Communities for a Healthy Bay
Sound Action. Sound Water.
Communities for a Healthy Bay
Sound Action. Sound Water.
Hi Friends!
I can’t believe we’re only a month away from the end of the year. I’m looking forward to taking a look back at how far we’ve come and setting the foundation for keeping the momentum going in 2023.
Our sincere thanks go out to all of you who have taken part in this year’s Stand for Our Sound fundraiser and donated to our Bay Patrol Program. Photos from the event will be posted to a Facebook album so that everyone can share and download them.
I want to let you know that SeaPort Sound Terminal’s Environmental Impact Statement has recently been released and we are currently reviewing it. If you have not already, I urge you to take a look at it for yourself. Read on for details about when to make comments, as well as when an information session will be scheduled by the City.
Best,
Melissa Malott
Executive Director
Our Stand for Our Sound fall fundraiser and award ceremony was an amazing event! We were thrilled to welcome our supporters and friends who joined us in recognizing our outstanding award winners. In addition to celebrating with our community, we were excited to highlight some of the work CHB has been doing over the past six months and share our plan for enhancing our Bay Patrol program. We are grateful for the donations given in support of our desire to upgrade our Bay Patrol program with new research equipment, a full-time captain, and a new paint job for our vessel. These enhancements will allow CHB to run daily Bay Patrols and increase the monitoring and reporting of pollution in Commencement Bay. Thank you to all our Stand for Our Sound attendees for a wonderful evening and congratulations to our award winners.
Stand for Our Sound 2022 Award Winners
Environmental Justice Service Award: Savannah Smith & Ebony Welborn
Rising Tide Award: Tameem Sarwary & Lauren Schiedt-Padron
Healthy Bay Champion: Dana Coggon
Clean Water Hero in Elected Office: Kristin Ang
Kay Treakle Lifetime Achievement Award: Annette Bryan
To learn more about the Stand for Our Sound award winners and the awards they received CLICK HERE
Couldn’t make it to Stand for Our Sound? You can donate now and help us close the gap to fund our enhanced Bay Patrol program!
The weather was perfect for November’s Environmental Justice Camp: a fall hike with Tacoma Urban League. We spent the morning practicing mindfulness techniques amid the fall colors on 5-mile drive at Point Defiance Park. In the afternoon we moved inside to the new pavilion at Owen Beach (which was recently remodeled to adapt to sea level rise predictions). We talked about what makes good habitat and planted container gardens with native wildflower seeds to take home with help from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
SeaPort Sound Terminal, a fossil fuel storage and transport facility in the Tacoma Tideflats, has released its draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for its proposed expansion and ‘modernization’ project. The project would demolish 7 existing storage tanks, and replace them with 8 bigger tanks, increasing the facility’s fossil fuel storage capacity by 11%. The project would also demolish and replace existing wastewater treatment equipment and install a new stormwater line.
CHB staff is currently reviewing and analyzing the DEIS to understand the impacts, and successfully advocated for an extension on the comment period so that we may fully understand the proposal and provide meaningful comments. Comments are due by Tuesday, December 27th. We plan to hold a public forum to discuss our findings and recommendations, and to hear from our community about how this project might impact you. We’ll also go over the best techniques for providing effective comments to our City’s decision-makers. We have not yet decided on a date or time for this forum – if you’re not already, sign up for our Arising Issues listserv to stay up to date on this topic.
In the meantime, we know that the City is holding an informational meeting about this proposal on Monday, December 5th from 6:30-8:00pm. This is not a public comment hearing. This meeting provides an opportunity to ask questions of the City and staff from Seaport Sound. You can join the meeting in-person at City Council Chambers, or virtually via Zoom.
In-Person: Tacoma Municipal Building 747 Market Street
Virtual: https://www.zoom.us/j/84515276797
Join by phone by calling: 253-215-8782 and use this Webinar ID: 845 1527 6797
Join us on Thursday, December 1 at 6 p.m. for December’s Green Drinks at Beer Star! This month’s host is Washington Wildlife & Recreation Coalition (WWRC).
2023 is a very important year for outdoor recreation and conservation funding in Washington. Join us to hear from WWRC about why they are requesting the WA Legislature fully fund the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP). For over 30 years, the WWRP has leveraged over $1.6 billion for more than 1,600 recreation and conservation projects across the state.
Thank you to Tacoma Creates for supporting this event.
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