LACEY — The state Department of Ecology has issued a permit allowing oyster growers in Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay to use the controversial pesticide carbaryl for another four years to control burrowing shrimp.
Oyster growers said they need the chemical to keep shrimp from churning the tideflats into a gooey mess that can’t support oysters.
But the department’s decision to issue the summer-use permit angered environmentalists, who contend it’s high time oyster growers found less toxic ways to protect oyster beds.
Carbaryl is a neurotoxin that — in addition to shrimp — kills Dungeness crab, fish and invertebrates, said scientist Erika Schreder with the Washington Toxics Coalition.
She said the permit violates the Clean Water Act and is ripe for a legal challenge.
Olympia
Democrats lose another state lawmaker: Another Democratic lawmaker has announced surprise retirement plans, making it more difficult for the party to hang on to slim majorities in the House and Senate. Rep. Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, a police commander who wrote the House’s homeland security package this year, announced Tuesday that he will step down after two terms rather than seek re-election in the 31st District. "I have decided that the needs of my family in the next couple of years will take priority over politics," he said. "This has not been an easy decision, but I know it is the right thing to do." State Sen. Jeri Costa, D-Marysville, announced earlier this month that she will not seek re-election to the 38th District.
Colville
Deputies fired: Two Stevens County sheriff’s deputies accused of shooting two homes with a machine gun have been fired. Criminal charges are pending against both men and two others in connection with the early morning gunfire April 16 in the southern Stevens County community of Suncrest, about 20 miles northwest of Spokane. Deputy Will Clark, 29, was fired Friday and unpaid Reserve Deputy Brian Cravens, 24, was removed from the force Monday, Capt. LaVonne Webb said. Clark and his roommate, Christopher Spurlock, 27, both are charged with illegal possession of a machine gun and with obstructing law enforcement officers. Clark also was charged with reckless endangerment for allegedly firing one of several machine gun bursts that sent 9mm bullets into two neighbors’ homes and through a pickup canopy. No one was injured.
From Herald news services
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