Puget

Alki Beach in West Seattle and other Puget Sound beaches are closed after millions of gallons of sewage flowed into the water. The Washington state Department of Ecology says early Friday the West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant released an estimated 3 million gallons of untreated sewage over about 27 minutes, after backup pumping systems failed during power disruptions.

Thirteen sea lions have been found dead along the shores of Washington since September, according reports from a wildlife welfare group. As NBC News reported, six of the sea lions died of gunshot wounds, four in West Seattle and two in Kitsap County, according to Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network. The other seven died of acute trauma suspected from...

Washington state attorney general sued Motel 6 Wednesday for allegedly disclosing private informaton of thousands of guests to immigration authorities in a lawsuit, NBC News reported. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said motel employees handed over names, birthdates, driver’s license numbers, license plate numbers and room numbers for over 9,000 guests to ICE authorites without a warrant, NBC...

U.S. officials said Thursday that they misspoke when they recently announced they had approved an expansion of a Montana coal mine that would keep it operating for another 19 years. U.S. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said the 60-million-ton mine expansion is under review. In an email, she blamed “internal miscommunication” for the incorrect announcement last Friday about Westmoreland Coal...

Federal scientists using a drone have captured photographs of a baby Puget Sound orca swimming alongside its mother in the waters of British Columbia. The new calf is the fifth baby since December to be born to the endangered population of killer whales that spend time in Washington state waters.

Ten years after she was excluded from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Lolita, the lone orca at Miami Seaquarium, will be granted the same endangered status as the rest of her family in the wild, the National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Wednesday.