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The Source for Public Transportation News and Analysis September 7, 2012
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Sound Transit Wins State Award from Department of Ecology

The Washington State Department of Ecology has presented Sound Transit in Seattle with its highest honor—the Environmental Excellence Award—for the agency’s role in a unique estuary-restoration project near Marysville.

“Sound Transit found a tremendous opportunity to amplify a required environmental offset,” said Jeannie Summerhays, regional director for the department’s Bellevue office. “The agency went well beyond the normal scope of project mitigation to solve some challenges that enabled the Qwuloolt estuary project to move forward.”

The Qwuloolt (Kwoo-LOOLT) project will restore about 380 acres of unused farmland into a salt marsh, the land’s original condition. The project will re-establish an important salmon habitat and aid in the recovery of Puget Sound. Several government agencies, coordinated by the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, have purchased land parcels and secured most of the funding needed to begin the $11 million project.

According to the department, land acquisition problems and disputes with project neighbors in three small areas had stalled the overall project until Sound Transit stepped in and purchased three land parcels; supplied engineering assistance and construction to enable flood protection for a neighbor without the need for a levee project estimated to cost about $4.75 million; and provided legal assistance in a dispute with another project neighbor.

The original habitat-replacement requirement stemmed from construction in 2009-2010 for Sounder commuter rail between Seattle and Everett. The work involved filling near-shore habitat along Puget Sound, mainly between Woodway and Mukilteo. Sound Transit worked with BNSF to reduce the amount of fill, resulting in a smaller environmental impact.

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