Beth sent that photo of illegally dumped items along a West Seattle street. The state Ecology Department noted earlier this week that illegal dumping statewide – including toxic items – has risen during the pandemic. But it’s as illegal as ever, so if you see items dumped on public property within city limits – including roadsides, as shown – here’s what to do: Fill out an online report (linked from this page of the city’s website, which also shows locations already reported) or call 206-684-7857.

P.S. If you absolutely have to take something to the city transfer station – here’s the latest on their status.

2:25 PM: It’s Earth Day! Last week, we published a call for signs/displays in West Seattle. Here are some of the photos we’ve received. First – Terry Blumer and family created this in North Admiral:

The call was from the Care for Creation team at Our Lady of Guadalupe and Holy Rosary parishes, both of which have sent contributions – From OLG math teacher Bridget Lawler, on Charlestown Hill:

These were sent by Sr. Juanita Kialkial of Holy Rosary:

From Lucy Johnson, co-chair of the Care for Creation committee with Vince Stricherz, who sent us the announcement last week:

Vince sent this:

From Kanit Cottrell in Gatewood:

Debbie saw this chalk art at Hiawatha Community Center Park:

We’re adding more! Email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you!

ADDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Two more photos – this one is from Noodle and crew, a photo they took in Tanzania a year ago, displayed as a reminder that the Earth is a home shared by many cultures:

And Clare sent the next photo, explaining, “My 4 (John) and 2 (James) year old have been busy making Earth Day art.”

Thanks again to all!

(WSB photo, April 2019)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Call it Roxhill Bog, Roxhill Fen, Roxhill Wetland. Whatever you call it, it needs to be rescued, and the time is now.

Community advocates have sounded that alarm for many years. Now, it appears the wetland’s plight has the traction for something serous to finally get done.

That was the message at the “stakeholders’ meeting” that filled a room at Southwest Teen Life Center in Westwood last Tuesday night. The sign-in sheets showed a long list of organizations concerned with the health of the local environment.

“The bog is dry.” Opening the meeting, that’s how Rory Denovan – a West Seattleite who has long been involved wth the effort to help the bog – summarized the primary problem.

If that leads you to wonder “so what?” Denovan had answers for that right off the top. Three reasons why Roxhill is important:

Read More

That Seattle Municipal Archives photo from 1961 shows some of the peat in the area of Roxhill Park – which holds the peat bog at the historic headwaters of Longfellow Creek. As community advocates have noted for years, it’s endangered – but finally there’s movement toward taking real action to save it. If you’re interested, you’re invited to a meeting Tuesday:

Roxhill Park Bog/Longfellow Creek Headwater Restoration Project
Tuesday, February 11th 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Lower Level, SW Teen Life Center, 2801 SW Thistle

In a collaborative effort of community, nonprofit organizations, county and city agencies to restore Roxhill Bog’s ecosystem and provide the community with a safe and engaging natural area for recreation and education you are invited to a stakeholder project meeting to learn about this effort, its importance to the health of Longfellow Creek, its salmon. and saving of one of the last peat fens in Seattle. Climate change and urbanization have caused Roxhill Bog to degrade to a critical tipping point if not addressed now, restoration of its natural functions may no longer be feasible.

A hydrology study being conducted by Natural Systems Design is one of the first steps to restore Roxhill Bog’s natural hydrology, enhancing its water quality, improving ecological resiliency and benefiting salmonid recovery in Longfellow Creek and the greater Green-Duwamish basin.

The goal is to revitalize this natural area so it can again contribute to the creek’s health, support one of the most diverse bird populations in the city, enhance environmental education, foster outdoor recreation, improve neighborhood health and safety.

Agenda

Overview of Roxhill Bog, its history, community, environmental & social challenges, opportunities
Connection to Longfellow Creek basin
Hydrology Study by Natural Systems Design
Discussion Breakout

A storm like the one that moved through last night reminds us about the fragility of some of our greenspaces. So it’s a good day to note that your thoughts about King County’s forests are being sought in a survey. Here’s the announcement:

Our spectacular forests store carbon, cool streams, and provide recreational opportunities. As we work with communities to develop a 30-year plan to expand forest cover and improve forest health, we’re conducting a public survey.

What is most important to you? Should we prioritize the role of our forests in confronting climate change? Or planting trees to improve air quality? Or promoting healthy forests in King County Parks? Or enhancing wildlife habitat? Or something else?

What are the most important actions King County can take with partners over the next 30 years? Should we focus on improving the health of existing forests or preserving additional forestland? Should we plant trees in areas where there is lower tree cover or should we plant more trees near rivers and streams?

