FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kitsap County Announces Earth Day and Clean Water Partner Award Winners

(Photo Op) (Embargo until April 12)

(Port Orchard, WA) The annual Earth Day Awards presentation will take place at 7 pm on April 12th, at the Board of County Commissioners regular televised meeting at the Kitsap County Administration Building in Port Orchard.

There will be a reception immediately following the presentation in the Administration Building’s main lobby. The press is invited to meet this year’s award winners.

Solid Waste Division-2010 Earth Day Awards

The 2010 Solid Waste Division Earth Day Awards are presented to individual citizens, organizations, schools, and businesses for their innovative environmental programs or projects. Nominations were sought for exemplary environmental leadership qualities in programs or projects emphasizing sustainability, waste reduction, recycling, and hazardous waste management. The awards committee selected these outstanding achievers who make a difference with their choices, and lead the way as they make others aware of environmental issues.

Best Hazardous Waste Program: Trew Auto Body
Trew Auto Body is a participating member of the Department of Ecology sponsored Environmental Results Program, a voluntary compliance and pollution prevention program for auto collision repair shops. They are also a 5 Star member of the local ENVIROSTAR program. By significantly reducing hazardous wastes and air emissions, their program identifies and promotes safer, cleaner, and more efficient hazardous waste practices. In spite of initial investment costs to purchase new equipment and train employees, owners Jerry Trew and Sheri Selden, and Vice President Tammy Trew, wanted to create a safer and healthier environment while reducing disposal costs. Implementing this new technology has made it easier to comply with current regulations limiting volatile organic compounds. By switching to waterborne basecoats, there has been a major reduction in the volume of hazardous waste generated. Manager Bob Grewell said, “Employees are experiencing a better health environment, and customers are experiencing a higher level of satisfaction.”

Excellence in Environmental Leadership: Suquamish Tribe, with Special Recognition to Kelly Gimmel
The Suquamish Tribe hosted the first waste-free tribal canoe journey for about 10,000 native and non-native visitors, and Kelly Gimmell was the Tribal Journeys environmental committee chairwoman. This was the biggest local food recycling event, producing over two tons of compostable waste from the first two days of the celebration. Community volunteers, Bainbridge Disposal, and Emu Topsoil helped, and it was discovered that about 70% of trash items were compostable. Visitors were also encouraged to reduce non-compostable trash by using multiple recycle bins placed throughout the area. Kelly said the tribe's efforts are a reflection of its past traditions. "To me, native people were the first environmentalists" she said. "They valued the land, and they respected the land. It's a way of honoring our ancestors, honoring ourselves, and honoring the next generation that's coming."

Partners in Environmental Education: South Kitsap School District with Special Recognition to Dave Dyess, Joe Riley, and Ken Durham
The South Kitsap School district began the Food to Flowers lunchroom organics waste recycling pilot program, last year with Sunnyslope Elementary school, receiving the 2009 Partners in Environmental Education award. The district’s Facilities Manager Dave Dyess and his staff have facilitated the expansion of the districts 10 elementary schools, 3 junior high schools, and the high school. Sedgwick Junior High is the junior high school pilot, with teacher and ASB advisor Joe Riley in the lead. Using much of his own time, he was instrumental in creating the Throw It To Grow It logo, slogan, and implementation materials for the secondary schools. Joe’s dedication, creativity, and enthusiasm have made this program a huge success, involving students, parents, and staff. Another teacher at Sedgwick, Ken Durham, has worked for many years personally separating out the recycling, cleaning it, and storing it in his home until he had enough to take to the recycling center. Over the years, he has recruited students and taught them the value of saving our planet through the choices they make today. Joe’s and Ken's examples have led to an easy transition for many students in the Throw it 2 Grow It, and the single stream recycling program. Because of these, and other district employees coordinated efforts, the South Kitsap School District has been able to decrease their carbon footprint by diverting tons of recyclable materials from landfills. Their dedication, perseverance, and commitment have influenced students, staff, and the community in becoming environmental stewards.

Waste Wi$e Kitsap: Kitsap County Juvenile Department
The Juvenile Department is this year's winner of the Waste Wi$e Kitsap Award, the award given to an individual, department, or committee for exemplary in-house waste reduction and recycling efforts. Waste Wise Coordinator Nancy Wilson schedules annual waste reduction training for staff, and long before joining the USEPA Waste Wise program, Susan Childs and her staff were recycling everything they could from the kitchen, including cardboard, cans, glass, plastic bottles and jugs, and dairy tubs. Employee Celeste Boone routinely places signs on recycle carts and makes sure no recyclables end up in the trash. Thanks to their combined efforts, 39 tons of recyclables were collected in 2009 and over time they have saved $750 using the County Waste Exchange, the county’s electronic surplus exchange program where departments swap office supplies. In addition, they have a hybrid vehicle, which saves money on gas and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This is a great example of a team effort and they are a credit to the program.

