Commencement Bay Research Articles

Selected chemical contaminants in surface sediments of Commencement Bay and the Tacoma Waterways, Washington, USA

Eight metals, 21 organic priority pollutants, and 11 other contaminants and contaminant-related sediment characteristics were measured in surface sediments (upper 2 cm) at 21 locations in Commencement Bay and the Tacoma Waterways, Washington. Summary statistics were calculated and statistical approaches (analysis of variance, multiple comparisons tests, cluster analysis and principal component analysis) were applied to subsets of the data to classify sediment contamination. Overall sediment contamination was highest in the Sitcum, City and Hylebos Waterways, intermediate in Commencement Bay, at the entrances to the Tacoma Waterways and in the outer reaches of the Blair and Hylebos Waterways, and lowest at the Blair Waterway turning basin, the mouth of the Puyallup River and at a reference site near Browns Point. High concentrations of some contaminants appeared to be related to proximity to sources of contaminants. Depositional vectors, and chemical adsorption processes may also influence the spatial distribution of sediment contamination in the study area. Results of simple and partial correlation analyses indicate that arsenic, iron and manganese may be more closely associated with the clay fraction, while cadmium, copper and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons may be more closely associated with the total organic carbon content of sediments. We were unable to discriminate statistically between the affinity of chromium, lead, zinc and phthalates with the % clay or the total organic carbon content of sediments.

Hepatic lesions in English sole ( Parophrys vetulus) from Commencement Bay, Washington (USA)

Prevalences of idiopathic hepatic lesions in English sole ( Parophrys vetulus) were evaluated at 15 transects in Commencement Bay, Washington (a chemically contaminated embayment), and at two transects in Carr Inlet. Washington (a relatively uncontaminated reference embayment). The lesions considered were neoplasms (tumors), foci of cellular alteration (putative preneoplasms), megalocytic hepatosis and nuclear pleomorphism. Prevalences of one or more of the four lesions at 10 (67%) of the Commencement Bay transects were significantly higher ( P ≤ 0·05) than the prevalence observed in Carr Inlet. Prevalences of neoplasms and foci of cellular alteration were correlated positively ( P ≤ 0·05) with fish age, but none of the four lesions exhibited a relationship with fish sex. A significant concordance ( P ≤ 0·005) was found among the spatial distributions of the four lesions, suggesting that all were induced by similar stimuli. Length-at-age did not differ significantly ( P > 0·05) between fish with and without hepatic lesions, indicating that fish growth did not appear to be influenced by the presence of the lesions. The spatial patterns of lesion prevalences observed in this study were similar to those found at similar locations in a precious study 3–5 years earlier, suggesting that these patterns are persistent.

The Cushman Indian Trades School and World War I

W ORLD WAR I HAD A STRONG IMPACT on the Cushman Indian Trades School, located in Tacoma, Washington. Many of its students and staff enlisted in the military, and others sought employment in shipyards and logging camps. Vacancies were left unfilled, or temporary employees were hired. Inflation eroded purchasing power and forced the school into stringent budgetary adjustments. Needed repairs were deferred, and supplies decreased in quality and number. Toward the end of the war, an outbreak of influenza devastated the student body, causing many to become ill and ten to die. The Public Health Service twice placed the school under quarantine, for a total of eighteen weeks. The academic program was greatly disrupted, and teachers were required to take on additional responsibilities. The morale of the students suffered a drastic decline, as indicated by an increase in truancy and disciplinary problems. After the armistice Congress instituted an austerity program, and one of its first victims was the Cushman School, which closed its doors on the final day of June, 1920.1 The Cushman Indian Trades School originated in the Treaty of Medicine Creek, negotiated in 1854 by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens and representatives of a number of tribes on the lower Puget Sound. One of its provisions authorized a school for children from the signatory tribes. A primary school was begun in 1858 on the south end of Squaxin Island, but was soon terminated because of low attendance at that location. In 1869 the school was resumed on the Puyallup Reservation. From its beginning the Puyallup School emphasized vocational training. In 1873 a new $4,000 facility was built, including carpenter and blacksmith shops. In 1893 the Puyallup Land Act permitted the allotment of the 23,000-acre reservation, but a site of forty-two acres was set aside for the school some two miles from the head of Commencement Bay. With the dismemberment of tribal landholdings, the property of individual allottees was quickly acquired by white developers. The city of Tacoma expanded rapidly, and by the turn of the century its population had reached 100,000. As a result the school was enclaved by the city. In 1898 enrollment at the Puyallup School was opened to Indian children from much of the Northwest and Alaska.2

