OLYMPIA — Two North Olympic Peninsula water cleanup projects are finalists for state Department of Ecology funds.
Centennial Program Grants are earmarked for Jefferson County Public Health’s Hood Canal Clean Streams Initiative and Clallam County’s Strait Water Quality Partnerships — if the state Legislature approves.
In the meantime, public comment will be accepted until 5 p.m. March 20 on the 72 clean-water projects Ecology tapped to receive a share of about $162 million in loans and grants starting in the state’s next fiscal year beginning July 1.
Two projects
Ecology officials recommend awarding $200,397 to the Hood Canal Clean Streams Initiative and $158,264 to Strait Water Quality Partnerships.
The Hood Canal initiative would address impaired water bodies listed by the Environmental Protection Agency, which found that the highest concentration of streams exceeding temperature standards in Jefferson County drain into Hood Canal.
The project would prioritize areas for riparian restoration through water quality monitoring and restoration planting.
In the Strait Water Quality Partnerships, Clallam County would work with other agencies to identify and fix degraded marine waters.
Public meeting
The approach would be multipronged, including documented pollution source investigation and remediation, more septic system inspections and improved pet-waste management.
Ecology will host a public meeting to discuss the proposed list at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 6, at the Pierce County Library’s processing and administrative center, 3005 112th St., Tacoma.
The finalists were chosen from 88 proposals, Ecology said.
Funding comes from a variety of state and federal sources, with the state Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund — a low-interest rate loan program — providing $135 million; the state Centennial Clean Water Program, funded through state bonds, providing another $25 million; and $1.6 million from the federal grant-funded Clean Water Section 319 Nonpoint Source Fund.
Project descriptions and proposed funding amounts can be found online at http://tinyurl.com/bc3qp59.
Appendixes
Appendix 1 shows the list of projects and amounts proposed for funding. Appendix 2 shows maps of Western and Eastern Washington pinpointing projects proposed for funding.
Comments can be emailed to Daniel Thompson at daniel.thompson@ecy.wa.gov or mailed to Department of Ecology, Attn: Daniel Thompson, Water Quality Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600.