Zita Sworn In As Port of Olympia Commissioner

Zita Sworn In As Port of Olympia Commissioner

WPPA  

Above: E.J. Zita, left, was sworn in as a new Port of Olympia commissioner by Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall at the Thurston County Courthouse on Wednesday morning. Although she trailed opponent Jerry Farmer on election evening, Zita gradually pulled ahead for a final lead of 227 votes out of a total of 52,659 votes cast, not counting write-ins. A machine recount of the ballots is not expected to change the outcome of the election, said Hall.

Interview with Port Commissioner Zita 

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

With the Thurston County elections certified on Tuesday, E.J. Zita was officially sworn into office as a Port of Olympia Commissioner by Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall on Wednesday morning.

After her swearing-in, Hall congratulated Zita and remarked that the final election numbers that gave Zita the eventual lead over her opponent, Jerry Farmer, was not typical.

“Typically, the numbers don’t flip…. In the port race for Position #1, George Barner gained 2.93% between election night and certification, and the Metropolitan Parks District ballot measure in Olympia gained about two percent, as did this port race. I can’t verify it as fact, but I heard that it was because of this race, that people waited until the last minute to vote,” said Hall, still studying the statistics.

Although a machine recount will occur, the results are not expected to change the final outcome.  Zita said she will participate in Thurston County’s formal swearing-in ceremony for all newly elected and re-elected officials on Wednesday, December 30, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at South Puget Sound Community College, Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts. The event is open to the public.

In a prepared statement, Zita said, “Voters had a clear choice in this Port Commission election.  Our campaign was supported by hundreds of small contributions and great volunteers - people who care about public resources, open public processes, and a sustainable future.

“....Working together, we can improve port operations, relations with the public, our bottom line, and the environment.  I am already working with good port staff, and I look forward to productive service with my fellow Commissioners….From day one, I will insist that all port business be open and transparent, that the Port Commission is financially accountable, and that we approach development in a smart, sustainable way,” she said.

 

Zita said that the first thing she'll do as a new port commissioner is her homework.

“I'm already working with staff to get up to speed on issues, and I'll be doing a lot of reading and research as I step into this role,” she said.

Zita is fulfilling the term held by former port commissioner Sue Gunn, who resigned due to health reasons. Michelle Morris was appointed to the position in June and served until Monday, November 23. Zita will be up for election again, if she chooses to run, in 2017, as will current Port Commissioner Bill McGregor.

The next meeting of the Port of Olympia is Monday, December 14, 5:30 p.m., at the Port of Olympia offices at 626 Columbia St. NW, Suite 1 – B, Olympia.

Washington Public Ports Association Training

Interviewed after her swearing-in, Zita said she participated in the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) training in Seattle last week. 

Asked if she learned anything new or particularly enlightening, she said that the training emphasized that Port Commissioners should hold all discussions in public, welcome all public comment, and televise all sessions. 

“Ports have two complementary missions - economics and public good….Whatever actions ports take, the WPPA explained the importance of sharing our reasoning with the public on all processes and decisions.  We should even publicly recap conversations held in “executive sessions,” which are private because of sensitive content. 

“All of our material should be posted online - people should not have to ask for it.  WPPA advises that the perfect citizen - someone who attends every port meeting and reads all the information - should never be surprised by our decisions, because we have been open about everything going into them.  Citizens should always be treated with friendly respect, and given ample time to testify, whether it is on our agenda or not, even if it makes meetings run long.  Good relationships with the public are one of the highest priorities for the WPPA.

“The WPPA provided legal and ethics training, which I got certified in.  A quorum of commissioners may not “meet” for coffee, on the phone, by email, etc. except at commission meetings.  If we find ourselves at public events together, we cannot talk business.  It's legal to carpool to events together, but it may not be a good idea.  And all port correspondence is subject to public records requests - so I will keep mine on port-issued devices,” said Zita.

A Few More Questions

Little Hollywood also asked Zita about her role as chair of the Thurston County Agriculture Advisory Committee.

Zita says she will remain chair of the Thurston County Agriculture Advisory Committee, which advises the county commissioners on current issues. She said her work on food production, farming and other agricultural issues will be complementary to her new position at the port. She said that the group recently drafted a new urban agriculture ordinance which is expected to be presented to the Board of County Commissioners by the beginning of 2016.

“We’ve been working a couple of years to make the ordinance for farming in the urban growth area more consistent with Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater ordinances. In some cases, it is currently more restrictive to farm in the county. We’ve worded it in such a way that makes farming in the areas of beekeeping, poultry, and rabbits in the urban growth area flexible and easier overall,” said Zita.

The group will also be delving into the issue of industrial hemp.

Asked what she thinks about recent conversations during port meetings about daylighting Olympia’s Moxlie Creek, which runs under city streets and exits through a pipe into East Bay, Zita said, “(Olympia resident) Harry Branch and others make good arguments that a Moxlie Creek estuary could effectively remediate contaminants such as nitrates in the creek, while restoring ecosystem services and a valuable recreation resource.

