OLYMPIC COAST ALLIANCE

JUNE 2007 UPDATE

The purpose of the Olympic Coast Alliance (OCA) is to assure a healthy coastal ecosystem through public education and outreach, conservation issue advocacy, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary support, stewardship programs, and a strong working relationship with coastal tribes.

SANCTUARY:

A place of refuge and protection.                                    

-Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1963

A reservation where animals or birds are sheltered for breeding purposes and may not be hunted or otherwise molested                                  

-Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged, 1968

A reserved area in which animals or birds are protected from hunting or other molestation.                                                                                       

-The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language – 1969

The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary --[OCNMS]

“…supports one of the world’s most diverse kelp communities and is visited by 29 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises.  The sanctuary contains some of the largest colonies of seabirds in the continental United States.  Its coastline is home to one of the largest populations of bald eagles in the lower 48 states….Marine sanctuaries are part of our collective riches as a nation.  They are treasures that belong to all of us citizens, that we have the right to enjoy and the responsibility to protect for future generations…”   [from the brochure for OCNMS]

A WILDERNESS,  in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain…”  The Wilderness Act of 1964

Over the years, there has been discussion about the possibility of designating some

areas of the oceans and the seas and other marine areas as Wilderness.  The Wilderness Act does include the clause that “no Federal lands shall be designated as “wilderness areas” except as provided for in this Act or by a subsequent Act.”  I’m not sure that omits marine areas.  Others are not so sure.

National Marine Sanctuaries come close to falling within the definition of Wilderness.

Some find that the language and provisions of the Wilderness Act may not be readily

applied to the nation’s marine waters.  One can wonder, though.  OCNMS overlaps Olympic National Park’s coastal area, which extends to extreme low tide and includes the offshore rocks and islands.  ONP and OCNMS include within both of their exterior boundaries Flattery Rocks, Quillayute Needles and Copalis National Wildlife Refuge, also under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Destruction Island.  The intertidal zone and the refuges are designated Wildernesses.

During a Northwest Wilderness Conference in the 1980s Ocean Wilderness was one

of the topics.  No determining factors were reached at that time.  Recently it was learned there is an Ocean Wilderness Network.   In 2002, it expressed concern about the proposal for wave generated energy from offshore buoys, possibly anchored to the sea bottom in the OCNMS.   Among the organizational signers, together with the Ocean Wilderness Network, were the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, The Ocean Conservancy, and Natural Resources Defense Council.

Olympic Coast Alliance will be closely examining this wave energy proposal when the sponsoring company has completed its Environmental Assessment and it is available for public review.

With regard to Wilderness for marine areas?  The 2008 Wilderness Conference will be held in Seattle April 3-5, 2008.  One session will discuss the possible designations of ocean areas as "Wilderness".  In essence, OCNMS is de facto "wilderness", but, perhaps, not one hundred per cent.  And – the Wilderness Act does not require designated Wilderness to be 100% pure.  For instance, second growth forests becoming future old growth forests are acceptable.

Please share your thoughts about potential “ocean wilderness”. You can forward your thinking to me at marmot75@earthlink.net.

Thank you all for being members of Olympic Coast Alliance.  If not yet a member, do join.  We would be delighted to have you take part in some of the programs described by others in this quarterly review, or others OCA is interested in.

Regards,

POLLY DYER, President

OCA Joins 2007 Eighth Annual

Coastal  Clean-Up

The eighth annual clean up of Washington Coastal beaches focused on one day, Saturday April 21. The warm weather before Saturday enticed many volunteers to beaches and the coastal wilderness. On Saturday, however, the weather turned sour. Rain, wind, cold and less than ideal conditions were the order of the day. Then, Sunday, the weather turned sunny again and the volunteers returned to the beaches.

The weather, however, did not deter the 806 registered volunteers.  They collected about 23 tons of debris. Most is marine debris is delivered during winter storms.  If not collected and removed it follows ocean currents and tides flowing north and south along the coast.

Removed from the beaches were 14 crab pots, two refrigerators, many tires, nets, buoys, and plastic. Since the first clean up in 2000 the volunteers have collected and helped remove more than 146 tons of debris.