A comparative evaluation of marine sediment toxicity using bacterial luminescence, oyster embryo and amphipod sediment bioassays

The toxicity of fifty sediment samples from a heavily industrialized urban embayment (Commencement Bay, Washington) and a non-urban inlet (Carr Inlet, Washington) was measured by three bioassay techniques: Microtox (bacterial luminescence), oyster embryo and amphipod tests. In comparison with Carr Inlet sediments, twenty-nine of the Commencement Bay sediments caused a significant ( P< 0·05) decrease in bacterial luminescence, seventeen caused a significant ( P<0·05) increase in amphipod mortality and sixteen caused significant ( P< 0·05) increase in oyster embryo abnormality. Overa ll, nineteen (41%) of the Commencement Bay sediments were either toxic in all three bioassays or non-toxic in all three bioassays. Rank-order comparisons showed a high level of agreement among the three bioassays (Kendall's coefficient of concordance = 0·64, P < 0·001). However, individual correlations suggested considerable variation among the bioassays, which may be attributable to sensitivity to individual contaminants, differences in exposure routes and the heterogeneous distribution of contaminants in Commencement Bay sediments. These results indicate the usefulness of a diversity of toxicity testing procedures in wide-scale surveys of sediment contamination. Where a high degree of concordance exists among the various bioassays, a broadly based index may be developed that encompasses a wider range of sediment toxicity than would be evident from a single testing procedure.

The Lodge Meadow, and: Commencement Bay

THE LODGE MEADOW / Patricia Clark Each day there are endings In the meadow, an iridescent dragonfly Fluttering in a circle at my feet, And wildflowers, some stepped on, all eventually Gone to seed after baking in the June, New Hampshire sun. When I come here thinking of our marriage Last fall, of your slim and restless body Sleeping next to mine, I'm haunted by our Deaths instead. I saw in the photograph Of your wife's grave the twin headstone That is yours, only one date missing, And know, as a part of me can never know, I'll lose you some day. I've carried A bedspread out into the field, white When the wind blows across the seed crowns Of the wild grasses, and I lie here Caught up with what decays—the brief Flower, the hemlock's new growth, the dandelion fluff Burst and floating over the field with the rest Of the day's scattering bits. The Missouri Review · 253 COMMENCEMENT BAY / Patricia Clark Paths to the beach down the cliff's edge, Some through grass, down washed-out earthen Steps, some down rickety stairs warped By the sea, ending in a drop-off On a rocky shore where small stones, bearded With seaweed, turned my legs rubbery, Where I slid along never sure of my footing Until I came to the lighthouse and stopped In the lee of the wind. Nights in high school When I couldn't sleep, I walked here, Sometimes with a boy, and we'd find A beach-shack and huddle in it, talking Most of the night. Kisses fumbled, embraces Meant to be tender, I never felt Loved or loving, just passionate To be joined, or moving. With my lover Now, the body I thought was mine Wants to abandon its reticence. Not quite breakers, but a low surf Kicked up by the wind, waves belly up To the beach. Stroking my arm, his hand Makes a sound like the ocean hissing Inside a shell, and we're heading, surely, Out to sea, wave after white-capped wave. 254 · The Missouri Review ...

Pollution Monitoring of Puget Sound with Honey Bees

To show that honey bees are effective biological monitors of environmental contaminants over large geographic areas, beekeepers of Puget Sound, Washington, collected pollen and bees for chemical analysis. From these data, kriging maps of arsenic, cadmium, and fluoride were generated. Results, based on actual concentrations of contaminants in bee tissues, show that the greatest concentrations of contaminants occur close to Commencement Bay and that honey bees are effective as large-scale monitors.

Chemical pollutants in sediments and diseases of bottom-dwelling fish in Puget Sound, Washington

A 4-year multidisciplinary study was conducted on relationships between pollutants and diseases of fish in Puget Sound, WA. In this study, high concentrations of a large number of anthropogenic chemicals such as petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other chlorinated compounds, pesticides, and metals were found in certain Puget Sound sediments. For example, over 900 individual organic compounds were detected in sediment from one urban bay (Commencement Bay), and evidence was obtained for the presence of numerous additional compounds. Many of the chemicals accumulated in bottom-dwelling fish, and high levels of certain toxic chemicals in the urban bays were linked to serious diseases (e.g., liver carcinomas) of English sole (Parophrys vetulus) and other demersal fish species. It was concluded that application of the approach used would reveal comparable serious pollution-related health problems in marine biota in other urban coastal areas of the world.

