TOTE Named Puget Sound Champion
We like to write about Tacoma entities receiving awards. And we like to write about local efforts to help the environment. And we know you all like to read about rain gardens. So we wanted to be sure to acknowledge Tacoma’s TOTE (Totem Ocean Trailer Express) for recently being named one of five “Puget Sound Champions” by the Puget Sound Partnership.
Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) in Tacoma, for installation of the first industrial rain garden to treat runoff from a maintenance building roof and parking lot. The rain garden removes 80% of the heavy metals in an estimated quarter million gallons of rainwater per year, and provides a cost-effective solution to meeting industrial stormwater requirements. …
The award recognizes the work TOTE and other recipients have done towards restoring and sustaining the health of the Puget Sound by restoring habitat, cleaning up polluted waters, and/or engaging the community in Puget Sound recovery.
The installation of the industrial rain garden down at the Port somehow escaped our attention, but KCTS9 had a great story from back in January about the installation of the garden, and the impressive reduction it was able to make in TOTE’s stormwater runoff – enough to not only bring the company’s stormwater pollution levels to acceptable levels, but also to allow them to close one of their four stormwater outfalls.
So, good work TOTE; it’s good to see a business stepping up for the environment. … and this certainly raises the bar on rain gardens in Tacoma …
Read more about the awards at www.psp.wa.gov or from the Tacoma Daily Index.
Filed under: Green Tacoma, Tacoma Business, Port of Tacoma
2 comments
M Mofo from the Hood June 19, 2012
I think to put this “land reclamation effort” into perspective it would be helpful to display a photograph of this facility in relation to the whole city of Tacoma—Picture an overhead view from the perspective of an airplane or whatever. Highlight the current “inventory” of raingardens in Tacoma.
From this starting point we could begin to speculate the long term use of both public and private property.
Regarding the use of the Totem property, if rainwater is channelled to a surface sewer grate and sewer system then the immediate area is usable for productive purposes. Question for anyone: Why would somebody with a negotiated lease, who is paying for the use of a property, acquiesce to a reduction of their usable space, and ultimately their private purchasing power needed to increase their economic & physical well-being?
This same critical view applies to downtown Tacoma. Pacific Avenue is also scheduled for land reclamation in the form of rain gardens. These projects seem to proceed with cheerleading by people who are blind to the fact that unobstructed corridors are critical for efficient business practices—production of goods and services.
M Mofo from the Hood July 3, 2012
In political terms, this project could be classified as an infrastructure improvement: It helps the Port of Tacoma and TOTE compete in the marketplace.
Was this project the result of citizen tax dollars redistributed through the Stimulus Recovery Act?
According to the Port of Tacoma and TOTE, over 600 plants were placed in the rain garden by volunteers, not paid employees.
Heck, if everything I said is true, and it’s the prevailing standard process, then everyone should start a rain garden business and form a band-wagon coalition with local, state, and federal government.
However, the fundamental problem of this form of economic organization—redistributing industrial profit normally invested in competitive growth strategies—is that taking surplus profit and applying it to nonproductive purposes may overburden the capitalist system and lead to its collapse.
Industry, not agriculture, is the dominant form of Western economy. The Port of Tacoma and TOTE are apparently subject to political checks and balances that reflect the environmental interests and career ambitions of politicians seeking to exploit the current economic crisis.
I’m not questioning optimum social and individual well-being. I’m questioning optimum allocation of scarce resources.