Plan boosts shellfish protection

JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published August 21, 2001

OLYMPIA -- Thurston County is considering a plan to spend $1.2 million during the next 18 months to tackle water quality problems in the proposed Henderson Inlet and Nisqually Reach shellfish protection districts.

The draft plan would rely on state grants and existing funds, not new fees or taxes, said county environmental health specialist Sue Davis.

State law required the county to form a shellfish protection district for the two water bodies after bacterial contamination closed nine acres in Henderson Inlet and 74 acres in the Nisqually Reach to commercial shellfish harvesting last year.

The work plan is designed to get at the animal waste, failing home septic systems and stormwater runoff that are the likely pollutants.

But it's also shaped based on messages from the public received at workshops earlier this spring, Davis said. Participants told the county:

- Don't charge new fees or taxes.

- Beef up enforcement of existing environmental and land use laws before enacting new ones.

- Continue research and monitoring for pollution sources while tackling ones already known to exist.

The work plan, which will be presented to the public for review in September, would direct more than $535,000 to reducing pollution from farms.

About $178,000 would be spent conducting DNA tests to pinpoint the sources of bacterial contamination reaching the beaches.

Another $200,000 would be earmarked for reducing stormwater runoff from roads into the two watersheds.

The two watersheds are home to about 82,000 people -- a population expected to grow to 135,000 by 2025.

Much of the growth will be on land converted from forest to housing developments.

Some residents within the shellfish protection districts are scrutinizing new development with a keener eye.

A case in point has been a proposed 37-acre clearcut in the Hogum Bay area that is directly upland from Nisqually Reach shellfish beaches affected by the harvest closure.

Several residents in the area called on the county to restrict the timber harvest to protect shellfish beds from stormwater runoff and sediment from the cleared land.

"If we're going to protect the shellfish beds and improve water quality, let's be serious about it," Beachcrest resident Loretta Linstad said.

Davis' own review of the timber harvest proposal near the intersection of Meridian Road and 46th Avenue Northeast pointed out that water from two deep ravines on the property feeds into Hogum Bay. Davis noted that soils in the area are prone to stormwater runoff.

On Aug. 2, county Development Services issued a mitigated determination of nonsignificance for the timber harvest, which means no impact statement will be required.

However, the streams and wetlands on the property will require no-cut buffers 100 feet wide, county environment planner Linda Whitcher ruled. The county also will prohibit grading or stump removal on the project to reduce the chances of erosion.

"The harvest of trees doesn't create the bacteria source," Davis said. "It's the conversion to homes where we have to be careful not to create new sources."

Davis said the real pollution prevention challenge on lands converted from timber occurs at the next step.

On the web:

Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Office of Food Safety & Shellfish Programs: Harvest Checklist.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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