News-Times Whidbey
SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 42 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
Cable, plants may trip up turbine project
Dedicated to Babies
By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
Kathy Reed/Whidbey News-Times
Members of the Navy Wives Club of America gather round Tuesday evening for a short dedication ceremony for the Babyland section of Maple Leaf Cemetery. The group has tended to that portion of the cemetery for many years, longer than most members can recall.
Navy Wives remember Babyland By KATHY REED Staff reporter
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slanders will be honoring the nation’s war dead this Memorial Day weekend, but Tuesday evening a small but determined group turned out for the Navy Wives Club of America’s annual Babyland dedication at Maple Leaf Cemetery in Oak Harbor. It was a bittersweet remembrance ceremony, as members of NWCA Branch 150 paid respects to the children buried there and acknowledged the loss of longtime member Betty Glein, who died last year after a battle with cancer. Glein, who worked tirelessly to keep up that corner of the cemetery, is now buried there, along with the children whose graves she so ardently cared for. “You know, some people aren’t even aware of how much she did for Babyland,” said Deborah Wheeler. “This was Betty’s thing,” said Jein
Weiman. “I think we’re all pitching in a little more — it’s becoming more of a group thing.” The local NWCA chapter has been taking care of the portion of the cemetery at the corner of NE 16th Street and Regatta Avenue since before most of the members can recall. Over the years, the group has planted trees, tended the flower bed and helped raise money to place markers on graves without a stone. “I think because of Betty we’re making an effort,” said new NWCA chapter president Mary Mueller. “It connects us,” agreed Joyce Vance. “Betty would be proud of us, because it looks really nice,” said Barbara Mann. Group members shared many memories of Glein, laughing as they recalled her penchant for getting things organized. “Part of me thinks she’s up there telling all the new arrivals what to
INSIDE: Fallen heroes honored on Whidbey. A3
do and where to go,” said Jill AshleyChase, who officiated the ceremony. “It just seems funny not to have her here,” acknowledged Diana Hamilton. While Glein’s presence was missed, those attending found comfort in the gathering. “We’re all family. There’s a strong bond here,” said Wheeler. “And Betty would want us to celebrate her life.” Babyland was marked by three blocks of rose granite shaped like baby’s blocks in a dedication ceremony held Memorial Day, 2008. At the time, each of the approximately 150 unmarked graves received its own headstone. The drive for the memorial was headed by Ann Abrahamse, helped by Mike Dougliss, cemetery supervisor, who spent many months searching for lost markers.
The proximity of rare plants and an international communications cable may present obstacles for a plan to locate tidal turbines in Admiralty Inlet. The Snohomish County Public Utility District submitted a final license application in March to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a permit to install two energy-producing turbines in Admiralty Inlet. The proposed location is one kilometer west of Central Whidbey’s Keystone Harbor. But the pilot project has some challenges. Among the groups that have filed as intervenors is Whidbey Environmental Action Network, commonly known as WEAN. The group is concerned about the PUD’s proposal to construct the on-land portion of the system at Keystone Spit, which could impact a “relatively rare native plant community,” WEAN reported in a press release. In addition, PC Landing Corp. filed a motion to intervene and protest the project. The company, together with Japanese affiliates, owns the Pacific Crossing fiber-optic submarine cable system. The company characterizes the 13,076 miles of cable as “a major, high-capacity international telecommunications link between the United States and Japan.” The problem is that the proposed locations for the turbines would put them at 100 and 150 meters, respectively, from the cable. “Placement of an experimental turbine project within 100 meters of a major, operational submarine cable system would be nonsensical and contrary to the public and security interests of the United States,”
the motion states. But Craig Collar, senior manager of energy resource development for the Snohomish County PUD, said the concerns seem to be based on misunderstandings. In WEAN’s case, he said the only upland project is the construction of a garage that will become the property of a homeowner once the project is complete. Island County is responsible for the building permit. In addition, Collar said PC Landing Corp. has a six-inch wide lease from the state for the cable, but company officials seem to think they control a much larger swath of the seabed. “What we are proposing doesn’t pose a problem or we wouldn’t have proposed it,” he said. PC Landing Corp., WEAN and other proposed intervenors want the PUD to go through a full Environmental Impact Statement process. Marianne Edain of WEAN argued that the PUD’s proposal is deeply flawed and shows that attention to detail is lacking. “Unfortunately, such slapdash work does a disservice to the potential for tidal power,” she wrote. “The underlying questions will likely never be addressed because of the failings of this particular proposal.” The turbines are the centerpiece of a project to study the viability of using tidal currents to generate electricity. The turbines will produce 300 kilowatts of energy, which is enough to power 250 homes, but they will only be in place for three to five years.