ANACORTES – Three contract workers at the Tesoro oil refinery near Anacortes were taken to a hospital Wednesday night to be treated for exposure after a chemical leaked out of a processing unit.
The leak occurred about 8:15 p.m. during routine maintenance, refinery human resources manager Tom Hanich said.
A small amount of naptha, which is a component of gasoline, leaked but was quickly contained, and the unit was safely shut down, Hanich said.
The three workers exposed to the chemical – all pipefitters – were taken to Island Hospital in Anacortes to be examined for exposure. One had been released by 10:30 p.m.
Observers who reported flames at the refinery were seeing a ground flare that burns excess gases from the refinery, Hanich said.
Associated Press
Seattle: Cruise Line challenging state fine
Celebrity Cruises Inc. is challenging a $100,000 state fine for the release of more than half a million gallons of untreated wastewater into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, saying three of the 10 discharges actually occurred in Canadian waters.
State inspectors misread the ship’s logs, according to the Miami-based cruise line’s filing, dated Dec. 14. The document was received Tuesday by the state Department of Ecology, spokesman Larry Altose said. The agency will respond early next year, he said.
Celebrity can appeal Ecology’s response to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board, and, if still dissatisfied, to the courts.
At issue are 10 discharges made by the cruise ship Mercury over nine days in September and October 2005. The more than 542,000 gallons consisted mostly of untreated sink, shower and laundry water, with a small percentage of sewage treated with a Coast Guard-certified marine sanitation device.
Associated Press
Tacoma: Outages let sewage flow into Sound
About 1.5 million gallons of untreated sewage and some stormwater runoff spilled into the Tacoma Narrows because of last week’s storm, Tacoma public works officials said Tuesday.
Power outages intermittently shut down about half of the city’s 49 pumping stations, allowing sewage to flow into Puget Sound. To correct the problem, workers set up emergency generators at more than a dozen sites, officials said.
Tacoma isn’t the only South Sound city that spilled sewage into Puget Sound during the storm, said Kelly Susewind, a state Department of Ecology regional water quality manager. Small spills also were reported by utilities in Thurston and Mason counties, he said.
The untreated sewage adds to the Sound’s overall pollution problem.
“Any additional loading to the Sound is a concern to us,” Susewind said.
The News Tribune
Olympia: Panhandling law faces a challenge
A group called the “Poor Peoples Union” plans to launch a petition drive next week to challenge Olympia’s new anti-panhandling law.
If the referendum gets enough signatures, the city would be forced to either repeal the ordinance outright or put the measure up for a vote.
The ordinance, which passed last week and goes into effect Feb. 1, will make it illegal to sit down, sell things or ask for money within 6 feet of a downtown building.
The ordinance was a response to people who said they were put off from shopping in downtown Olympia because of panhandlers. Opponents say it targets the poor and homeless.
Associated Press
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