“I would like the Port to start climate planning with the City of Olympia, the state Department of Ecology, and the Thurston Regional Planning Commission. The City of Olympia is a leader in climate change planning and the port needs to know what’s coming. The possibility of remediating contaminated streamflow with a restored wetland in that area should be reviewed as part of that process.”

Zita said she welcomes the public’s suggestions for drafting proposals on the process.

Earlier this month, Zita also answered a few quick questions on emerging port issues:

Little Hollywood: What is your opinion of the code of conduct resolution (then before the commissioners), and would you vote and sign for or against it?

Zita: I agree with Port Commissioner George Barner, and with the public comments made by Bev Bassett, Denis Langhans, Monica Hoover, Jan Witt, and Sharron Coontz.

LH: Can you foresee any situation in which you might want to disagree with what another port in Washington is doing and offer them your opinion, as Commissioners Barner and Gunn did with their letter to the Grays Harbor/Hoquiam ports and their roles in the status of the oil terminals? 

Zita: Commissioners Barner and Gunn took a courageous stand.  More Pacific Northwest ports will be called on by the people to stand as a "thin green line" between extreme fossil fuel extraction and dangerous shipments to Asia.

LH: How would you have voted on the building of another warehouse for the storage of ceramic proppants and other shipments requiring shelter? Would you be interested in revisiting this issue as a new commissioner?

Zita: No and no.  The current warehouse is mostly empty.

LH: In a February 22, 2015 article on my blog, I wrote about a Port work session topic, the re-creation of a "Berth 4." At the time, it was billed as an "information only" discussion, but staff is spending time analyzing its feasibility. Do you have an opinion about the creation of a Berth 4?

Zita: I haven't read that article yet....

LH: Do you feel port work sessions should be televised?

Zita: Yes.

Above: According to the Port of Olympia, the channels on port property parcels 2 and 3 near State Street as seen here on November 20, are directing stormwater flow to remain on the two parcels, rather than allow it to flow out to the sidewalk and into the City of Olympia storm drains. 

“It is a requirement of the state Department of Ecology that we keep the stormwater on site, since Parcels 2 and 3 are within the boundary of the East Bay Redevelopment Cleanup Site,” said Kathleen White, Port of Olympia, on Wednesday. 

Port of Olympia Commissioners McGregor, Barner and Morris voted on Monday night to move forward with a mixed use development agreement with developer Walker John on this property near East Bay and State Street in downtown Olympia. Commissioner Barner voted no.

Harry Branch, an Olympia resident and retired captain of fishing, charter and research vessels with a Masters of Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College, commented at a recent port meeting that a mixed use development on this location places significant limitations on the option of restoring or daylighting Moxlie Creek.

Branch believes that development of this property is a violation of the Clean Water Act because the parcels are likely an uncontrolled source of dioxin. He has offered the commissioners a detailed alternative for the site that would environmentally clean up and restore the historic estuary to a functioning ecosystem.

Commissioner Barner expressed an interest in having a work session on the topic and extended an invitation to Branch to further educate the Commission.

For more information about Port of Olympia activities, go to www.portolympia.com.

For past stories about the Port of Olympia issues at Little Hollywood, go to www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words, issues, and names into the search button.

Correction/Clarification Added November 27: Commissioner Barner voted no and Commissioners McGregor and Morris voted yes on the developer agreement with Walker John. Little Hollywood explained who was on the commission at the time of the vote to approve the agreement, but neglected to state Barner's vote. 

Port of Olympia Business Carries On Without Commissioner Gunn

Port of Olympia Business Carries On Without Commissioner Gunn

washington  

Above: Port of Olympia executive director Ed Galligan, left, Commissioner George Barner, center, in striped shirt, and Commissioner Bill McGregor, to his left, conduct business at a special joint commission and port citizen's advisory committee meeting on February 17, 2015.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Among other business, Port of Olympia commissioners George Barner and Bill McGregor heard a presentation at their work session on February 19 about a proposal to create a new berth.

Commissioner Sue Gunn, absent from port meetings since November 24, had open heart surgery in December. Commissioner McGregor said he thinks Gunn may be absent through March and that he doesn’t know if she is going to be back.

Port commissioners divide responsibilities and assignments. Gunn is responsible for attending meetings of the Tumwater Chamber, Grand Mound Rochester Chamber, South Thurston Economic Development Initiative, Legislative Thurston County Shared Partnership Group, and the Transportation Policy Board. McGregor and Barner attended Transportation Policy Board meetings for Gunn in January and February.

At the work session meeting, new draft language regarding administrative procedures for the excusal and prolonged absence of a port commissioner was discussed. In light of Commissioner Gunn’s absence, clarifying language is needed, as this occurrence has not happened before in port history. No action was taken.

Harbor Patrol Discussion

Staff and commissioners had a lengthy conversation about the Harbor Patrol program. McGregor asked staff for more information about the loss of City of Olympia funding for the Harbor Patrol and keenly wanted to try and find a way to save it. He asked staff to see if there was a way the port could take over a portion of the costs, and to find out how much the repairs to their boat is going to cost.

