Plumper Sound (photo:Richard Fox)
From the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney, B.C.
What’s going on?
A new 24 meter (78′) high-speed catamaran, foil assisted, passenger ferry has been built for service on the Seattle – Bremerton run in Puget Sound by the Kitsap Transit authority. http://www.pugetsoundfastferry.com/
Earlier efforts to introduce such a service with a different ferry were thwarted by a law suit that awarded damages to property owners on the ferry route (in Rich Passage) where the ferry wake caused shoreline damage.
Before the new ferry can be placed in service in the US, vessel performance tests must be conducted to verify simulation test results and fine tune the vessel control systems with a particular focus in the wake output of the vessel.
Golder and Associates (Victoria office) is a consultant to the project and they have recommended Plumper Sound between Saturna and the Pender Islands as the ideal location for the 1.5 nautical mile test site.
What do the tests involve?
The tests are planned to begin on May 25, 2010 and run over a period of 30 days.
The vessel will be tested at speeds up to 40 knots (74 km/hr) with a variety of loads and control settings.
Because of the variability needed in the test specifications at least 390 test runs are planned over the 30 day period.
Additional runs will be required if a test run is aborted due to vessel traffic, wake interference from other boats, wildlife interactions or test equipment failure.
Four monitoring equipment stations will be anchored to the seafloor in various positions along the 1.5 nautical mile length of the test track.
Each of the units emits four high frequency underwater acoustic signals to measure wave action as the test vessel passes by at various speeds. No information on the possible impact of these sounds on marine life is provided.
It is predicted that the vessel will emit sound in the range of 70 dBA at 1,000 feet on the surface.
No information has been provided regarding the underwater acoustic output of the vessel at test speeds.
The full media release from the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre can be downloaded here: waketests.pdf
Full details of the Golder proposal as presented to the Islands Trust can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/cpvpTs
May 31, 2010 letter to Golder Associates can be viewed here: 31-may-10letter.pdf
For more information about our local waters and marine wildlife visit the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre: http://www.oceandiscovery.ca/ located in Sidney, B.C.
Pilot project redux…
Re: Pender Island Woody Debris and Yard Brush Drop-off Event Pilot Project
A pilot project to follow up the pilot project.
From Mike Aston:
I’ve mulled this one over for a little while. It’s a nice idea in principle, but do I recall a recent attempt at a similar thing, which overwhelmed the CRD not so long ago? That particular pilot project was free to the public (although paid for from taxes), and yard waste was collected from the curbside, which is much more convenient. However, the chipper broke, then the yard waste sat by the roadside for weeks, before eventually being cleared up. The scheme appeared to have dealt with the yard waste in the end, but I imagine it was likely a financial disaster and therefore not particularly viable for a small, spread-out community.
This latest reincarnation of the chipper project, on the other hand, will cost people to use (between $5 and $20, depending on vehicle In addition to our taxes), so this might have an effect on its popularity. This time, any waste will need to be delivered to the CRD designated site. I think this is likely to lead to a neutral, or perhaps even negative, environmental impact when fossil fuel use, pollution, additional road use and hazards are taken into account.
The best route, in my opinion, is for yard waste to be dealt with on site, at source: Keep it local, compost it; salvage wood for heating/energy. Dry and burn any remaining invasive waste. This, of course, must be done safely and responsibly. A small hot fire in a suitable incinerator can work wonders while producing very little smoke. Additionally, the subsequent ash can be used as a fertilizer, natural pesticide or soil supplement in many cases (although not for acid-loving plants or potatoes).
I cannot understand why (in the words of the CRD “press release” email circulated to interested parties):
“It’s that the CRD gets a good turn-out for BOTH days of the event so it can be established as a regular occurance on Pender and the other SGI communities.”
I wonder why it is “critically important”. Sounds like this ‘pilot project’ has already been deemed too important to fail, regardless of how successful it is. Call me cynical, but is this a prelude to being able to introduce a burning ban? This issue has surfaced before, but went away after public rumblings.
Burning is one of the most natural ways to control and regenerate. Wood-fires and domestic yard-waste burning are a drop in the ocean, emissions-wise, compared to the tens of thousands of natural wild-fires each year all over the world. So please don’t ban burning, but by all means try to improve it, restrict it at dangerous times of the year, promote the use of better incinerators, better safety, better education (or is it that we simply can’t be trusted?)
If indeed there is a poor turnout at this chipper event, then that would suggest it might not be needed, or that the cost is unreasonable. Knowing that is “critically important”, and at that point only can a decision about the project’s future be made because taxpayer’s money is being spent. However, if the chipper event is a resounding success, cost-neutral to the tax-payer and doesn’t preface a burning ban, then it will get my congratulations and full support.
Then I guess I’ll have to eat my hat as well!
Visit Mike Aston’s blog for more insights at:
http://www.penderislandrealestate.ca/blog.php