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May, 2008

NEWS BULLETIN
Friday, May 9, 2008

Corps selects Cottonwood Island
as disposal site for dredge material

PORTLAND — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin using Cottonwood Island for upland disposal of dredged material from the Columbia River this month, the agency announced. The upstream end of the island is currently being prepared as a disposal site for the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project. Construction operations are scheduled to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from about May 9 through the end of June. About 500,000 cubic yards of material will be placed on the 62 most upstream acres of the 650-acre island. For safety reasons, the public is asked to stay out of the disposal site. The work will
include heavy equipment, construction of containment dikes and changes in the topography of the land. Cottonwood Island is near Kalama, Wash., at Columbia River Mile 70, just upstream of the Cowlitz River confluence. The land was acquired for the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project by the port sponsors in Nov 2006 and will be used as an upland disposal site for the maintenance of the project over the next 50 years.


Northwest Airlines plans
Sea-Tac nonstop to Beijing

SEATTLE — The Port of Seattle has welcomed an announcement from Northwest Airlines for the expansion of their trans-Pacific route network with new daily nonstop service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Beijing, China. The start of new international daily non-stop service to Beijing is scheduled to begin March 1, 2009, giving Northwest four nonstop international routes from Sea-Tac including Amsterdam, London Heathrow, and Tokyo. China is the largest trading partner for the State of Washington, with two-way trade in excess of $30 billion annually and growing. Northwest Airlines is one of the largest airlines in the world; together with its partners, the airline provides service to more than 1,000 cities in 160 countries on six continents. In the last 14 months, the Port of Seattle has announced five additional new nonstop routes - AeroMexico to Mexico City, Air France to Paris, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Hainan Airlines to Beijing, and Northwest Airlines new nonstop to London. Sea-Tac Airport now has 14 nonstop flights to Asia and Europe.


US rail freight traffic
sees gain in carload count

WASHINGTON, DC — Sharp gains in loadings of coal and grain were large enough to offset drops in metallic ores, automotive traffic and lumber and produce a small gain in carload freight on the nation’s railroads during the week ended April 26, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports. Carload freight in the week ended April 26 totaled 335,865 cars, up 0.3 percent from last year. Volume was up 4.1 percent in the West but down 4.5 percent in the East. Intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, totaled 224,365 trailers or containers, down 4.4 percent from a year ago. Trailer volume was off 2.5 percent while container traffic dropped 4.9 percent. Total volume was estimated at 34.7 billion ton-miles, up 1.8 percent from the 17th week of 2007. Six of 19 carload commodities registered gains from a year ago with grain climbing 20.1 and coal up 7.6 percent. Among commodities reporting declines were motor vehicles and equipment, 22.3 percent, lumber and wood products, 19.1 percent, and nonmetallic minerals, 12.8 percent. Cumulative volume for the first 17 weeks of 2008 totaled 5,505,571 carloads, up 1.0 percent from 2007; 3,711,547 trailers or containers, down 3.5 percent; and total volume of an estimated 569.6 billion ton-miles, up 2.2 percent from last year.


Coast Guard accepts delivery
of new Security Cutter BERTHOLF

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Coast Guard conducted preliminary acceptance (delivery) of its first National Security Cutter, BERTHOLF (WMSL 750), May 8, in Pascagoula, Miss. The delivery is a major milestone in BERTHOLF's transition to full operational status in the Coast Guard's fleet and represents preliminary acceptance of the cutter, as documented in the Material Inspection and Receiving Report (DD250). The DD250 formally documents inspection, delivery by the ship builder, and receipt by the government This marks first major multi-mission cutter to be built and delivered to the Coast Guard in more than 20 years. Following recommendations from the cutter's prospective commanding officer, Coast Guard technical authorities, the operational community, and acquisition professionals, the Coast Guard Agency Acquisition Executive, Vice Adm. Vivien Crea, gave the go-ahead for preliminary acceptance of BERTHOLF.