“We get drawn in by association…in my cursory look, it’s a benefit. I’d hate to see it go away without discussion. Let’s begin the process from the Port’s perspective. The boat needs work. Let’s find out what is the true cost of keeping the program alive and what we can take on under our jurisdiction,” said McGregor.

Galligan said he would produce a report to the commissioners about the program by March 2.

Above: An aerial of the Port of Olympia taken in December 2014. A proposal for a Berth 4 is being discussed in the area of the missing "notch" of the current port peninsula.

Berth 4 Proposal

Alex Smith, the port’s director of environmental programs, gave a brief report on a proposal to create a fourth berth in the area of the missing “notch” of the current port peninsula.  The port says a fourth berth would provide greater flexibility, creating between four to six acres of work area for cargo loading or unloading.

The port also sees this as an opportunity to continue its cleanup of Budd Inlet and to have a place to deposit dredge spoils.

An old pier made of creosote pilings in that location is still visible. Commissioner Barner commented that he used to be employed there as a young teenager as a “casual” – a temporary laborer, using pike poles to separate floating logs. They were then pulled out of the water and either loaded on ships or stored them on land.  

“It was dangerous business, and a couple of my buddies were killed, crushed by moving logs,” he said.

Creating the new berth, technically a confined disposal facility, would require the dredging of the federal channel. Due to the contaminated sediment caused by legacy dioxins from mills along the shoreline, the proposed project has years of decisions ahead of it.

The port proposes to use a berm and/or a sheet pile wall to surround the area for the deposit. The contaminated sediment would be capped, fill would go on top of that, then asphalt. Collectively, that creates a new upland area. 

The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for doing the dredging and pays for the lowest cost disposal alternative. Smith estimated that an estimated 400,000 to 575,000 cubic yards of material would be dredged.

The cost for the berth would be about $20 million. To pay for the berth, the port would pursue a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant that would pay for about a third of the total cost.

Smith said that the state Department of Ecology would be unlikely to pay for the project because it doesn’t meet their criteria for cleanup. Dredged material from berths 2 and 3 was recently taken away to landfills in Castle Rock, Washington and Oregon.

“The most we can put into berth 4 would be about 180,000 cubic yards. It’s not going to solve all our problems and it’s still a pretty expensive thing to do….” said Smith after the meeting.

Asked how desperate the port is to do this project, Smith said that will be looked at in the port’s marine terminal master plan. Smith says the port will continue to move towards design and permitting. Getting on the Army Corps of Engineers radar for the dredging is a long process.

Harry Branch, Olympia, has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on marine reserves as a tool in fishery management. He has also served as a captain operating research vessels.

Branch wrote a letter to the port commissioners saying that studies seem to indicate that confined disposal is being viewed less favorably because it impedes natural remediation by plants.

“Dredging and filling nearshore areas reduces potential ecological function by reducing the intertidal and shallow littoral area. Alterations to physical parameters impact chemical and biological parameters.

There is always some degree of mess created during construction. Any time we dig in the benthos, we release contamination into the water column.

Confined disposal facility (CDF) sites are expected to leak but at an acceptable rate. I suggest that in a confined, degraded bay like Budd Inlet, there is no acceptable rate. We need to ultimately get to a point where these things are for all intents and purposes, gone.

How long will this CDF actually survive? They haven't been around long enough to know for sure. The nearshore of Puget Sound is an artesian discharge zone. An interesting case study is the old coal gasification site near the head of the Thea Foss Waterway where a big blob of coal tar was buried about a hundred feet from the water's edge. That’s a big cap. Over the past eighty years this blob has been observed to move, underground, being pushed along by groundwater under artesian pressure. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) ultimately emerged through seeps in the bank.

The half life of dioxin in bright sunlight can be a matter of hours. In a dark, anaerobic environment it can be a matter of centuries. The link below leads to an example of forward thinking on this topic. Placing all toxic material in one pile creates an environment that impedes remediation by natural processes including remediation by plants, fungi and aerobic bacteria. Rather than making persistent toxins biologically unavailable we should think in terms of making them biological available in a controlled setting. Here's what I'd like to see at berth 4:

The land from what's labeled on the port's map as the "cargo yard", across to the Cascade Pole containment cell is clearly the location of a canal in historic photos. This canal appears to have been used to float logs and other material across to the west side of the peninsula. It's a safe bet that those are the most seriously contaminated soils. This material should be excavated, hauled away and spread out in bright sunlight. Then the historic canal should be restored to intertidal habitat. The current dock pictured at berth 4 would be rebuilt and used by ships or become the location of a fuel dock. There'd be usable dock with good habitat behind, the point being to demonstrate how we can have human use along with restoration.

Here's the study mentioned that indicates how confined disposal is being viewed less favorably because in impedes natural remediation by plants. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19533193.”

 

For more information about the Port of Olympia, go to www.portolympia.com.