This year's clean up noted some new opportunities for volunteer participation:

• One volunteer contributed 700 iron-on patches for the volunteers. The design and manufacture were all contributed to the clean up. Yes, you are right, there were more volunteers than there were patches.
• The Clallam Bay - Sekiu Lions Club and Friends added a section of the Strait of Juan de Fuca shoreline from Neah Bay to Sekiu
• One volunteer team worked with members of the Hoh to clean up Hoh Reservation beaches
• An armada from Washington Water Trails Association cleaned up Lake Ozette
• Second Beach had been closed by the Quileute Tribe for several years. A huge pile of stuff was taken off that favorite beach, and
• Because of the exceptional low tide, the Washington Alpine Club was able to collect and remove all the debris from Jefferson Cove which is north of Hoh Head. Everything they collected was trucked to Rialto Beach dumpsters.

The clean up is an outstanding example of community participation. Government agencies, businesses, nonprofits and volunteers work together to accomplish a common goal.

Contact Jan Klippert, JPKlippert@aol.com for additional information about future Clean-Up efforts.

The Ups and Downs of

Oil Spill Prevention in 2007

Oil spill prevention took a wild ride this session in the Washington State Legislature.  As you may remember from past editions of this newsletter, the state Oil Spill Advisory Council (OSAC) and multiple conservation groups recommended several new sources of funding for the state oil spill program, highlighted the crucial need for permanent funding of a year round rescue tug at Neah Bay, and proposed new funding for cleanup of derelict vessels that are leaking oil into marine waters. Nothing really became clear until the dust settled after the legislative session. 

Bottom line; the Governor and top Legislative leaders successfully opposed any new revenue to support the state oil spill prevention program.  The proposed oil transfer fee and changes to the oil barrel tax were not adopted.  There is no new permanent funding for a year round rescue tug at Neah Bay.  The legislature passed and the Governor signed legislation temporarily utilizing existing revenue sources (the state oil barrel tax) to support part-time placement of a tug at Neah Bay through mid 2008.  Opponents of new state funding for year round tug placement are essentially gambling that Congress will either mandate industry funding of the year round tug or directly authorize funds for the tug before mid 2008.  Given other federal spending priorities and the short time window before 2008, this is a significant gamble. 

Early drafts of the oil spill prevention legislation that included new revenues were drastically amended to require only research on risk-based revenue options for funding the state's oil spill prevention program.  Much of this work had already been completed by OSAC as preparation for its revenue recommendations.  Although frustrating for oil spill prevention advocates, this watered down legislation focusing on research only will at least keep the oil spill prevention revenue issue alive.  This small victory is important because Washington will eventually need to find new revenue to pay for the Department of Ecology's base oil spill prevention program.  Further, if Congress fails to mandate or fund the tug, the Washington State Legislature and Governor will have to take action (probably after a major oil spill off the coast) on funding a permanent year round rescue tug at Neah Bay.  

Funding, although not as much as recommended by OSAC, was also provided for accelerated removal of derelict vessels that are currently leaking oil or could be reasonably expected to leak oil in the near future.  The legislation also strengthened the Department of Natural Resources’ authority to prevent the creation of derelict vessels in the first place and to involve the owners of the vessels in the clean up process.

A minor legislative victory was achieved with continued state funding of OSAC.  Although resisted strongly by the oil and shipping industries, base funding of $520,000 and research study funding of $200,000 will allow OSAC to continue its work for at least one more year.  The Council will continue to focus public attention on this critical environmental issue and hopefully achieve greater success in future years. 

So, why did the major components of the OSAC legislative initiative founder this year?  The oil and shipping industries aggressively opposed the OSAC recommendations for new oil spill prevention revenue.  Numerous oil and shipping industry lobbyists swarmed the state capitol and a few even sit on OSAC.  There was also very heavy political pressure this legislative session for “no new taxes” of any kind.  The Governor and Legislative leaders led the charge on this short sighted endeavor.  Very few, if any, new revenue sources were approved this session.

Oil spill prevention advocates are now focusing their efforts on federal legislation.  Senator Maria Cantwell will again be introducing legislation to fund (or mandate) placement of a year round permanent rescue tug at Neah Bay.  Her legislation will also provide long-term funding for OSAC, among many other very positive measures for oil spill prevention in Washington State.

Stay tuned!

Contact Jim Davis, jimdaviscpc@comcast.net.

Coral Reef Recovery Fund and Damage Recovery Process for National Wildlife Refuges Proposed

The US Government has proposed the Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Amendment Act of 2007, which would reauthorize the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and add greater protections for coral reefs while enhancing marine debris removal.

The proposed legislation would for the first time establish a damage recovery process for the coral reefs in National Wildlife Refuges, and increase the effectiveness of the current authorities for recovering damages to reefs in National Parks and National Marine Sanctuaries.

