Swinomish Channel News

Cantwell, Senators Urge Support for Dredging of Small Ports, Including Swinomish Channel, Port of Ilwaco. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has joined a group of Senators in urging key appropriators to include funding for dredging small and low-use ports in the fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget. Small and low-use ports are ports that don’t have enough tonnage to meet the Army Corps of Engineers’ threshold to qualify for annual dredging support but represent important economic engines of the communities they serve.

The Coast Guard and the state-funded rescue tugboat at Neah Bay rescued a sinking fishing boat in the bay, reported the Seattle Times. The 70-ft. boat Kristena Rose, with up to 5,000 gallons of fuel on board, was taking on water in its engine room while stopped at Makah Marina. A Coast Guard boat and the rescue tugboat responded and used pumps to get rid of the water. The pumping allowed some oil from the engine room to escape, and the Makah tribe is helping with the clean-up. The Coast Guard also had another rescue Tuesday, helping an elderly couple whose Nordic Tug had ran aground near Bellingham. The 37-ft. Augenblick got stuck at the south end of the Swinomish Channel.The Coast Guard launched a boat and transported the couple back to shore. Source: Seattle Times