McKinstry Wins Permit For Plant Expansion

Seattle - McKinstry Company, a Seattle mechanical contractor, received a permit for an expansion of its Georgetown facility in south Seattle. The company expects to hire an additional 500 people, a combination of professional and union craftsman, in the next two to three years.

With the permit, McKinstry will develop 120,000 sq ft of its property into additional office and manufacturing logistics space, as well as parking. The company’s future expansion plans include developing an additional 20,000 sq ft for training center and offices to the south, and redeveloping the current parking area of 50,000 sq ft into additional logistics support space.

The company already provides its employees with a cafeteria, gym and driving range. In January, McKinstry became one of 16 service companies to receive a United States Department of Energy Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) that could result in up to $80 billion in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation projects at federally owned buildings and facilities.

Pipe Manufacturer Hit With Pollution Fine

Tacoma - Hanson Pipe and Precast, Tacoma, Wash. was hit with a $147,000 fine from Washington State Department of Ecology for violations of its sand and gravel permit and failure to treat contaminated stormwater.

“We will continue our efforts toward and will cooperate fully with Washington State’s Department of Ecology to rectify this situation," says Clifford Hahne senior vice president of Hanson Building Products West region. The company has 30-days to file an appeal.

Ecology inspectors cited the company for 27 violations of the pollutant levels specified in its sand and gravel permit from the second quarter of 2007 through the second quarter of 2008.

“These are repeat violations. Hanson has been fined for these practices in the past,” says Kelly Susewind, Ecology’s Water Quality Program manager.

As a result of poor housekeeping practices stormwater from the Hanson property is becoming contaminated by waste from the manufacturing of its products, including concrete pipes, manholes and catch basins. The company’s Web site identifies Hanson as the largest manufacturer of concrete products in North America.

Student Services Building Tops Out on Peninsula

Bremerton, Wash. - Portland-based Yost Grube Hall Architecture (YGH), and local partner firm, RicefergusMiller Architecture and Planning, Bremerton, Wash., working with general contractor Pease and Sons, Tacoma, recently topped off the new Humanities and Student Services Building at Olympic College in Bremerton. The building will complete a trio of new academic buildings surrounding a new campus entrance and plaza, including the recently completed Science and Technology Center, also designed by YGH. The three-story, 80,000 sq ft space houses the Humanities department and consolidates all student services at one location. It also contains general purpose classrooms, distance learning classrooms, faculty offices, and a counseling center.

Golder Buys Environmental, Marine Engineering Firm

Redmond, Wash. — Golder Associates Inc., Redmond, Wash. has acquired the coastal engineering group and associated assets of Edmonds-based Pacific International Engineering.

Operating out of Golder’s 150-employee Redmond office, the team of engineers provides services pertaining to coasts, coastal inlets, estuaries and river deltas including navigation and dredging, wake analysis, ocean energy, beach protection and restoration, geomorphology, oceanographic data collection and wave, tidal, and sediment modeling.

The new team augments Golder’s core technical capabilities in geotechnical engineering, geophysics, environmental engineering, compliance and remediation. With nearly 40 percent of the global population residing within 50 km of a coast, threatened marine ecosystems and pressures imposed by climate change, the need for engineering and environmental services tailored to coastal and marine environments is significantly increasing.

Pacific International Engineering is especially known for assessing the effects of ship hydrodynamics on shorelines in confined waterways. It has conducted unique studies both locally and internationally that have revolutionized the analysis of the interactions between ship and shore. Impact modeling tools developed as a result of its work are already in use to study passenger ferry operations in environmentally sensitive areas of Washington State’s Puget Sound.

Underwater Cable to Transfer Electricity Between U.S., Canada

Port Angeles - Sea Breeze Olympic Converter LP (Sea Breeze), a private developer, is planning to construct a 550- megawatt direct current (DC) electric transmission cable from Victoria, British Columbia, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles, Wash.

The cable will be placed in a trench on the sea floor of the Strait for most of its length, with about 12 miles in U.S. jurisdiction. On land, it will be placed in a trench in local streets in Port Angeles and will connect to a proposed DC/AC converter station, which in turn will connect to the adjacent BPA Port Angeles Substation. This existing BPA substation will be expanded to accommodate the cable interconnection.