Wi-Fi service now available
at Anacortes ferry terminal

PASADENA, CA — Parsons and Washington State Ferries have announced the commencement of Wi-Fi services at the Anacortes ferry terminal. Service will be available to users both in the terminal and automobile holding areas. Parsons also recently revised Wi-Fi rates and plans to provide ferry users with a full range of service options. The new plans offer a single, two-hour session at $3.95; packages of five, ten, or twenty sessions can bring the two-hour session cost down to $1.50; and unlimited one-day or one-month plans provide further value options. Plans and service areas can be viewed at http://www.wsf-wifi.com/. In addition to the new Anacortes terminal service, Wi-Fi service is available aboard ferries on the Seattle/Bremerton, Seattle/Bainbridge, Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth, Edmonds/Kingston, and the Mukilteo/Clinton routes. Full Wi-Fi service is also provided at the terminals and holding areas on these routes. Parsons operates Wi-Fi installations in 30 airports across the United States and Canada. Parsons also manages the world's largest railroad Wi-Fi system, providing service on VIA Rail Canada for more than 460 trains per week across a 14,000-kilometer network.


NEWS BULLETIN
Thursday, May 8, 2008

Port of Everett opening
new Craftsmen District

EVERETT — Today, the Port of Everett, along with state, city and business leaders, celebrate the opening of the port’s new, state-of-the-art Craftsmen District. This event marks a significant milestone toward the completion of Port Gardner Wharf, as the port must have a reliable place to house its marina tenants prior to major construction beginning on the rest of the project. Port Gardner Wharf will consist of 660 residential units, office space, restaurants, marine sales, inns and recreational amenities. The Craftsmen District, located between 10th and 13th Street and West Marine View Drive in Everett, will cater to the port’s 2,300-slip marina by offering services and amenities that best serve the boating community. Clean Marina Washington certifies the port’s marina facilities as a ‘Clean Marina’. Further, the port will begin exploring options for the lease of the Marine Sales & Repair Center (MSRC) building located within the site. This will provide additional leasable space for other boat service businesses. Such businesses could include boat and yacht sales offices, kayak rentals, marine-based supplies, boat repair and restoration shops, sail makers, other marina shops and a work yard. Hoffman Construction, the port’s General Contractor/Construction Management (GC/CM) for the development, managed the construction of the $13 million Craftsmen District. The port is in the process of awarding a bid for a portion of the Phase 1 infrastructure work for the project, but Maritime Trust, the port’s private-sector developer, is still awaiting financing.


Summer growth expected
at US container ports

WASHINGTON, DC — Traffic at the nation’s major retail container ports will grow steadily this summer but will nonetheless remain at or below last year’s levels throughout the period because of the nation’s economic slowdown, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight. U.S. ports surveyed handled 1.16 million Twenty-Foot-Equivalent Units (TEU) of container traffic in March, the most recent month for which actual numbers are available. That’s down 4.8 percent from February – traditionally the slowest month of the year – and represented the lowest monthly volume since the 1.11 million TEU imported in February 2006. The number was down 8.5 percent from March 2007. April was estimated at 1.28 million TEU, down 3.2 percent from a year ago, and May is forecast at 1.31 million TEU, down 4.8 percent. June is forecast at 1.35 million TEU, down 7 percent, and July at 1.41 million TEU, down 2 percent. August is forecast at 1.46 million TEU, flat with last year’s August numbers. September is forecast at 1.48 million TEU, a 3 percent increase over last year. One TEU is one 20-foot container or its equivalent. All U.S. ports covered by Port Tracker – Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast – are rated “low” for congestion, the same as last month.


