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Department of Ecology News Release - May 8, 2008
08-118
OLYMPIA – Port Gamble-area residents and other interested parties may review and comment on proposed plans related to possible cleanup efforts at two sites at Port Gamble.
The Washington Department of Ecology’s (Ecology) Toxics Cleanup Program will accept comments from Friday, May 9, 2008, through June 9, 2008. The sites are proposed for cleanup under the Puget Sound Initiative. The Puget Sound Initiative is a comprehensive effort by local, tribal, state and federal governments, business, agricultural and environmental interests, scientists, and the public to restore and protect the Sound.
Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Aquatic Land Lease Area 20-12795 is located at the southwest end of Port Gamble Bay. DNR leased the 74-acre, state-owned site to Pope & Talbot Inc., which used it for a log storage area from 1974 to 1995.
Log rafting deposited wood waste on the bed of Port Gamble Bay. Wood waste smothers near-shore habitat and animals such as clams, and can cause sediment toxicity and changes in water chemistry that can harm the food chain. Earlier investigations also reported elevated levels of cadmium in sediment.
Ecology seeks comments on a draft work plan, which describes how contamination problems and possible solutions will be identified. The results will be compiled into a report that describes the investigation's results and proposes cleanup alternatives.
Ecology also proposes a draft public participation plan. In it, Ecology explains how the agency will make documents available for review and comment, involve interested people, and consider public comments related to cleanup decisions.
The Pope & Talbot Inc. Sawmill Site is located at the mouth of Port Gamble Bay, on the east end of NE View Drive in Port Gamble. Pope & Talbot manufactured forest products there from 1853 to 1995. The site contained sawmill buildings, two woodchip-loading facilities, a log transfer facility, and log rafting and storage areas. The mill was taken apart and removed in 1997. The site’s above-water portion was leased for log sorting, wood chipping, materials handling, and marine research.
Manufacturing activities released petroleum hydrocarbons, carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and metals. Some of this contamination was found in soil and groundwater. Also, log rafting and chip-loading operations deposited wood waste on the bed of Port Gamble Bay. Between 2002 and 2007, about 26,000 tons of soil and 31,000 cubic yards of wood debris were removed from the site.
Ecology proposes an agreement, called an Agreed Order, with two companies that have owned or operated the site, Pope Resources LP and Olympic Property Group LLC. The proposed Agreed Order outlines the investigation and cleanup process. That would include a work plan for finding and analyzing contamination in soil and water; a report that details the investigation's results and proposes cleanup alternatives; and a cleanup action plan to identify a preferred cleanup and a work schedule.
Ecology also proposes a draft public participation plan for this site.
Here’s where you can view the proposed documents for both sites located at Port Gamble:
You may submit comments to Kevin MacLachlan, Site Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program, Washington Department of Ecology, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600; e-mail kmac461@ecy.wa.gov.
Once the public comment period ends, Ecology will review and respond to all comments. The documents could be amended based on comments Ecology receives.
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Media Contact: Seth Preston, 360-407-6848; cell 360-584-5744; e-mail spre461@ecy.wa.gov
Read more about the Puget Sound Initiative: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/puget_sound/index.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
