(Video and photos by Cliff DesPeaux)
For White Center Now and partner site West Seattle Blog, photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux covered today’s “Got Green?” “green jobs”-program media event at SW 100th and 13th SW, on the site of the future Strength of Place Initiative (SOPI) Village in WC. The video above is from the media briefing that kicked off the event, at one of the existing houses that will be demolished as part of the revving-up project:

SOPI is a project to create 30 future housing units, involving the White Center Community Development Association as well as both the West Seattle-based Delridge Neighborhood Development Association and Capitol Hill Housing. The workers who are training in weatherization techniques at the future demolition site are hoping to be providing as part of a City of Seattle project that organizers say will kick off this fall. As part of today’s event, Seattle Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith was on hand (he speaks about 5 minutes into our video clip). RIght now, 14 trainees are learning at this site. A walking tour followed the briefing, going inside the house to see what the trainees are working on – such as measuring for insulation:

In the next photo, Michael Siva is working in the crawl space:

Placards at the training site reminded onlookers what the project’s about:

You can find out more about Got Green? here. As for Strength of Place Initiative, groundbreaking is set to happen later this summer – here’s one of the renderings:

Its description, from project managers:

Located on the corner of SW 100th Street and 13th Avenue SW, the project will have 30 apartments ranging from one-bedrooms to three-bedrooms for low-income families making less than about $55,000/year. Strength of Place Village will also deliver living-wage construction jobs to White Center and will be green built to the Washington State Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard.

In concert with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and Pierce, Mason and Snohomish Counties, King County has called a Phase 1 burn ban to take effect at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 15, 2010 and will run through September 30, 2010. This burn ban applies throughout King County in both the incorporated and unincorporated areas.

Forest and yard debris burning is not allowed under a Phase 1 ban. This burn ban does not apply to federal forests or national parks, although these jurisdictions may have similar restrictions in effect.

This Phase 1 burn ban still allows recreational campfires in approved fire pits. However, campfires and fire pits are allowed only if they are located on private land with the landowner’s permission and if built according to the specifications below. These fires must:

• Be built in a metal or concrete fire pit, such as those typically found in designated campgrounds;
• Grow no larger than three feet across;
• Be located in a clear spot free from any vegetation for at least 10 feet in a horizontal direction, including a 20-foot vertical clearance from overhanging branches; and
• Be attended at all times by an alert individual with immediate access to a shovel and either five gallons of water or a connected and charged water hose.

King County Fire Marshal Jim Chan, in announcing the burn ban stated, “With local temperatures rising, we have called this burn ban to protect public health and safety during the summer months. This ban will be in effect throughout the summer and will be lifted on September 30, 2010.”

Story and photos by Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for White Center Now

Members of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council met Thursday night with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and King County, along with Dick Thurnau from Friends of Hicks Lake and Emery Bailey from Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS) to discuss and identify blighted properties within White Center and other North Highline neighborhoods that could benefit from King County’s Brownfields program.

This community grant program provides the technical assistance that is needed before the cleanup of a contaminated property takes place and helps property owners understand how to prepare for the cleanup and redevelopment.

The Brownfields program provides mostly nonprofits and municipalities technical assistance in assessment of these properties, but with their ECOSS partnership, King County can extend the program to private individuals and businesses.

Lucy Auster of the King County Solid Waste Division and Joanne LaBaw of the EPA explained to the group how the grant works: first, a property is identified as potentially contaminated like the site of a former dry cleaners or gas stations. The Phase I assessment consists of a site visit, interviews, history review, and looking at old maps and aerial photos. The Phase II assessment, if needed, involves environmental sampling and lab analysis. The phases can cost anywhere from $5,000-7,000 and $20,000-60,000 respectively.

Auster said this is a three-year grant with $400,000 available and they are looking to target the White Center area. Bailey added because White Center was historically an arterial route to Seattle, there are a lot of former gas stations sites perfect for this grant.

