Gregoire announces Puget Sound cleanup plan

SEATTLE – Gov. Christine Gregoire on Monday proposed spending $42 million to restore and protect Puget Sound, and she named a panel of environmental, tribal and political leaders to research cleanup efforts across the country and to make recommendations.

As part of the package, Gregoire proposed $26 million to clean up toxic sites, prevent oil spills and continuing toxic contamination; and to restore near-shore, estuary and salmon habitats.

Earlier this year, a state Department of Ecology study warned of the changing nature of pollution in the region. Tests on sediment gathered at 10 sites stretching from Bellingham to the Olympia area showed that mud and sand at the bottom of Washington’s inland marine waters are increasingly tainted by pollution from vehicle exhaust.

Researchers said pollutants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, fall into the water from airborne exhaust or are washed into the sound by rainfall. Those chemicals can cause liver lesions and tumors in fish, and can change the growth rates and behavior of sediment-dwelling invertebrates.

And last month, the federal government listed Puget Sound orcas as an endangered species, giving them the highest level of protection available under the law. The designation, which also extends protection to habitat, will help target pollution and other factors that have contributed to the killer whales’ decline.

Gregoire said she will seek legislation requiring major oil-transport companies to train for spill prevention and cleanup. She also wants to regulate tanker trucks that refuel boats from docks – an activity she said is unregulated and on the rise.

Her plan calls for Ecology to establish a state oil spill-transfer inspection program and employ additional spill responders to be available to Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties, which since 2001 have seen an annual increase of 300 spills, for a total of 1,300.

Monday’s announcement was part of a series of pre-legislative events and news conferences the Democratic governor is holding to outline her agenda for the upcoming legislative session. The $42 million Puget Sound proposal is part of Gregoire’s 2006 supplemental budget proposal, which she has said she will announce today.