An assessment of marine pollution in Puget Sound

The Marine Ecosystems Analysis (MESA) Puget Sound Project was initiated to determine the existing levels, sources, fates and effects of toxic chemicals in Puget Sound, Washington. An approach was developed to assess the concentrations of a suite of contaminants and to measure a suite of biological parameters known to be responsive to contaminants. Metals, aromatic hydrocarbons and synthetic organics were found throughout the Sound. Highest concentrations were in bays near urban areas, particularly Elliott Bay near Seattle and Commencement Bay near Tacoma. A variety of biological disorders, including liver tumors in flatfish, and benthic community parameters were correlated with elevated contaminant levels. Because of the high contaminant concentrations there, and the high potential for exposure of humans to them, Commencement Bay has been identified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a high priority toxic dump site in the United States, and remedial action is planned.

Sediment toxicity and the distribution of amphipods in Commencement bay, Washington, USA

Abstract The toxicity of 175 sediment samples from Commencement Bay, Washington, was measured by the survival of marine infaunal amphipods (Rhepoxynius abronius) during ten-day exposure to test sediment. Survival was high in sediment from offshore, deeper parts of the Bay, including two designated dredge material disposal sites. Within each of the major industrialized waterways there was a wide range in amphipod survival. Both acutely toxic and relatively nontoxic samples were collected from various areas within the Hylebos, Blair, Sitcum and City Waterways. Habitat differences, sedimentation rates, proximity to contaminant sources and sinks, and disruption of the seabed by prop scour and dredging could contribute to this variation in toxicity. Community structure data show a correlation between amphipod distribution and sediment toxicity, with lower amphipod density and species richness in the waterways than in the deeper part of the Bay. Phoxocephalid amphipods, a family that includes the bioassay species, were ubiquitous in the deeper Bay, but absent from the waterways. This correlation between laboratory and field results indicates the ecological relevance of the sediment bioassay.

The Anti-Chinese Outbreak in Tacoma, 1885

Research Article| August 01 1954 The Anti-Chinese Outbreak in Tacoma, 1885 Jules Alexander Karlin Jules Alexander Karlin Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Pacific Historical Review (1954) 23 (3): 271–283. https://doi.org/10.2307/3635568 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Jules Alexander Karlin; The Anti-Chinese Outbreak in Tacoma, 1885. Pacific Historical Review 1 August 1954; 23 (3): 271–283. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3635568 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentPacific Historical Review Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1954 The Pacific Coast Branch, American Historical Association Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Notes on the Kennicott's Screech Owl (Otus asio kennicotti) in the Puget Sound Region

THE following notes, unless otherwise specified, are taken entirely from the vicinity of Tacoma, Washington, which is situated on Puget Sound at the head of Commencement Bay. This region, together with the vicinity of the fresh water lakes, rivers and marshes of the surrounding country, furnish many attractions for this subspecies, which at the best is by no means common in any part of its range. There seems no apparent reason why it should not be as abundant as the owls of this genus that are found in New England or California, with both of which I am very familiar, but such is far from being the case. The most favored localities are in the immediate vicinity of water, either fresh or salt, where the country is to some extent open. Deciduous timber seems to be given a slight preference over the fir woods, as a rule, though during the day the birds are usually found hiding amongst the dark foliage of some young fir. It is a resident throughout the year, and is probably no more abundant at one season than another, although it is much more often heard calling during the fall than at any other time. The size of the birds in this vicinity is a matter of considerable interest to me when I compare them with the measurements of this form as given in the books. These would seem to indicate that a length of ten inches or more might be expected, but my experience has been that such is never the case. Specimens that I have had in my collection measured, before skinning, from 8.80 inches to 9.25 inches in length, the average being about 9.04 inches, and I believe that I can confidently assert that I have never seen one ten inches long. I do not for a moment wish to suggest the probability of a new race, although one cannot help recalling the formerly described Puget Sound Screech Owl in this connection, but it would seem of interest to indicate the size of the birds from this section of Puget Sound. Unlike a majority of the other Raptores the females are frequently smaller in size than the males,