Greenbrier taps Baker
for executive positions

LAKE OSWEGO, OR — The Greenbrier Companies has announced the appointment of Martin Baker as senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Baker served as corporate vice president, general counsel and secretary, and compliance officer of Lattice Semiconductor Corporation since 1997. From 1991 to 1996, he worked at Altera Corporation and served as general counsel and secretary and prior to that was vice president and general counsel of Vitelic Corporation. After completing his undergraduate degree at Stanford University and receiving his law degree from UCLA, Mr. Baker practiced law at the Palo Alto office of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati and the San Francisco office of Graham & James.


Port Seattle selects developer
for business park project

SEATTLE — The Port of Seattle has announced the selection of the developer for the Des Moines Creek Business Park project as Majestic Realty Co, a privately-held real estate development firm based in Southern California. The firm was chosen out of a field of 10 applicants to develop approximately 89 acres of property just south of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with a combination of airport-related uses and a big-box anchor retail development. The Des Moines Creek Business Park development is located south of Sea-Tac Airport, bounded by South 208th Street on the north, 24th Avenue South on the east, South 216th Street on the south, and on the west by a portion of Des Moines Creek Park. Majestic Realty's initial development budget for the project is estimated at $90 million. The development will include a big-box retail center as well as flexible-use business park buildings able to accommodate airport-adjacent tenants that need the immediate proximity to Sea-Tac Airport for their business (such as freight, avionics manufacturers, air cargo company offices, etc.).


Astoria Coast Guard units
earn award for excellence

SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. Coast Guard Group/ Air Station Astoria was awarded the Coast Guard Foundation Pacific Area Admiral John B. Hayes Award on May 2, for rescue and support efforts during an unprecedented winter storm that devastated the Pacific Northwest region in December. With winds topping 130 knots, 14 inches of rain, and 35-foot seas, the air station helicopter crews rescued 136 people in 28 sorties, and boat crews braved rising flood waters to rescue 23 others in the storm that started early Dec. 2, 2007 and ended midday Dec. 4, 2007. The Aids to Navigation Team repaired damages to the navigational system immediately following the region's most persistent and violent storm on record - a storm for which the National Weather Service issued its first ever West Coast Hurricane Force Wind Warning. The Admiral John B. Hayes award, named after the sixteenth Commandant of the Coast Guard, is awarded to units who demonstrate unit excellence.


NEWS BULLETIN
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

New phase of Bellingham project
moves ahead with lease approvals

BELLINGHAM — Significant numbers of new permanent jobs are expected on Bellingham's waterfront as the second phase of the Bellwether on the BayTM project moves ahead following long-term land lease approvals by the Port of Bellingham's Board of Commissioners. Developer David Ebenal, managing member of Bellwether Gate, LLC, signed long-term capital leases with the port to design, construct, own and operate four mixed-use buildings with underground parking at this development alongside Squalicum Harbor. The agreement between the port and Bellwether Gate, LLC, calls for construction of the first building, located between Anthony's Restaurant and the Hearthfire Grill Restaurant, to begin by this September. This first building will be a mixed-use, four story building with underground parking and ten residential condominiums on the top floor. Bellwether Gate, LLC, already has its anchor tenant, international engineering firm, CH2M HILL. The Bellingham Port Commission has also approved the developer's sublease with CH2M HILL.


Port of Tacoma set to host
Northwest Intermodal Conference

TACOMA — The Port of Tacoma will host and be principal sponsor of the second annual Northwest Intermodal Conference, to be held May 19-20 at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. The conference will bring industry experts from across North America in the fields of trade, research, economics, academia and transportation logistics to discuss intermodal business in the Pacific Northwest. Attendees will learn how shippers and service providers view the port system and the inter-connected distribution networks that move their cargo. And with the expectation that cargo volumes will continue to grow through Pacific Northwest ports, interactive sessions will discuss how rail service providers, ports and government are addressing the infrastructure challenge of moving greater cargo volumes more efficiently and productively. For more information about the Northwest Intermodal Conference or to register, visit the Northwest Intermodal Conference website or call 206-324-5644 ext. 222.


