Assessing economic impacts of disruption to Oregon\u27s energy infrastructure to enhance regional disaster resilience

This thesis looked at regional disaster resilience with a specific focus on economic loss of energy infrastructure disruption from a seismic hazard impact. This thesis discusses typical damage sustained by regions from energy disruption and representative earthquake damage specific to energy infrastructure. Due to its seismic risk, geographically concentrated energy infrastructure, and state-level agencies interested in energy infrastructure resilience, Oregon was used as a selected study to model energy infrastructure disruption. The economic interdependencies of Oregon\u27s energy infrastructure, broader critical infrastructure, and Oregon\u27s commercial economy are determined through an Input-Output (IO) economic impact model. IMPLAN provided the economic data and model software for all of Oregon for 2008. A sector aggregation scheme was developed to represent Oregon\u27s economy as 19 sectors with emphasis on the energy infrastructure sectors of petroleum, electricity, and natural gas. The IO developed for Oregon in 2008 can be seen in Appendix A. A representation of output of the energy infrastructure sectors was then manipulated with impact scenarios in order to represent seismic hazard damage in the seismic disaster context. 16 impact scenarios were developed with varying degrees of final demand change ranging from one or all three energy infrastructure sectors being disrupted. Direct, indirect, induced, and total changes in all sectors for output, employment, labor income, and value added for every impact scenario were then analyzed. For the largest impact scenario, a total of 3% total output change for all of Oregon as well as a minimum of 2.42 jobs would be expected to be lost for every direct job lost in the energy sectors. The sectors of transport by pipeline, mining, transport by rail, and utilities will be more impacted than other sectors in Oregon\u27s economy due to energy infrastructure disruption. Additionally, this thesis infers electricity is more important than petroleum and natural gas to everyday life in Oregon. Petroleum is important to the production of itself, the regional economy, and the production of all other energy infrastructure sectors. Therefore, regions should strive for petroleum to be the energy sector most resistant to damage and electricity to be the energy sector able to quickly regain output to enhance regional disaster resilience with respect to energy infrastructure. IO is a good first building block for more involved economic impact models but a more representative model would allow for substitution. Future work should also develop a way to incorporate IO and impact results into a recovery model for both components of resilience (loss and recovery) to be modeled

Soft shore protection: lessons learned from 20 years of project design and implementation

Hard armor structures, including bulkheads, seawalls, soldier piles, and other structures are present at 29% of Washington shores of the Salish Sea, as documented in mapping conducted by CGS for the ESRP Beach Strategies project . Hard armor adversely affects nearshore ecosystems by disrupting natural processes of sediment input and transport, reducing resiliency of down-drift coastal areas to impacts of sea level rise, and impairing essential forage fish spawning and other habitats. Soft shore protection, also referred to as sustainable shorelines or nature based solutions, allows for slowing erosion while maintaining natural processes. Soft sure protection design and implementation have received increasing attention and acceptance in the Salish Sea in recent decades. This has stemmed from increasing documentation of negative impacts of hard armor, dramatically stricter regulations, the increasing rigor applied to the design process, and expanded information and outreach. Lessons learned on design and implementation will be presented based on continuously advancing soft shore protection approaches over the past 20 years and the design and implementation of more than 120 of these projects throughout Puget Sound and in the central Salish Sea. Project approaches successfully applied to both residential and larger reaches of shore will be highlighted, organized around different short types (barrier beaches, bluffs, artificial shores), relative wave energy, and by property extent. Principles featured in the 2014 Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines will be distilled, along with data and examples not included in the MSDG. Soft shore protection has been shown to work in all wave energy environments of the Puget Sound region, depending on other factors such as shore orientation, project length, backshore with, and other site characteristics. Case studies will be provided to illustrate points, and site selection implementation pointers will be included as lessons learned. Additional references will be provided for further information

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Shore Armor Removal Portfolio

