On August 17, Washington Attorney General’s Office filed a petition seeking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a fish culvert decision by the lower Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This stems from a 2013 decision by the District Court for the Western District of Washington that ruled in favor of the federal government and Washington tribes, in that Washington State was ordered to replace hundreds of culverts under state highways, at an estimated cost of billions of dollars, by 2030.

TRAINS MOVED OVER 140,000 BARRELS OF OIL DAILY THROUGH WASHINGTON THIS WINTER

New Department of Ecology report details crude-by-rail movement for the first quarter of 2017.

The Northwest public recently saw the second publication of quarterly oil train data for Washington. Although much about the industry is still not widely known, the Department of Ecology reports add considerably to our understanding of oil-by-rail in the region.

On Thursday, President Trump outlined his plans to slash 31% of the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget. The specifics on exactly what programs will be slashed in that included 31% reduction is still hazy, with no real detailed plan released by the White House. But, the bold statement beckons back to the Trump campaign theme to significantly reduce government spending in environmental and social services.

In 2001, the lower part of the Duwamish River, also known as the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW) in Seattle, WA, was put on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Priorities List. This list puts priority to cleanup toxic contaminated sites throughout the nation. These are known as Superfund sites and the agencies responsible for overseeing the LDW cleanup are the EPA and the Washington State Department of Ecology.

On Thursday Myron Ebell, former head of President Trump's transition team at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said in an interview with The Associated Press that he expects to see massive cuts in the agency's budget. The results of a cut in budget allocation would result in significant staffing reductions. 

Today President Trump signed a presidential order to roll back the halt of two controversial oil pipelines, the Keystone XL and the Dakota Access. 

This reversal comes after, under the Obama administration, the State Department rejected TransCanada's application for a permit to complete the Keystone XL pipeline. Then, after a growing backlash from Native American groups from across the country and environmentalists, former President Obama put a stop to the Dakota pipeline. 

Though not completely relevant to Environmental Issues, if you happened to miss Obama's farewell speech, you can catch it here!

 https://youtu.be/R2Zo8vHOgaM