the estuary. Part "
of this project is removing
this fill material so that the
half-acre footprint can once
again belong to the estu-
ary, and all of the habitat
that goes along with it.
The Dosewallips River
Estuary is home to Hood
Canal summer chum, which is
listed as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act (ESA), in
addition to chinook, coho and pink
salmon. The estuary provides
critical habitat during the rearing
stage of juvenile salmon. During
this stage, juvenile salmon de-
pend on the vegetation and shal-
low tidal channels for cover from
predators and feed on inverte-
brates that thrive in the estuary.
Restoration efforts will add
approximately 19,500 square feet
(0.45 acres) of intertidal habitat
to the greater Dosewallips Estu-
ary and Dabob Bay, and restore
5,000 square feet (0.11 acres) of
upland riparian habitat.
This barge itself likely dates
back to the first half of the 20th
century. Although there hasn't
been any indication as to what
the barge was used for prior to
being placed on the shoreline,
locals have suggested the project
site is the location of the old ferry
terminal that ran from Brinnon
to Seabeck. Once the barge was
brought onto the shore and the
fill material was placed next to it,
an oyster processing facility, la-
beled as "Seafarms" in old county
records, was placed on top of the
barge. In construction, a septic
tank and a well was found inside
the fill material. An old photo-
graph shows the barge with build-
ings on its surface and powerlines
running down to it. Decades ago,
there was a lot of activity at this
site. However, in the past several
decades the site has been entirely
abandoned, with the barge slowly
falling apart. Just in the begin-
ning of 2016, the outer wall of the
barge collapsed during a storm.
Before long, large portions of this
barge may have been swept away,
spreading creosote-treated lumber
throughout Hood Canal.
Now that the barge has been re-
moved and most other work is now
complete, HCSEG will be focusing
on native plantings and other hab-
itat enhancements, which should
be completed later this fall.
• Kevan Moore is the commu-
nity organizer for the Hood Canal
Salmon Enhancement Group. He
can be reached at 275-3575, ext. 31.
cont. from page A-24
along quickly.
The port paid for a
market assessment,
which showed the Pit-
man property is val-
ued at $540,000 to
$565,000. Carlson said
at the Oct. 18 meeting
he estimated the acqui-
sition would cost more
like $600,000 total.
The port would be re-
sponsible for 25 percent
of those costs.
"A park would be ide-
al," said commissioner
Lowell Mahugh. "My
feeling is that we're not
spending port money
yet, we're just looking
into it."
The Grapeview Com-
munity Association al-
ready uses part of the
Pitman property during
the annual Grapeview
Water and Art Festival.
Bob Pastore, a
Grapeview resident
who volunteers for the
port, gave a presenta-
tion during Monday's
meeting regarding the
grant.
Pastore said he had
researched the grant
and has begun filling
out the application to
meet the Nov. 1 dead-
line.
Pastore added ap-
plying for the grant is
not binding; the port
has the ability to cancel
the project and return
any awarded money
through next fall.
Several residents
expressed concern with
the port's procedure.
Resident Diane
Hartley said she didn't
understand why Pas-
tore was involved in the
process.
"It rather bothers me
that you're not acting as
an entity," she said to
the port commissioners.
"I don't understand why
Mr. Pastore is making
the presentation when
he's not an elected of-
ficial .... This should
be transparent, but it
seems as though it's all
happened out of sight."
Several residents
also made comments
that the port doesn't
yet have matching
funds for a separate
$528,279 RCO grant
it was awarded earlier
this year.
The money will go
toward repairing and
realigning the crack-
ing concrete boat ramp
and possibly adding a
permanent restroom at
the port's public boat
launch facility.
Similar to the other
RCO, the grant pro-
vides 75 percent of the
project's costs; the re-
maining 25 percent
must come from the
Port of Grapeview.
"Slow down, slow
your roll," said Grape-
view resident Bob Al-
len. ' /ou still don't have
money from the first
project figured out."
Other attendees
spoke in favor of the
possible acquisition,
seeing it as a necessary
step to get the ball roll-
ing on a new project.
Several people said
they didn't understand
the opposition to the
grant application since
nothing is set in stone.
"The timing is not
ideal, but this is what's
happening," said resi-
dent Sandy Carlson,
who is married to com-
missioner Carlson. "I
think it would be short-
sighted not to consider
it."
After public com-
ment, all three commis-
sioners voted to move
ahead with the grant
application.
The next step in the
application is a techni-
cal presentation to an
RCO board on Nov. 16,
at which port commis-
sioners will get feed-
back on their applica-
tion and plan for the
project.
The next regular
port meeting is 7 p.m.
Nov. 15 at the Grape-
view Community Cen-
ter, 4350 E. Grapeview
Loop Road.
the art of landscaping
Landscape Design and
(360) 280-5116
Pond Supply Store
4120 #3 Harrison Ave NW,
Olympia, WA 98502
Proudly serving the South Sound Area
(360) 412-0309
www.natureperfectponds.com
r OVUle rs
Trucks, RVs
Offer Ends November 30, 2016