Shore armor, such as bulkheads, rock revetments, and seawalls, can negatively impact and impair the ecological functioning of coastal systems. When functioning as nature intended, Salish Sea shores provide vital foraging, cover, and quiet waters for juvenile salmonids during the smoltification process. The proliferation of shore armor from the development of Salish Sea has resulted in the reduction of ecological and physical complexity of shores utilized by salmonids and other valuable nearshore species. In many cases shore armor has been found to be unnecessary and alternatives to hard structures do exist; under these circumstances shore armor can be removed and the beaches and bluffs of the coastal system returned to their natural, functioning state. The legacy of shore armor associated with development can be surrounded by complex and sensitive issues, especially in regard to the residential property owners. However, the cumulative negative impacts of shore armor at the parcel level cannot be overlooked. Negative impacts of shore armor include reduced sediment input from bluffs that sustain beaches and spits down-drift, direct burial of the backshore and portions of the beach itself, and reduction in overhanging marine riparian vegetation resulting in an overall reduced beach width and loss of habitat area. Shore armor removal, where feasible, presents an opportunity to improve and rehabilitate habitat conditions for salmonid and other nearshore. This poster details shore armor removal projects at varying stages of development in Salish Sea. Moving forward, we believe that a showcase of successfully implemented shore armor removal projects, partnerships between agencies and organizations, as well as an informed and engaged public will help perpetuate progress toward recovering coastal systems and nearshore ecosystems in the Salish Sea. Thirty (30) Salish Sea bulkhead removal projects completed in the past 5 years will be presented on the poster including a brief description, client, project stage (feasibility, assessment, design, implementation, and monitoring), and photos. Before and after project implementation will be provided if available. The poster will also present each project location geographically on a map

Boulevard Park Shoreline Improvements, Revitalizing an Urban Park

Coastal Geologic Services as the lead consulting firm with Alexis Blue as the project manager and coastal engineer produced a design for partial shore armor removal, beach enhancement, and erosion control for the majority of the shore of Boulevard Park in Bellingham. Boulevard Park is the most popular park in Bellingham with over 800,000 visitors yearly. The shore of Boulevard Park is sawdust and industrial fill contained by a failing and poorly installed concrete slab and rubble revetment with landward lawn. The project area’s shore length is approximately 1,050 feet and the project includes debris removal, beach nourishment, relocated trails, shore armor design, and increased elevation for sea level rise considerations. CGS successfully balanced the urbanized nature of the shore with its numerous impairments to natural processes, adjacent cleanup site, a limited construction budget, and the small size of the park to produce a design that creates new beach areas and allows for enhanced nearshore recreation and habitat. The beach enhancement approach and design elements were determined based on the site survey, wave modeling, review of aerial and ground photos, reference beach analysis, and professional experience with numerous similar restoration projects in the Puget Sound region. The goal of this work was to stop beach and upland erosion, provide recreation access, and enhance habitat benefits. A minimum thickness of beach gravel and appropriate beach slopes are critical to the function of a gravel beach at being able to absorb wave swash while allowing water to percolate into the beach and drain waterward. Beach nourishment gravel design at the project site is also critical for maintaining a buffer for sediment porosity over time without exposing underlying wood waste and other industrial fill. The nourishment gravel is contained on the down-drift end by a drift sill. A drift sill is a low elevation rock groin designed to stabilize placed nourishment sediment without intercepting natural littoral drift sediment. Phase 1 was constructed in summer-fall of 2013. Construction and as-built information to be presented includes before and after pictures, encountered logistical issues and how they were overcome, as-built cross sections, and initial community reaction to beach public access and habitat enhancement

Coastal Resilience Scavenger Hunt: a 2013-2014 Citizen Action Training School Service Project

