Environment

What caused the catastrophic failure of Seattle’s main wastewater treatment plant and how can the public be sure it won’t happen again? King County Council members took emergency action Monday to ensure there’s a fully independent investigation. More Than Stormy Weather Last month, in the early morning hours of February 9 during an unusually wet rainstorm, the West Point Treatment Plant broke down. It sits on the northern edge of Elliott Bay next to Discovery Park and had been inundated. Inside

AquAdvantage salmon were the first genetically engineered animal product meant for human consumption to be approved by the FDA. It combines the genetic material of Chinook and Atlantic salmon with eelpout to make it grow nearly twice as fast as its conventionally farmed counterparts. “And it was done without a single consultation with tribes who have organized our lives around salmon for thousands of years,” said Valerie Segrest, with the Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Program. She says despite a

The recent settlement of a lawsuit alleging that coal trains are polluting waterways in Washington and Oregon secured $1 million for mitigation projects. BNSF has also agreed to pay for cleanup of spilled coal in five sites along the Columbia River Gorge. But the watchdog groups behind the suit say the court’s order for a study of the use of physical covers for coal and petroleum coke trains may have the most impact. Seven environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Columbia River Keeper

Environmental impact statements are often in the news. They’re lengthy public documents that government agencies have to issue before taking actions that might cause harm to ecosystems or public health. Most often, they’re required before permitting of major infrastructure, such as sports stadiums or export terminals.

U.S. Representatives from Washington have pledged to fight hard against cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency that would devastate efforts to clean up Puget Sound. They say a draft plan from the Trump administration would slash federal funding for the Sound by 93 percent, to just $2 million. Congressman Derek Kilmer says he’s expecting to see substantial cuts to the EPA, including money for Puget Sound. He says the Trump administration has confirmed an intention to cut the agency overall

Dozens of scientists and their supporters will fill a library meeting room at the University of Washington this weekend, for a six-hour data rescue event . They’ll be joining a national effort to copy information from government websites that they fear might go missing under the Trump administration.

More people than ever before are using mass transit in King County. Authorities say rides on buses and light rail totaled about 150 million last year, making Seattle the nation’s fastest growing large metropolitan region for transit use.

The race is on to get clean energy technologies to market, to help reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that causes global warming. A new lab at the University of Washington opened Thursday. It aims to close a critical gap in getting innovations from idea to prototype. The new facility is called Washington Clean Energy Testbeds. It’s a 1,500 square-foot lab inside the UW’s Clean Energy Institute, which was founded in 2013. Director Dan Schwarz says they can now accelerate ideas that might

Plans to build North America’s largest coal export terminal in Southwest Washington may be moving forward. Project backers have filed an appeal, challenging the state’s denial last year of a lease . But questions remain about the financial viability of the project. The developers of the terminal in Longview are challenging the state Department of Natural Resources’ decision not to sublease state aquatic lands to them, saying it infringes on their property rights.

Hundreds of anti-pipeline demonstrators chanted and waved signs outside of Seattle’s City Hall early Wednesday, before dozens crowded in to council chambers to testify in front of Seattle’s Finance Committee . They urged swift passage of an ordinance that would pull $3 billion from Wells Fargo Bank, in large part because of its role in financing the Dakota Access Pipeline. The measure passed out of committee with a vote of 8-0. It directs the city to divest from Wells Fargo by ending its current