Surface and Stormwater Management Program
2010 Clean Water Partner Awards

The Kitsap County Clean Water Partner Awards are given to Kitsap citizens, community groups and businesses that have partnered with the Kitsap County Surface and Stormwater Management Program to improve local water quality. The four agencies funded through the program are Kitsap County Public Works, Kitsap County Department of Community Development, Kitsap County Health District, and Kitsap Conservation District. Each agency has chosen a recipient based on their contribution to improving water quality.

Agriculture: Cindy and Larrry Balogh
The Balogh’s 4.4 acre Port Orchard farm in the Burley Creek watershed is a work in progress. The Kitsap Conservation District wrote a farm plan for them and they wasted no time renovating the old barn and implementing best management practices. They installed perimeter & cross fencing, and also fenced off a wet corner of the property to exclude livestock. They added mud free paddocks adjacent to the barn, and began planting hundreds of native trees and shrubs. They now have 2 horses, 3 miniature goats, and 9 laying hens. Larry designed and built a chicken tractor so that the hens can be safely & easily moved around the property; they constructed a perimeter track for their horses so that they can move freely around the property without overgrazing the pastures. They have installed an aerated composting system to decrease the time it takes to compost manure, and they use the resulting compost to improve the pastures and gardens. They mulch heavily and pull weeds by hand rather than using pesticides, use fly predators to control flies, and improve their soil with compost to decrease the need for chemical fertilizers. Recently they installed a cistern to capture & utilize roof run-off from the barn. Their goals include continued control of noxious and invasive weeds, improving the soils and pastures, managing roof and surface runoff, installing rain barrels, further reduction of mud, and planting more native plants.

Stormwater: Central Kitsap School District
In February 2009 Central Kitsap School District Facilities management learned that the district was required to obtain a stormwater permit from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Rather than view this as a requirement, management saw this as an opportunity to partner with Kitsap County Stormwater Management and completed important steps to improve their runoff water quality to local streams and Puget Sound,and contribute to a healthier environment for students.

School maintenance staff partnered to perform storm water system inspections and make necessary repairs. Staff reviewed their own practices and found ways to prevent polluted water from entering the storm system. Improvements included marking storm drains with the message “Dump no Waste”, redirecting mop and carpet cleaning waste water into the indoor sewer plumbing, and replacing leaking outdoor garbage cans. All these actions add up to clean runoff from CK school sites.

Septic System Repair and Maintenance: Terry Hull, Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia
Terry has managed Shorebank's Septic Loan Program since 2007. Terry has been instrumental in helping Kitsap County property owners obtain affordable financing to replace failing onsite sewage systems or to have the property connected to sewer. To date, Shorebank has made 136 loans to Kitsap County residents totaling nearly $3,500,000. He goes out of his way to help people with their applications and treats people with respect and dignity.

This program has become critical to the success of the Health District's Pollution Identification and Correction or PIC Program. The PIC program depends upon the cooperation of Kitsap County residents to provide access to their properties for its "door to door" inspection process. People are much more comfortable with the inspection when they know there is an organization that can help finance repairs if needed.

Kitsap County Stream Team: Finn Creek Stream Team
The Finn Creek Watershed Team evolved as a sub-committee to the Hansville Greenway Association after Kitsap County Parks Department acquired Norwegian Point in Hansville as a park in 2005. Norwegian Point Park includes the floodplain for Finn Creek as it flows into the Puget Sound. Using Washington Department of Ecology monitoring protocols, the team developed an approved monitoring plan with the help of Kitsap Stream Team, Kitsap County Health District and others and in 2009 began monthly water quality monitoring of Finn Creek.

The team will collect baseline data for the new park before the stream is restored to a more natural channel and will also monitor for improvements over time. The Team recently produced their first Annual Report, detailing their methods and results, providing resource managers with the information and tools needed for future projects on Finn Creek, ultimately leading to improvements to Puget Sound. The Finn Creek Stream Team is dedicated to monitoring water quality, but also to overall watershed stewardship through habitat monitoring and improvement as well as community education and outreach. They provide an excellent example of how small community-based watershed groups can make a difference in Kitsap County.

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