Citizen Action Training School (CATS) was launched under the Puget Sound Partnership (PSP) and the seven Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups. CATS is a 12 week training program in watershed and Puget Sound ecology, with an added focus on civic engagement in the legal and regulatory processes that affect resource management. Participants receive 50 hours of training over three months in the form of weekday evening classes and a few Saturday field sessions. Following this comprehensive training, participants give back by volunteering at least 50 hours to plan and complete a service project. The author of this poster is a participant of the Bellingham CATS and a coastal engineer that specializes in nearshore enhancement projects in Salish Sea. She is also interested in community coastal resilience awareness and how to enhance it. A Coastal Resilience Scavenger Hunt will be developed for her service project. This hands-on geographic game will have participants guessing creative questions about local shoreline sites, where they will learn about coastal resilience and fun Puget Sound facts about each site. Question will all serve as visual reminders of the places we can connect to the Sound and will educate the public. Connecting the community to the Sound is a critical part of the regional effort and one of the current priority outcomes of the Puget Sound Starts Here (PSSH) campaign. PSSH is the heart of the PSP public engagement/awareness campaign of the benefits of healthy shorelines. The Seattle-based questions will be available to conference attendees with information to intrigue participation on the poster

Shore armor removal at multiple sites - Design and constructed armor removal, beach and backshore habitat restoration in Salish Sea

This oral presentation will present three recently constructed shore armor removal projects. These projects were selected to represent different conditions in the Washington State shores of the Salish Sea and the varying type of landowners participating in shore armor removal. Pre-project, construction, and post project pictures will be shown as well as specific design and construction constraints. The first project was completed in summer 2015 on a private residence in Kingston, WA on Puget Sound. The project was initiated through outreach by Kitsap County Department of Community Development. This project removed 110 linear feet of rockery bulkhead on a feeder bluff and a large protruding boat ramp. The project site had an adjacent bulkhead on one side and a very concerned owner on the other side. Fall 2015 storms eroded the bluff toe to produce renewed sediment input and wood recruitment. The second project was completed in 2014 at a new city park along the Strait of Juan de Fuca in downtown Port Angeles. The property was unused prior to the creation of the park, which anchors one end of a revitalized central waterfront with trails, public places, and other amenities. The project removed substantial amounts of historical fill and a large portion of a 20-foot-high armor stone revetment to construct two pocket beaches. Rock was reused to build drift sills to contain the imported beach nourishing gravel. Two gravel beaches with sandy backshore and native plantings were created. The final project finished construction in fall 2015 on a Squaxin Island Tribal parcel in Mason County for SPSSEG. A private boat basin was filled, the associated 15-foot-high concrete jetty walls that blocked littoral transport and a private boat ramp were removed. A short time lapse of project installation will be shown

Shore Armor Removal Portfolio 2015

Shore armor, such as bulkheads, rock revetments, and seawalls can negatively impact ecological function and impair nearshore processes in coastal systems. Natural Salish Sea shores provide vital foraging, refuge, and rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids. Negative impacts of shore armor include reduced sediment input from bluffs needed to sustain down-drift beaches and spits, increased wave reflection, direct burial of the backshore, and sometimes intertidal beach. Together these impacts result in a simplification of the shoreline, reduced beach width, and loss of habitats. The Puget Sound Partnership has made reduction of armor part of its Action Agenda. Shore armor is sometimes unnecessary and alternatives exist; under these circumstances shore armor and coastal structures can be removed and the beaches and bluffs of the coastal system can be restored/enhanced to a natural, functioning state. This showcase of successfully implemented shore armor removal projects, partnerships between agencies and organizations, and an informed and engaged public will encourage progress toward recovering coastal systems and nearshore ecosystems in the Salish Sea. Coastal Geologic Services has been involved in every stage (identification, prioritization, assessment, feasibility, design, construction oversight, and monitoring) for over 42 shore armor removal projects. The selected seven recent projects removed over 1,500 feet of shore armor in five Puget Sound counties. Projects highlighted include those at Deception Pass State Park, Ala Spit—Island County park, a City of Port Angeles park, and private residences. CGS is currently designing 16 bulkhead removal projects under a variety of funding sources—these projects are happening at an increasing rate