TOP Ships takes delivery
of drybulk vessel ASTRALE

ATHENS — TOP Ships Inc. has announced that it has taken delivery of the M/V ASTRALE, a 75,933 dwt Panamax drybulk vessel, built in 2000 in Japan. The
vessel has been financed with secured bank debt. The ASTRALE is the last drybulk vessel to be delivered under agreements entered into by the company in 2007, all of which were delivered between the fourth quarter 2007 and the second quarter 2008. The ASTRALE has entered into a time-charter employment for a period of one year at a gross rate of $72,000 per day.


APL adding new loops
serving Asia/Australia trades

SINGAPORE — APL is enhancing its service offering between Asia and Australia with the introduction of two new loops from May 2008. The northbound China Australia North (CAN) will offer direct coverage from Japan, Korea and Central China to Australia. The southbound China Australia South (CAS) will offer direct coverage from South China to Australian ports. The two loops are jointly offered by APL with Hamburg Sud, Hapag Lloyd and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM).


Port of Olympia reminds public
that boating/chowder event cancelled

OLYMPIA — The Port of Olympia is posting a reminder that it will not be able to host the Swantown BoatSwap & Chowder Challenge event, originally scheduled for May 17, 2008, due to lack of adequate parking in the area. The port plans on holding the event in 2009 and appreciates the on-going support of the community, and event sponsors, vendors, and restaurants. For information, call the port at (360) 528-8000.


NEWS BULLETIN
Monday, May 5, 2008

Longview port board Oks
sale of wetland property

LONGVIEW — In a special meeting, Port of Longview Commissioners unanimously voted to sell wetland property for preservation. The port has agreed to sell a portion of its Willow Grove property to the Vancouver, Washington, based conservation group Columbia Land Trust (CLT) in a step toward becoming a ‘greener’ port. Originally purchased for industrial development, the port acquired 388 acres of Willow Grove wetlands property in three separate transactions (1959, 1965, 1974). Since purchasing the land, steepened mitigation requirements have deterred such development. To date, the property has only been used in the mitigation of industrial developments at the Port’s main property. CLT’s proposal calls to purchase 237 acres and transfer 75 port-mitigated acres for $355,500. Port of Longview will retain ownership of the remaining 76 acres for future mitigation needs and also have right of first refusal to mitigation credits derived from the 237 acres sold. The Longview Port Commission has directed staff to place funds from the sale into an account for future industrial property acquisitions.


Homeland Security Department
pushes back TWIC enrollment date

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced that the final compliance date for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program will be April 15, 2009, which reflects a realignment of the Sept. 25, 2008 compliance date set in the final rule. The seven month extension is a direct result of collaboration with port officials and industry, and realigns the enrollment period with the original intent of the TWIC final rule. TWIC was established in the Maritime Transportation Security Act and the SAFE Port Act to serve as an identification program for all Coast Guard credentialed mariners and personnel requiring unescorted access to secure areas within a port. The program is on track to complete enrollment for a substantial number of jurisdictions by the end of 2008, and several ports will be required to comply with TWIC regulations this year.


New lineup planned for
Tacoma Port Commission meetings

TACOMA — The Port of Tacoma Commission has announced that starting in June, 2008 they will begin a schedule of two Commission Meetings per month, the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month. Starting in June, Study Sessions will be presented during the General Business portion of the meeting held on the 3rd Thursday of each month. All previously scheduled Study Sessions on the 4th Thursday of the month, from June through December, are rescheduled to the 3rd Thursday of the month. The time and location will not change. Meeting Start Time: 12:00 Noon Meeting Location: The Fabulich Center, Room 104 3600 Port of Tacoma Road.