We invite you to take a few minutes to take the brief survey to share your ideas for how we ensure that future generations continue to benefit from healthy, vibrant forests.

From the “you asked, so we asked” file: The case of the “Admiral Way tree massacre,” as it was described by Doug, who sent that photo. We’ve received numerous inquiries about the half-cut trees, which are on Seattle Parks-owned land on the slope over the downhill side of Admiral at 34th [map]. So we asked Parks, whose spokesperson Rachel Schulkin researched it with the department’s forestry staff and tells WSB:

Those trees were removed as they were either dead or declining and were posing unacceptable risk.

That project is not complete. Winter storms have interrupted a lot of our planned work, including this project. Our plan is to return in the next couple weeks to reduce most of the remaining tree stems to ground level. A few appropriately placed stems will be left as wildlife habitat. Performing this remaining work will not need traffic control like the previous work did.

Besides the site’s high visibility along Admiral Way, it also attracted notice given its proximity to the city-owned land where ~150 trees were illegally cut four years ago.

3:17 PM: Schulkin has just sent this update: “We had time today and finished this project. We lowered all the stems except a few that we left for wildlife habitat.”

Back in October, the city announced a big home-recycling change – no more plastic bags/wrap in your cart/bin. Now that the new year has begun, the change is in effect, so Seattle Public Utilities has sent this reminder, including best practices for how to handle what you CAN still recycle via pickup:

With the start of a new year, the King County Solid Waste Division and Seattle Public Utilities remind residents that recycling right is one of the best resolutions they can make to protect the environment and make recycling effective. Recycling right means keeping plastic bags and wrap out of curbside recycling bins and carts, and making sure all recycling is empty, clean and dry.

As of Jan. 1, garbage and recycling collection programs no longer accept plastic bags and plastic wrap in curbside recycling carts and bins.

Instead, customers should take those separated materials to one of the more than 100 drop-off locations in King County where these materials can be properly recycled. This includes plastic retail bags, sandwich bags, produce bags, dry cleaning bags, and the plastic wrap around bundled toilet paper and paper towels.

Find the full list of materials accepted at drop-off locations and a directory of drop-off locations at plasticfilmrecycling.org. King County and SPU are working to expand drop-off locations that accept plastic bags and plastic wrap for recycling.

While bringing plastic bags and wrap to a drop-off location is best for the environment, customers in Seattle and King County also can throw them in the garbage. It’s better to toss them out rather than contaminate other collected recyclables.

Plastic bags and wrap are often wet or have food waste on them when placed in the curbside recycling and contaminate other materials. Additionally, at recycling facilities, these plastics can jam sorting and processing equipment, leading to frequent shutdowns so workers can remove the tangled materials.

Bringing plastic bags and wrap to a drop-off location keeps the bundled recyclables cleaner and easier to manufacture into new products.

Other ways to recycle right include:

• Make sure your recycling is empty, clean, and dry before putting it in the recycling bin;
• When in doubt, find out – check your city or recycling collection company’s guidelines on which materials are recyclable and which are garbage; and 
• Always recycle empty, clean, and dry plastic bottles, tubs, and jugs; paper; glass bottles and jars; metal cans; and cardboard. 

Find more information at these websites:

· Drop-off locations for plastic bags and wrap

· Seattle Public Utilities information on plastic bags and plastic wrap

· Where Does It Go Tool

· Responsible Recycling Task Force

· Recycle Right

Local dropoff locations listed via the lookup include Admiral and Roxbury Safeways and Westwood Village Target. The private service Ridwell offers home pickup of plastic wrap/film/bags, too.

As you’ve probably heard, the rainfall this past day-plus is record-setting, 3+ inches. Besides ponding on roads and sidewalks, and turning the ground spongy, there’s one other effect of note: Waterway pollution. The framegrab is from this online map that tracks whether county and city outfalls are experiencing “combined-sewer overflows” – and the ones marked in red were doing just that when we checked just after the top of the hour, including outfalls south of the Fauntleroy ferry dock, along Harbor Island, and on the Duwamish River. The combined-sewer system refers to rainwater draining into the sewer system at such a volume that it overwhelms the system’s capacity. Both the city and county have built projects in recent years – like the Murray Wet Weather Facility across from Lowman Beach Park – to try to reduce the frequency and amount of overflows, but some still happen. In addition to facilities like the one at Lowman that store water until it can be released into the system without an overflow, other projects have sought to relieve the burden on the system by other means such as raingardens and retention ponds.

P.S. Though you can’t stop the rain, you can lessen the effect of stormwater pollution – both CSO-related and the kind that drains directly to local waterways – by following advice like this.