From the Editor’s Desk:

This surprised me, but makes sense. When the “big one” hits, sirens won’t matter much, officials say. You won’t miss the three- to five-minute earthquake that will precede the tsunami.

So why do coastal cities continue to maintain and test their siren systems?

Officials say don’t discount the importance of the sirens in case of a distant tsunami like the one that hit the coast from Alaska and flooded parts of Seaside in 1964. We take a look at the city’s emergency warning system and how it can make a difference in response to distant tsunamis, like the one that hit the coast from Alaska in 1964.

It was only February when the Tonga quake threatened land almost 6,000 miles across the Pacific.

Things are getting better department

Not exactly “good news,” but it doesn’t quite tell the whole story: Seaside received a nearly $13,000 civil penalty in February for water quality violations associated with your wastewater treatment facilities. Specifically, the state Department of Environmental Quality cited the city for five separate occurrences of discharging untreated sewage into the Neawanna River during 2021.

According to the DEQ, the city discharged untreated sewage into the Neawanna River and adjacent wetlands five times in 2021, with spills ranging from 900 gallons on Jan. 4 to more than 10,000 gallons on Nov. 15. DEQ assessed a $9,750 civil penalty for the violations.

The good news is that the city has allocated $5 million to wastewater treatment upgrades, including a sludge dryer that can transform city sewage into agricultural fertilizer.

Science Monday

Katherine Lacaze writes a fascinating article about killer whales off the Oregon Coast. Based on a lecture by marine mammal scientist Josh McInnes, the subject comes right on schedule for spring migration.

Beware, harbor seals, as they are the predominant element in the whales’ diet.

All this and more in this week’s Signal – read us in print and online at www.seasidesignal.com.

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