Gregoire checks progress on Puget Sound cleanup

BELFAIR, Wash. – Gov. Chris Gregoire visited a $40 million wastewater treatment plant in Belfair on Friday to kick off a daylong tour of projects helping to clean up Puget Sound.

It was the first destination in a five-stop tour covering Mason, Thurston and Pierce counties.

Walking the construction site with congressman Norm Dicks and other state and local officials, the governor said the amount of money spent to improve the ailing estuary has been unprecedented. About $460 million in federal, state and local funds has been spent since 2008, creating more than 15,000 jobs, she said.

Despite those efforts, Gregoire said, problems continue to plague Puget Sound. Stormwater runoff, development and toxic pollutants threaten the sound’s ecosystem and its orcas, salmon and other marine life, along with the quality of life for the region.

The governor has made it a state priority to clean up Puget Sound by 2020. She said Friday she’s sticking with that goal. The state Legislature created the Puget Sound Partnership in 2007 to lead the cleanup efforts. The agency has prioritized a list of projects including those that focus on restoring salmon habitat and removal of the Elwha Dam.

“We’re not able to do all that we had planned to do” because of the recession, Gregoire said. “Having said that, today is an indication that we’re making really good progress.”

In Belfair, at the southern end of Hood Canal, officials said the wastewater treatment facility will help communities phase out septic tanks that have polluted the marine waters. Homeowners and businesses within 500 feet of the system will be required to hook up to it and get off septic tanks.

“Just imagine all that wastewater getting out of the Union River,” said Tom Moore, the facility’s project manager.

At the Taylor Shellfish nursery in Shelton, on the southern end of Puget Sound, Gregoire got updates from local officials on efforts to upgrade aging sewer pipes and study chemicals in sediment of Oakland Bay, along with other conservation projects.

Taylor’s nursery on Oakland Bay processes millions of oyster and clam seeds each year, and company spokesman Bill Dewey said the company’s business is directly tied to the sound’s health. Some bays in Puget Sound, such as Oakland Bay, have shown greater improvements than others, he said.

Later Friday, Gregoire stopped at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, north of Lacey, to tour a restoration project that removed a farming dike and returned tides to more than 700 acres of historic estuary habitat.

She ended the day with a boat ride on Tacoma’s Commencement Bay, where efforts are being made to reduce stormwater runoff.