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Joined by U.S. Congressman Norm Dicks, D-Belfair; his son, Puget Sound Partnership Director David Dicks; state Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant and others, the governor visited a wastewater-treatment plant under construction in Belfair, shellfish-growing and habitat-protection projects in Oakland Bay near Shelton, the Nisqually Delta estuary-restoration project and projects to clean up Commencement Bay in Tacoma.
Sounding a mixed message of jobs creation and environmental protection, the governor said cleanup and restoration work in Puget Sound has included 600 projects, 15,000 jobs and $480 million in federal, state and local funding since 2008.
“We are in the midst of the greatest recession since the Great Depression,” she said. “But we are not going to take a timeout in our efforts to recover Puget Sound and Hood Canal.”
The tour kicked off in Belfair, where an advanced wastewater-treatment plant is under construction to initially replace some 200 on-site septic systems in Mason County’s largest unincorporated community.
The $44 million project scheduled for completion next year is designed in part to reduce nutrient-loading at the southern end of Hood Canal. This will reduce the threat of low dissolved-oxygen levels in the water, which lead to stress and death of marine life, including fish, shrimp and octopuses.
“Getting the nitrogen out of the water is key at this end of the canal,” David Dicks said. “It’s a very sensitive place.”
“This is an exciting project for us,” Mason County Commissioner and state Sen. Tim Sheldon said. “It will lead to new businesses, new jobs, and it’s a great project for Hood Canal.”
The wastewater will be treated to Class A reclaimed-water levels, which means it can be used for everything but drinking, Mason County project manager Tom Moore said. For now, most of the wastewater will be used to irrigate forestland around the plant site on a hill above Belfair.
The next stop on the tour was Twin Rivers Ranch at the northern tip of Oakland Bay. It’s the most productive Manila clam-growing bay in the nation, according to commercial shellfish growers.
The Capitol Land Trust, with the help of 20 partners, recently purchased the farm for $1.65 million to preserve it in perpetuity.
The 133-acre property features one mile of freshwater habitat on two salmon-bearing streams, 66 acres of wetlands, 36 acres of forest and a small estuary.
As the crowd gathered, a bald eagle flew over the property while another perched in the mudflats.
“I’ve seen 10 to 15 bald eagles lined up here, feeding on salmon carcasses,” land trust Executive Director Eric Erler said.
Preserving the undeveloped Puget Sound habitats and shorelines that are in pristine condition is one-tenth as expensive as restoring the same amount of property, Dicks said.
“This is what we want all over Puget Sound,” he said.
Driving southeast toward Shelton, the contingent stopped at an oyster and clam nursery owned and operated by Taylor Shellfish Farms, the largest shellfish producer on the West Coast.
The nursery uses water wheels to circulate 55,000 gallons of water per minute through 100 million oysters and 300 million clams a year, growing the tiny seeds large enough to plant or sell to commercial-growing areas all over the world.
“This is a big part of our business,” company spokesman Bill Dewey said.
The nursery served as a backdrop as Shelton city officials talked about nearly $75 million in water and sewer projects designed partly to improve and protect water quality in the bay.
Many of the projects were made possible by federal stimulus money, Shelton Commissioner of Public Works Dawn Pannell said.
“When I hear people say the federal stimulus spending isn’t helping the economy, I get a little mad,” she said. “It’s made a huge difference here in Shelton.”
At the same time, Mason County officials, the Squaxin Island tribe, shellfish companies, and state and federal agencies have put a big dent in an explosion of bacterial contamination that in 2006 threatened to shut down shellfish harvesting in the bay, said John Konovsky, environmental program manager for the tribe.
Actions to fence livestock out of streams and repair and replace failing on-site septic systems in the watershed have made a big difference, he said.
“We have, at least for the moment, tamed the bacteria in Oakland Bay,” Konovsky said.
John Dodge: 360-754-5444 jdodge@theolympian.com