New commander named
for Coast Guard Portland sector

PORTLAND — Captain Frederick G. Myer has assumed command of Coast Guard Sector Portland. He relieved Commander Russ Proctor, who will resume his assignment as sector deputy commander. Steeped in formal military tradition, the Change of Command ceremony represents a transfer of total responsibility, authority and accountability from one officer to another, before an assembly of the command's crew, to communicate the continuity of command. As Sector Commander, Captain Myer assumes the responsibilities of Captain of the Port, Federal Maritime Security Coordinator, Officer in Charge of Marine Inspection and Federal On-Scene Coordinator. Captain Myer comes to Sector Portland from Sector Boston, where he served as the deputy sector commander. Prior to Sector Boston, his many tours included the Thirteenth District in Seattle, the Coast Guard Cutter STORIS in Kodiak, Alaska, the Marine Inspection Office in New York, Coast Guard Cutters RESOLUTE and ALERT in Astoria, Ore., Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Group/ Air Station Port Angeles, Wash. Captain Myer is originally from Beverly, Mass. He graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1986 with a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Additionally, he has earned an MBA from Strayer University in Woodbridge, VA.


Port of Portland schedules
PDX noise committee meeting

PORTLAND — Members of the Portland International Airport Citizen Noise Advisory Committee will hear the status of the PDX Fly Quiet program May 8, and will discuss the potential for a Fly Quiet Subcommittee to help with program development and reporting. Jason Schwartz, Port of Portland noise management manager, will provide an update on the program and the role of the team hired to help the Port Noise Management Department finalize and implement the program. The 15-member committee meets from 6-8 p.m. at the airport, 7000 NE Airport Way, in the St. Helens conference room. Committee meetings are open to the public, and include time for public comment. The committee is the port’s official forum for working with the public on issues related to aircraft noise. Representatives come from across northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. Eleven members are appointed by various city and county jurisdictions, and four representatives are appointed by the Port to help maintain geographic diversity on the committee. Technical assistance is provided by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Oregon Air National Guard. People with special needs attending the meeting are asked to contact the port for accommodations at 503-460-4073. PDX is wheelchair accessible and located just off the TriMet MAX light rail Red Line. Validated parking is also available.


NEWS BULLETIN
Friday, May 2, 2008

Longshore workers stay home
to protest war in Iraq

SAN FRANCISCO — The ILWU reports that more than 25,000 longshore workers at 29 west coast ports exercised their First Amendment rights yesterday by taking a day off work and calling for an end to the war in Iraq. “Longshore workers are standing-down on the job and standing up for America,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath. “We’re supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq.” Mr. McEllrath says rank-and-file members made their own democratic decision in early February when Longshore Caucus delegates voted to take action on May 1. Employers were notified of the plan, but refused to accommodate the union’s request despite plenty of advance notice. The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) called the move a strike and pointed to orders from the independent Coast Arbitrator to "notify its Locals and members of its contractual obligation and direct all members to report to work as they normally do during the day shift on May 1, 2008." According to the PMA, the work-stoppage, illegal under the ILWU-Pacific Maritime Association contract, comes just two months prior to the expiration of the current labor agreement. The PMA says yesterday's action, which essentially shut down all major ports along the coast, culminates a series of events that began when ILWU members passed a resolution opposing the U.S. war in Iraq. After seeking permission under contract rules to stop work during the day shift on May 1st, ILWU leaders later retracted their request, and claimed that any decision not to work on May 1st would be made by individual workers.


