Environment

Update:  US Army Explosive Technicians from Fort Lewis determined the artillery round (a M116)  was a live ‘smoke projectile’ complete with a small bursting charge that was manufactured in 1951. They returned it to the military base for proper disposal.

Some things you just can't re-gift.

Workers at the North Transfer Station, 1350 N. 34th St., found a 155-millimeter artillery round in one of the recycle bins this morning.

Seattle Police closed nearby streets and called in their bomb squad after the call came in at 8:45 a.m., Det. Mark Jamieson said.

The bomb squad secured the scene, but police called a Dept. of Defense explosives team from Ft. Lewis to take over because it is a military explosive.

"They’re kind of the subject matter experts on that," Jamieson said. "If it was some other type of explosive, we’d probably handle it."

Jamieson said he's not sure if the artillery round has yet been removed from the dump, but, he said, "Nobody is in any danger. It has been rendered safe."

He said he's not sure how the workers were able to correctly identify the exact type explosive, which is typically used in cannons, but they apparently knew their stuff.

"They told us and we confirmed it," he said.

H/T to Seattle Crime. Photo courtesy SPD

Wondering why all those dump trucks are lined up at the dump? It's the kick-off for the Neighborhood Reduction Rewards Program. Neighborhoods in Seattle are competing to see who can achieve the greatest reduction in waste by early spring 2010.

The winning neighborhood gets a $50,000 neighborhood improvement project, like a bench or a p-patch shed, paid for by CleanScapes.

If you won a $50k project for the neighborhood, what would you choose to have built?

KOMO photo by Brad Baker. Thanks, Brad!

City planners are considering zoning changes that will determine how industrial the future Fremont will be.

From 4 to 8 p.m. tomorrow (Nov. 18) at the Fremont Library, 731 N. 35th St., Seattle Dept. of Planning and Community Development (DPD) will present proposed rezonings of two industrial areas, one near the canal on the Ballard side of Fremont, and another near the neighborhood's border with Wallingford.

Subarea 1, a strip of land that runs parallel to the Burke-Gilman Trail along North Canal Street, is currently zoned as industrial and, in a wedge on the Ballard side, industrial buffer.

DPD recommends rezoning it to Industrial Commercial (IC)-U/45, defined as “intended to promote development of businesses which incorporate a mix of industrial and commercial activities, including light manufacturing and research and development, while accommodating a wide range of other employment activities.  Housing is not permitted in the IC zone.”

But Fremont resident Brian Regan, who works in real estate, said only a few local industries remain, and that outdated industrial zoning is preventing the neighborhood from evolving. He favors neighborhood commercial (NC) zoning, which would allow housing.

Others say rezoning is unnecessary. Jessica Vets, Executive Director of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber’s position is that the current zoning has been working; “Let’s leave it alone.”

Taggers are at it again. It wasn't too long ago that workers painted over this wall below Ponti along the canal trail.

As I was shooting this picture, a guy jogging by said, "You like that?"

Of course I don't like it.  That's why I'm reporting it to the City of Seattle. 

Have you noticed more graffiti around the neighborhood in the past year or so, or is it just me?