It provides statutory authorization for Department of the Interior coral conservation activities, which are now conducted under general conservation authorities that do not mention coral reefs.

Seeking to address vessel impacts to reefs, the legislation establishes a new emergency response account to fund emergency response, stabilization, and restoration following incidents that injure coral reefs.

The bill makes it unlawful to destroy or injure any coral reef and allows the government to recover response and restoration costs from parties responsible for damaging reefs.

The measure provides for the removal of abandoned fishing gear, marine debris, and abandoned vessels from coral reef ecosystems in federal waters and allows for assistance to states for removal of marine debris.

Contact Jill Silver, jsilver@waypt.com

Funds for Study of Sonar Impacts

on Marine Mammals

Funding for research into the effects of military sonar systems on whales and dolphins has been authorized by the House of Representatives as part of $72 million in funding for military research and testing in Hawaii.

Research studies have shown that the rising level of intense underwater sound produced by military sonar and other man made sources are a threat to whales, dolphins, fish and other marine species.  Also at risk are local orcas, which have recently been classified as endangered.  Orcas spend part of the winter in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

Sonar testing is being tied to numerous whale strandings around the world.  Whales are thought to take evasive action to avoid the noise, such as rapidly diving and resurfacing, thus experiencing decompression sickness that may lead to death.  Beaked whales, which live at great depths and are rarely seen, appear to be especially vulnerable to sonar testing.

The Hawaii research contracts include the development of electronic systems to detect the presence of marine mammals in naval training areas. Environmentalists hope that the Navy can be persuaded to avoid areas where marine mammals are detected.

One of the funded projects studies the effects of military sonar systems on marine mammal hearing.  Military active sonar emits loud waves of sound that sweep across hundreds of miles of ocean, revealing objects, such as enemy submarines, in their path.

Low frequency sonar can generate sound as loud as a twin-engine fighter jet at takeoff. Mid-frequency sonar can emit sounds of 235 decibels, as loud as a Saturn V rocket at launch, says the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has been leading the fight to limit the use of sonar.

Even 100 miles from a low frequency system, sounds can reach 160 decibels, beyond the Navy's own safety limits

The Olympic Coast Alliance Acoustics Committee is studying existing research on impacts of sonar on whales in order to consider potential recommendations for mitigation of effects on marine mammals within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.  One of the simplest and most effective strategies for mitigation is to restrict when and where testing can be done.  The review of existing research to date indicates that special efforts should be focused on restricting Low Frequency Arrays (LFA), mid range sonar and air guns in areas impacting the marine mammals within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

Contact Peggy Willis, willis.p@comcast.net.

Draft Environmental Assessment of Potential Impacts on Marine Environment of Wave Energy Project Coming Soon

The Draft Environmental Assessment by AquaEnergy of its AquaBuOY Wave Energy technology proposed for Makah Bay is expected to be available for public comment by the beginning of June.  The AquaBuOY is a floating structure, moored to the ocean bottom, which uses the vertical motions of ocean waves to drive a pump that moves seawater over a turbine.  AquaEnergy's AquaBuOY converts hydrostatic energy, the energy from the elevation of a body of water relative to a reference point.  The devices oscillate based on changes in the height of ocean waves

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has estimated that the average wave energy off the U.S coastline is 2,100 TeraWatt hours per year, much of it on the West Coast.  This is equivalent to more than half of the electricity generation in the US in 2004.  (Reported in US Department of Energy workshop, October 2005.)

Wave energy conversion technologies have not been widely tested and there are unknowns and concerns regarding potential impacts on the marine environment.  After the draft Environmental Assessment is issued, there will be a public comment period regarding the AquaEnergy proposal. 

The working group on the Aqua Energy PDEA appointed by the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Group (NMSAG) reviewed the Preliminary Draft Environmental Assessment and sent a written request to NMSAG that there be monitoring if any project is approved within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

Several of the potential environmental impacts of wave energy from a recent Fisheries document are listed below.  This link has a review of renewable energy from moving water.  It goes over potential impacts and mitigation procedures.

http://www.fisheries.org/afs/publications/fisheriesmag/3204.pdf 

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Contact Rebecca Post, Olympia, Washington

Schedule of Events

Olympic Coast Alliance invites the public to join in all our activities!  The next meeting and location is:

June 23, 2007

Jefferson County Library at Port Hadlock

620 Cedar Avenue

Port Hadlock. WA

10:30 am-3:00 pm

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Olympic Coast Alliance

P.O. Box 573

Olympia, WA 98507-0573

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