National Navigation Company
pleads guilty to dumping sludge

SEATTLE — National Navigation Company (NNC), headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, entered pleas of guilty Tuesday to two felonies for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships in a failed attempt to conceal illegal discharges of oily sludge directly into the ocean. NNC was charged after Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency officials in Oregon discovered evidence of illegal discharges of oily sludge and oily bilge water, including falsified documents intended to conceal the illegal discharges from Coast Guard inspectors aboard the motor vessel WADI AL ARISH. Though the two felonies came out of port calls in the State of Washington, the pleas took place in the District of Oregon where similar prosecutions against NNC in both Louisiana and Oregon were combined with the Washington case. Under the terms of the plea agreement, NNC will pay a total monetary penalty of $7.25 million. Of this amount, $350,000 will be paid to the Puget Sound Marine Conservation Fund. The fund is administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for projects to restore and protect fragile marine habitats. All three cases arose out of the investigation of the NNC owned and managed vessel, WADI AL ARISH. The investigation began November 17, 2007. Further investigative efforts led investigators and prosecutors to discover evidence of similar violations on six other vessels in NNC's fleet. The pleas entered in Portland include one felony count in the Eastern District of Louisiana based on port calls there and twelve felony counts in the District of Oregon for port calls in Oregon.


US rail carload tally
posts gain during week

WASHINGTON, DC — Thanks to strong increases in loadings of coal and grain, carload freight was up on U.S. railroads during the week ended April 19 in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reports. Carload freight in the week ended April 19 totaled 336,847 cars, up 1.5 percent from last year. Volume was up 2.5 percent in the West and 0.3 percent in the East. Intermodal volume, which is not included in the carload data, totaled 224,112 trailers or containers, off 3.2 percent from a year ago. Trailer volume was down 2.4 percent, while container volume declined by 3.4 percent. Total volume was estimated at 34.9 billion ton-miles, up 3.3 percent from the 16th week of 2007. Nine of 19 carload commodity groups registered gains from last year, with grain up 17.4 percent, coal gaining 8.0 percent, and nonmetallic minerals rising 8.6 percent. On the down side, lumber and wood products fell 20.8 percent, motor vehicles declined 20.6 percent, and metallic ores were off 17.3 percent. Cumulative volume for the first 16 weeks of 2008 totaled 5,169,692 carloads, up 1.0 percent from 2007; 3,487,182 trailers or containers, down 3.5 percent; and total volume of an estimated 534.9 billion ton-miles, up 2.3 percent from last year.


Coast Guard officer guilty
of lying in bilge discharge case

WASHINGTON, DC — David G. Williams, a Chief Warrant Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and the Main Propulsion Assistant for the Coast Guard Cutter RUSH, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Hawaii to one count of making a false statement. Chief Warrant Officer Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 8, 2007, for lying to investigators about his knowledge of the direct overboard discharge of bilge wastes through the ship's deep sink into the Honolulu Harbor. As the Main Propulsion Assistant, he oversaw the maintenance of the main diesel engines and other machinery in the engine room for the Coast Guard Cutter RUSH, a 378 ft. high endurance cutter stationed in Honolulu. According to the plea agreement, on or about March 8, 2006, Chief Warrant Officer Williams had knowledge of the direct discharge of bilge wastes into Honolulu Harbor. The Engineering Department personnel engaged in an unusual and abnormal operation and configuration of engine room equipment to pump bilge wastes from the aft bilge to the deep sink and overboard into Honolulu Harbor, thereby bypassing the "oily water separator" (OWS) system.


Port of Bremerton Commission
moving meeting to evening

PORT ORCHARD, WA — Beginning Tuesday, May 13, the Port of Bremerton will hold one of its two regular business meetings each month in the evening. In an effort to provide an evening time to better involve the citizens of the port district and other interested parties, the port’s board of commissioners approved changing the time of its first business meeting of the month to 7:00 p.m. (formerly held at 4:00 p.m.) on the second Tuesday of each month. The second business meeting, which includes a study session, will continue to be held at 10:00a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month. All three commissioners, Cheryl Kincer, Bill Mahan, and Larry Stokes were united in their endorsement of holding evening meetings and extended an open invitation for the public to join them at their first evening meeting on May 13 in the terminal building conference room at Bremerton National Airport.


