The last few weeks of heavy rains in Western Washington means the possibility of landslides in certain areas is higher. But this is only the beginning of the rainy season. If you look at Seattle’s landslide maps , you can pinpoint thousands of properties that are prone to sliding. "It doesn't mean that we now have 20,000 properties and we're on pins and needles getting ready that we're going to have 20,000 landslides happen," said Susan Chang, geotechnical engineer for the city of Seattle. "What

A new census by the U.S. Geological Survey shows the population of non-native goats in the Olympic Mountains has more than doubled over the past 12 years. Officials at Olympic National Park are concerned about the impacts on native plants and park visitors. Mountain goats were first introduced in the 1920s, before the park was established, as a target for hunters. The population started out at just about a dozen but is now topping 600. USGS estimates the recent growth rate has escalated to about

As the Earth’s atmosphere warms because of greenhouse gas emissions, most of the heat gets trapped in the oceans. But measuring the change has proven difficult, especially at greater depths. A researcher at the University of Washington is proposing a new method that has some promise . Measuring the surface temperatures of the world’s oceans is done primarily by satellite. The bigger challenge at this point is monitoring changes in their interior, because it’s expensive to maintain instruments

One day is left in the public comment period on a proposal from the state Department of Natural Resources to expand one of its Aquatic Reserves. It would limit use of an additional 45 acres of the area north of Bellingham known as Cherry Point. The proposal is to incorporate the 45 acres that were reserved for the Gateway Pacific shipping terminal into the existing Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve . This so-called “cutout” is now in limbo after the Army Corps of Engineers denied the permits for

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule on the amount of toxic chemicals allowed in Washington state’s rivers and bays under the Clean Water Act. The standard is sometimes called the “fish consumption rule” because it is based in part on the amount of fish people consume. The water must be clean enough to safely eat fish caught there. The new rule should put an end to years of controversy related to Washington’s long outdated water-quality rule, which has been known to be

Activists are gearing up for a national day of action Tuesday against the Dakota Access Pipeline. More than 200 protests are planned, with seven communities in the Puget Sound region taking part. The action was planned before an announcement late yesterday that the Army Corps of Engineers has suspended work on the project while it looks into tribal concerns. “Nothing changes much, because that’s what they said in September,” said Seattle resident Matt Remle, who will be part of a protest at the

A coalition of local politicians known as the Safe Energy Leadership Alliance meets Monday in Vancouver, Wash. Before their meeting, several of the group’s members including King County Executive Dow Constantine will tour the site of last June’s fiery oil train derailment in Mosier, Oregon . Constantine is the chair of the alliance, which came together two years ago around the sole purpose of protecting local communities from the increasing risks of coal and oil trains. Their tour of the train

Alternative energy and the companies that support it are here to stay, despite the changing politics in the other Washington. That was the sentiment as the state’s CleanTech Alliance held its annual meeting in Seattle. The group, which lobbies on behalf of the sector, is getting ready to celebrate ten years since its founding. And over the last six years, the organization has grown from just 35 members in 2010. “And now we’re just about 300. So almost 10-time factor of growth,” said CleanTech

The Environmental Protection Agency has given a preliminary green light to ban all vessels from dumping sewage in Puget Sound. It’s the latest step in a long effort by the state and environmental groups. Washington’s Department of Ecology has been working for several years to get a federal ban on sewage dumping for Puget Sound and issued a formal petition requesting it this summer . The EPA has established more than 90 of these so-called “no discharge” zones in 26 states, but this would be the

A trial begins in federal court in Seattle Monday on whether the BNSF Railway Company can be held liable for claims that coal dust from its rail cars is causing water pollution. The suit was brought by seven environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Puget Soundkeeper, in 2013. They say BNSF should be required to obtain a permit for coal dust pollution under the Clean Water Act. Lauren Goldberg is a staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, one of the groups arguing the case. She says