The Edmonds Environmental Council (EEC) and the City of Edmonds have reached agreement on suspending the EEC’s Appeal of City regulations pending results of a scientific study on stormwater infiltration and its risks of PFAS and other toxins polluting the drinking water aquifer. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the City will use the study results to make recommendations to the Edmonds City Council on the Deer Creek Aquifer Critical Area Regulations. The full text of the Settlement Agreement is available on the EEC website at https://edmondsenvironmentalcouncil.org
The following is the signed settlement agreement between the City of Edmonds and the Edmonds Environmental Council. This agreement is the result of several mediation meetings.
— Story and photos by Joe Scordino Project leader, Edmonds Stream Team January 1, 2025
High school students collecting data on stream conditions and salmon occurrence.
The Edmonds Stream Team completed its annual adult salmon surveys in Edmonds’ Shell Creek and Lunds Gulch Creek (located in Meadowdale Beach Park) in December. The Stream Team documented the highest number of chum salmon spawners in November 2024 since surveys began in Shell Creek in 2017.
Historical photo showing Lower Yard between oil tanks and railroad tracks
The attached letter was sent to Director Laura Watson, Washington State Department of Ecology, containing EEC’s comments requesting that the Feasibility Study be revised to include additional Alternatives and then re-submitted for public review and comment.
Much of Edmonds shouldn’t be further developed because of inadequate or antiquated infrastructure, or the area is already overbuilt for the existing landscape or it has unique landscapes and critical areas requiring additional restrictions. But our state Legislature didn’t take this into account when it mandated every city to update their Comprehensive (Comp) Plan to allow for increased housing density.
As many of you have noticed in your creek, we are having a banner year in the numbers of adult chum salmon returning to Shell Creek.
I want to THANK YOU for allowing the Edmonds Stream Team to continually access your property in the fall to collect data on the salmon run. We’ll be continuing our salmon surveys into mid-December when most of our observations will probably shift to just examining dead salmon to collect data on their spawning success (we’re currently still seeing ‘new’ arrivals as well as dead spawned-out salmon).
Students – Linked below is a news article on the Edmonds Stream Team “coming to the rescue” to resolve a fish passage problem for spawning salmon in Shell Creek.
The stream habitat and salmon abundance data collected by students was used to justify an emergency permit from the WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife to make changes to a blockage DURING the salmon run. Normally, such instream work would not be allowed during salmon migration – – but I had the data (collected by students) to justify the emergency action.
So… THANK YOU for participating in the Stream Team. You have made a big difference for our local salmon population!
The following Public Comment was submitted and received by WA Dept. of Ecology regarding the site cleanup of the Chevron/Unocal site below the Point Edwards condominiums.
On July 9, 2024, the Edmonds Environmental Council was incorporated as a Washington State non-profit organization. The EEC was formed to educate and inform the public on environmental issues, to constructively engage with local and regional governments, working through the unintended consequences of some of their policy decisions. With your help, the EEC will be a strong voice to protect natural areas, to ensure clean water, and to promote a healthy environment critical for both humans and wildlife.
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, making your generous donations tax deductible.
Current projects include:
We are involved in an appeal with the City of Edmonds to the State Growth Management Board . A new ordinance is allowing stormwater contaminated with PFAS “forever chemicals” to be injected into the Deer Creek Springs Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA). This aquifer supplies water for Edmonds south of 220th St SW and all of Woodway. We are currently in mediation with the city to avoid the costs associated with the appeal, with the goal of prohibiting PFAS from being allowed into our drinking water. For more details, please visit: https://edmondsenvironmentalcouncil.org/deer-creek/
Faced with an anticipated population growth of 30% over the next 20 years, the City of Edmonds is struggling through a major Comprehensive Plan update. The EEC is actively advocating for responsible development standards that protect people and wildlife, and mitigate impacts to water and the environment. For more details, please visit: https://edmondsenvironmentalcouncil.org/edmonds-comp-plan/
Restoring salmon runs to the Edmonds Marsh system has been an active, multifaceted effort by Board President Joe Scordino and VP Diane Buckshnis for over a decade. This includes:
Removing and controlling invasive plant species (including Bittersweet Nightshade and Purple Loosestrife) to restore Shellabarger Creek water flow under and along WA 104 into the marsh.
Fully completing the environmental cleanup of Chevron’s Unocal site
Acquisition of the Unocal property by the City of Edmonds
Connecting the Marsh to Puget Sound with a clean open channel
Edmonds used to enjoy several salmon spawning creeks including Shell, Shellabarger, Perrinville, and Lund’s Gulch. Years of development without appropriate environmental safeguards has all but destroyed this rich heritage. Allies of EEC, Sound Salmon Solutions and the Edmonds Stream Team volunteer organizations, are working to return salmon runs to this watershed. For more details, please visit: https://edmondsenvironmentalcouncil.org/salmon-restoration/
Proposal for Edmonds Marsh Near-Shore Estuary restoration plan using a Public/Private Partnership Business Plan
Background:
In 2021-2022 WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Manager Jason Mulvihill Kuntz, Edmonds City Council Member and WRIA 8 delegate Diane Buckshnis, and Edmonds citizen Jack Faris were tasked by Puget Sound Partnership (PSP) Salmon Recovery Council to work on establishing a public/private partnership (PPP) with high wealth donor foundations and/or citizens to obtain a private funding strategy to fund all the delayed costs which was estimated at $35M.
As you may know, this is the time of year when I’m out with Edmonds Stream Team volunteers (students and adults) in/along the “salmon-bearing” creeks in/near Edmonds (i.e., Shell Creek and Lunds Gulch Creek in Meadowdale Park) to survey adult salmon returns and spawning. Besides the salmon occurrence data, we also collect habitat condition data (and have been doing that each fall since 2017).
Director Hope – Is it possible to incorporate an “Environmentally Sensitive” Zoning in the Comp Plan Update to address areas of Edmonds that either should not be further developed or would have additional development restrictions to address environmental degradation and protection issues?
This is in response to the Hearing Examiner Notice on the Edmonds City Website.
The Edmonds Environmental Council, a non-profit local organization for protection of the natural and human environment, requests that you revisit the public comments, both verbal and written, on the initial Application for Reasonable Economic Use Variance for 963 Main Street and DENY the request for reconsideration or any followup application for development in this critical area whether it involves a smaller ‘footprint’ or not.