NEWS BULLETIN
Thursday, May 1, 2008

New radio controlled bucket
going to work at Port Vancouver, USA

VANCOUVER, USA — A new piece of equipment will provide significant flexibility and efficiency to bulk cargo handling operations at the Port of Vancouver, USA. The new equpiment, a radio controlled clamshell-type bucket, arrived at the port on April 23. Built by Mack Manufacturing in Theodore, Ala., and trucked across country to the port, the new bucket can be used on any of the port’s major cranes – the Washington crane, the Liebherr and P&H mobile harbor cranes, and the Paceco gantry crane – which improves efficiency and flexibility of bulk commodity handling at the port. Before receiving the new Mack bucket, the only bucket the port had could only be used on the Washington crane located at the port's Terminal Two. With a capacity of 15 cubic yards, plans for use of the bucket include fertilizers, bentonite clay, and any future bulk commodities handled by the port. The new electric and hydraulic bucket can be used by a crane anywhere on any terminal at the port, and can be operated from ground level by radio control to open and close the jaws. The port paid $106,000 for the bucket.


Port of Bellingham wants comments
on Stormwater Management Program

BELLINGHAM — The Port of Bellingham has drafted a Stormwater Management Program (SWMP) to meet requirements of the Western Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit. The permit requires local agencies with a population between 10,000 and 100,000 to develop, and update annually, a SWMP which addresses six required program elements that collectively result in significant reductions of pollutants discharged into waterbodies. The six program elements include Public Education and Outreach, Public Involvement and Participation, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, Construction Site Run-Off Control, Post-Construction Run-Off Control, and Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping. The port's draft SWMP is available for public review and comment. The draft SWMP can be found on the port's website at www.portofbellingham.com under Latest News. To comment on the SWMP, please provide written comments by email to stormwater@portofbellingham.com or by regular
mail to:
Port of Bellingham
ATTN: Alan Birdsall
1801 Roeder Avenue
PO Box 1677
Bellingham, WA 98227
The Phase II Permit is a requirement of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act. The US Environmental Protection Agency has delegated authority in Washington State to the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE). The port was issued coverage under the Phase II Permit by DOE in May 2007, and program implementation requirements are phased through 2012.


NAFTA partners see gains
in transport numbers during February

WASHINGTON, DC — Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico, was 16.3 percent higher in February 2008 than in February 2007, reaching $69.4 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 6.5 percent in February from January. Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors. Surface transportation consists largely of freight movements by truck, rail and pipeline. About 90 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moves on land. The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in February was up 58.3 percent compared to February 2003, and up 89.5 percent compared to February 1998, a period of 10 years. Imports in February were up 104.8 percent compared to February 1998, while exports were up 72.5 percent.


First Boeing 777 Freighter
makes way onto flight line

SEATTLE — Progress continues on the first Boeing 777 Freighter as the company's newest cargo airplane was towed out of its factory in Everett and onto the flight line Tuesday night. Work will continue on the 777 Freighter to prepare for flight test this summer and to paint the airplane in the Boeing livery. According to Boeing, the 777 Freighter will fly farther and provide more capacity than any other twin-engine cargo airplane. Boeing will deliver the first 777 Freighter to its launch customer Air France in the fourth quarter of 2008. The 777 Freighter is based on the 777-200LR Worldliner passenger airplane and is built using the same production line as all other models of the 777. Eleven customers around the world have ordered 78 777 Freighters.


Horizon Lines take home
Mary Patten Valiant Ship Award

CHARLOTTE, NC — Horizon Lines, Inc. has received the 2008 Mary Patten Valiant Ship Award from the Women's Propeller Club of the United States. Don Watters, Horizon Lines' director of operations for ocean transportation services, accepted the award on behalf of Captain Tom McDorr, the officers and crew of the HORIZON FALCON. The event was held on April 16th at the Oyster Point Yacht Club in San Francisco. The award recognized the courageous action and extraordinary seamanship of the HORIZON FALCON officers and crew in the rescue of two seamen from Panamanian-flagged ship HAI TONG No. 7 after it sank in typhoon-heavy seas 300 nautical miles northwest of Guam last July.