A 600-megawatt wind farm south of Kennewick will employ 300 during construction and help cement the region’s status as Washington’s center for wind energy.Scout Clean Energy of Boulder, Colorado, will apply for a conditional use permit from Benton County for its Horse Heaven Wind Farm project later this year.Pat Landess,...
A new Tri-City nonprofit has formed to push for a faster cleanup at Hanford and transition to energy research and development.Bob Ferguson, Bill Lampson and Gary Petersen established Northwest Energy Associates with the twin missions of advocating for a faster cleanup and for a long-term focus on energy research.Ferguson, former...
Benton County Sustainable Development Manager Adam J. FyallNumber of employees you oversee: 3You have a unique role in Benton County government. What do you oversee and how did your job come to cover such diverse areas?I primarily manage our economic development, natural resources, intergovernmental affairs, Hanford-related and parks functions. While...
Wildfires and wintertime wood fires helped drive Yakima, Spokane and the Seattle area to the top of the nation’s worst cities for air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2020 State of Air report.The Tri-Cities was not on the list, but Benton County received a failing grade for air...
Property rights are often considered a “bundle of sticks” where a person can own varying interests in land.The person can own the entire bundle—called “fee simple.”Or a person can own distinct and specific interests in a piece of property. One form of ownership is the ownership of only the oil...
We are learning many painful lessons during the coronavirus shutdown. A key lesson that if a policy isn’t economically sustainable, it isn’t environmentally sustainable. This is a particularly important lesson to remember when considering how to promote recovery of salmon and steelhead populations on the Snake River.Earlier this year, the...
Several federal agencies just released a massive court-ordered federal study (called an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS) about the Snake and Columbia river dams.If you had other things on your mind last month, that’s more than understandable. Also, you didn’t miss much: the EIS is just another federal study aimed...
By Marilou SheaJust about this time every spring, my farmer friend lamentsabout how the bee population is in jeopardy. It’s a crisis. A state ofemergency on their farm north of Pasco where they grow cherries, apples andblueberries. Bees are essential to their crops, not to mention theirlivelihood, not to mention...
By Beau RuffWhen a person endeavors to buy a piece of real property(i.e. land and any associated buildings), the buyer would be wise to study upon the potential liability he or she may be taking on.Notably, the buyer should beware of liability for theexistence of hazardous materials on the land....
By D. Patrick JonesDatatracking life in the Tri-Cities reveal many departures from the overall profileof life in Washington. Considerthe racial and ethnic make-up here. In 2017, an estimated nearly 39 percent ofthe population was non-Caucasian, versus slightly over 30 percent for thestate. And the estimated Hispanic population in 2017 made...