Thurnau and other council members were curious if the Brownfields program could be used for the toxicity problems at the four-acre Hicks Lake in Lakewood Park. Auster thought because it was a green space owned by King County, that could make it problematic. She suggested that it might have to go to the state.

“I’ve been to Olympia on this thing before,” said Thurnau. “No one is in charge. That is the whole point.”

Auster said she’ll do some more research. “I’ll educate us and figure out the opportunities,” she said. “This sounds like a priority.”

Bailey presented to the group a report identifying 76 properties in the White Center area that he suggested would be a good starting point. “We don’t have a great big bag of goodies,” said Bailey, “but we do have some nice tools to help with getting traction.”

Other talk surrounded the arsenic in the planter boxes at Steve Cox Memorial Park, to which Bailey — a former geologist with Asarco — explained that it depended on the type and level of contamination.

Additionally, it was explained that this grant is not used for the actual cleanup or for the assessment of ongoing behaviors.

On July 1 at the monthly NHUAC meeting, Auster, LaBaw, and Bailey will be back to present the program and answer any questions from the full council and general public. (As always, that meeting will be at 7 pm at North Highline Fire District HQ.)

The King County Road Services Division is scheduled to begin its
roadside weed control program in unincorporated areas of the county and
in the cities of Burien and Maple Valley beginning March 29, 2010. As
part of the program, certified technicians will perform controlled
herbicide spraying along some road shoulders through the summer to
reduce safety hazards for pedestrians, motorists and bicyclists. The
spraying will also control noxious weeds that are toxic to some animals
and pose environmental risks to native vegetation.

As in past years, residents who do not want crews to spray county
right-of-way that abuts their property may post “owner will maintain”
signs. Those residents, however, must sign an agreement with the county
to maintain the right-of-way themselves. Maintenance agreements must be
completed and returned to the Roads Services Division before “owner will
maintain” signs can be issued. Maintenance agreements should be received
by the Road Services Division by March 26, 2010.

The signs are once again being provided to property owners at no charge.
The county has already sent letters to property owners who asked to
maintain right-of-way last year. Signs and copies of the maintenance
agreement are available by calling (206) 296-8100 or toll-free 1-800-KC
ROADS. The maintenance agreement is also available on the Road Services
Division website at
www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/Roads/RoadsMaintenance/WeedControl.aspx

The Road Services Division uses small amounts of herbicides on a
carefully controlled basis. Trained technicians use only those
herbicides approved by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency, Food and Drug Administration and the state Department of
Agriculture. Applications are additionally guided by best management
practices that include follow-up monitoring and soil testing.

No spraying is conducted near water including rivers, streams, wetlands,
bridge abutments, guardrails near water, ditches, levees, back slopes,
or in moratorium zones, which include the Snoqualmie Valley and Vashon
and Maury islands. Spraying in moratorium zones is only conducted in
very limited situations mandated by state or local law and/or by action
of the King County Weed Board.

Herbicide applications are designed to keep road shoulders safe for
bicyclists and pedestrians, prevent root systems from damaging roadways
and reduce sod buildup that causes road flooding and icy conditions in
winter. Weed control also reduces fires that can ignite uncontrolled
vegetation and overgrowth that can causes accidents due to reduced
visibility.

The Road Services Division will also be removing all tansy ragwort from
right-of-way due to the flowering weed’s danger to animals. State and
local laws require the removal of tansy ragwort and other noxious weeds.
Residents who maintain right-of-way are asked to place vegetation that
may contain tansy ragwort in sealable bags to prevent the spread of the
weed.

The Stage 2 burn ban issued on December 8 for Snohomish County and December 9 for King, Kitsap and Pierce counties is lifted, effective at 10:00 a.m., December 13, 2009.

The current weather pattern has brought improved mixing and dispersion of fine particle pollution. As a result, air quality has improved sufficiently to allow the lifting our Stage 2 burn ban. Good air quality conditions are expected for the next 72 hours.