In celebration of Earth Day, The Columbian compiled some of its best environment stories and photos over the past year. Below is the list of stories, starting with the most recent. What do you think the biggest environmental stories of the year were in Clark County?
April 19: $1M cleanup of former scrap metal yard nearly done
State puts up $1 million to clean up polluted soil to make way for a rail expansion project.
April 3: Port dodges coal, embraces potash
The Port of Vancouver decided to export the fertilizer instead of the fossil fuel — but will coal eventually find its way to the port as demand in Asia grows?
March 12: Similar quake due to hit Northwest
Volcano shudders with seismic Love waves on Valentine’s Day. A month later, Japan is rocked by a subduction zone quake that’s a mirror image of the one primed to afflict the Northwest.
The Davy Crockett becomes the most expensive shipwreck cleanup in state history, after the owner walks away, the broken barge begins leaking PCB-tainted oil into the Columbia River. It exemplifies a broader concern about the lack of oversight for potential floating junkyards on the river.
Dec. 9: Wetland bank proposal may restore part of Fargher Lake
The second state-sanctioned wetland mitigation bank was proposed in Clark County at Fargher Lake. It represents the latest thinking of how best to offset the filling of wetlands for new roads and structures.
Nov. 23: Salmon-munching sea lions get reprieve from federal appeals court
Sea lions get a reprieve at Bonneville Dam after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals orders the feds to show why it’s OK to kill a natural predator when they allow fishermen to inadvertently kill an equal or greater number of wild salmon.
Oct. 11 Transmission lines key to BPA wind power plans
The Bonneville Power Administration, which owns three-quarters of the high-voltage transmission system in the Northwest, has just about maxed out its capacity to incorporate wind energy into its grid. Then in January, BPA announced it was exploring options that could possibly delay construction of a major new transmission line through Clark County for up to five years, though the project could go forward if those options prove unfeasible. The project has generated a backlash from thousands of Clark County property owners worried about health effects and sinking property values.
July 10: Tracking down a foul odor
More than eight months after the Southwest Clean Air Agency began its investigation into acrid, nausea-inducing fumes downtown linked to Albina Fuel, complaints kept coming.
June 24: Inspection finds problems at Lewis River dams
Federal energy regulators raise alarm about the poor condition of tainter gates on three PacifiCorp dams holding back vast reservoirs on the North Fork of the Lewis River.
June 9: Army vows to help fund cleanup at Bonneville
Additional delays in the cleanup of a former artillery range envisioned as a future county park at Camp Bonneville in east Clark County.
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