Here's some more articles, hopefully this will clear up any misconceptions out there. For more detailed info visit the links in the previous post.

6/11/04 – Bremerton Sun
Dicks pushes money for Hood Canal
By Christopher Dunagan
U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, is pushing to secure $2 million in next year’s defense budget for extensive water monitoring and computer modeling to deal with the low-oxygen crisis in Hood Canal.
The money has been approved by the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Dicks is a member, and it will now move to the full House Appropriations Committee and then on to the Senate.
“We’re looking for some answers, because this is truly a crisis,” Dicks said. “If we have a hot summer it could be a real disaster for these creatures in Hood Canal.”
A little more than a year ago, Dicks met with a committee of representatives from 17 government and community organizations. Experts were trying to understand why dissolved oxygen in the canal had plunged to deadly levels.
The group showed Dicks a plan to gain solid answers, but it would require a three-year, $3 million program. Dicks told the group he would go to work.
The proposed $2 million would go to the Applied Physics Laboratory, a University of Washington program that works closely with the Navy. Dicks said he would seek another $1 million next year and encourage the state Legislature to provide additional funding for related projects.
“It’s obvious to me that the county commissioners of Kitsap, Mason and Jefferson will have to take some actions with their septic programs,” Dicks said, noting that 10 percent to 15 percent of homeowners in North Mason have refused to cooperate in a voluntary inspection program.
Jan Newton, an oceanographer who helped design the three-year research program, said the funding will provide for five monitoring buoys to take measurements of the water at various depths.
“The buoys will record data around the clock,” said Newton, who works for the UW and Washington Department of Ecology. “One of the things we don’t understand is the difference between measurements during the day and measurements at night or when it’s stormy.”
The monitoring information is needed to create a computer model — essentially a mathematical version of the canal in which factors can be altered to measure results.
Once the model is working, one could see what might happen if some or all of the septic systems were removed, for example. The model will be able to predict the effects of more or less sunlight, which triggers the growth of plankton, believed to play a major role in oxygen depletion.
The funding also will be used to monitor streams throughout the watershed and to understand long-term effects of low-oxygen levels on sealife that survive.
“When we started to see this ..., we said we need to understand what is causing this,” Newton said. “But we had no money. We have been seeing the canal deteriorate. If we can get the funds to complete the study, I think we understand things better and deal with the problem.”


6/11/04 – KIRO radio
Hood Canal
Congressman Norm Dicks is working to secure two million dollars in the defense budget to study low-oxygen levels in Hood Canal. The money would go to the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington to set up a network of monitoring buoys. Low oxygen levels have been blamed for fish kills in Hood Canal in the past.


6/13/04 – PI
Editorial: Hood Canal needs help, ideas and laws
Hood Canal needs help.
The beloved fjord is in big trouble. Pollution from septic systems, storm water runoff and other human sources are killing marine life.
Scientists say there is a likelihood of another fish kill this summer. Last October, parts of the canal became a dead zone.
A ban on fishing for many species has been in effect since February and may become permanent. But that is just the start of what is needed to bring marine life in the canal back to healthy levels.
What we have so far is the kind of slow-paced, low-key response that might have worked 20 years ago, when Hood Canal's problems were receiving another burst of attention. With help from the federal government, the state is working to address the problems. Gov. Gary Locke, the state's Puget Sound Action Team and the Legislature have devoted increasing attention to the issue.
Good science is emerging. A plan has been developed that provides at least a start for action. A federally and state-funded program seeks innovative pilot projects. That's very worthwhile. But the state needs bolder ideas.
Kathy Fletcher, executive director of the People for Puget Sound advocacy group, says it's understandable that politicians worry about voter reaction, especially to regulations. So, voters must demand this year's candidates, particularly those running for governor, talk specifically about what they will do to help Hood Canal and the rest of Puget Sound.
New regulations alone would do little. But a requirement for new sewage hookups, for instance, could be useful if combined with extended deadlines, state help to communities building new wastewater facilities and zero- or low-interest loans to property owners for improvements. In Pacific County, the state is using a shellfish account to fund loans to homeowners, so they can reduce pollution from septic systems.
Many other innovative ideas could be imagined. And voluntary actions, such as less use of fertilizer, can make a difference. But laws have to be strengthened, as well.
Hood Canal residents, who moved there because they love the area, seem energized about making changes. But until we have political leadership that pulls together good will, new ideas and more state funding, Hood Canal will keep struggling. And the rest of Puget Sound will be in danger of similar declines.