Oil seep now contained on Bellingham waterfront

---Dustin Terpening, communication manager, Bellingham Field Office---


For the past year there was a small portion of shoreline on the Bellingham waterfront where oil was seeping into Bellingham Bay.





That was until last week, anyway, when crews completed a project to contain the seep.



We worked with the city of Bellingham to develop a project that would temporarily contain the oil seep

Around the Sound: Planned projects benefit Port Gamble Bay

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Work to improve, restore and protect the Port Gamble Bay ecosystem is moving ahead.

The package of land purchases and environmental projects announced today (Sept. 4, 2013) is separate from planned cleanup work at the bay. But this package and that cleanup will be major boons for Port Gamble Bay, one of Ecology's high-priority bays

Around the Sound: Wood debris hauled off Sound beaches

By Seth Preston, Communication Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Kudos to the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Puget SoundCorps for this good news about pulling old wood debris off some Puget Sound beaches.

That includes old pilings (like those shown in the photo) treated with toxic creosote and other marine debris tainted with the long-lasting substance.

For decades,

Around the Sound: Rayonier Mill cleanup schedule update

By Marian Abbett, Site Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program



Rayonier Mill Estimated Cleanup Timeline (PDF)

We have revised our estimated timeline (PDF) for drafting a cleanup plan for the Rayonier Mill Study Area. Rayonier is still on schedule with their agreed order tasks. However, the work will take longer than we thought because of a delay in finalizing the Port Angeles Harbor Sediments

Around the Sound: Work Underway at the Rayonier Mill Cleanup Site

By Marian Abbett, Site Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program




Soil stockpiles at the Rayonier Mill site. July 2013

You may have noticed more activity recently at the Rayonier Mill cleanup site in Port Angeles. Rayonier removed the unused guard shack at the entrance to the site. The shack was in the way of new fencing and a gate that the City of Port Angeles (city) plans to build for the Olympic

Around the Sound: Focus on Fidalgo Bay this weekend

by Seth Preston, Communications
Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Here’s your chance to learn more about Fidalgo Bay’s environment, history and people.

Members of the Friends of Skagit Beaches will be at Rotary Park next to the Custom Plywood cleanup site in Anacortes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this weekend (July 13-14). The park
is along the Tommy Thompson Trail off 35th Street and V Avenue.

Major

Around the Sound: Major Anacortes cleanup set to start

By Seth Preston, Communications
Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program


Cleanup crews will:You can see some major makeover work
along Fidalgo Bay’s shoreline if you’re in the Anacortes area this summer and
fall.

Starting in mid-July, work will start at the former Custom Plywood site off 35th Street and V Avenue on the Anacortes
waterfront (shown at right in an Ecology file photo).

Remove about

Around the Sound: Derelict vessels in spotlight

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Boats abandoned around Puget Sound and
in other Washington waterways pose significant environmental risks and possibly some big cleanup bills for taxpayers.

TVW’s “The Impact” program
took a look this week at the problems that derelict vessels can cause. The
report begins at about the 5:25 mark.

In the past two years, Ecology’s

Around the Sound: Comments sought on Anacortes site

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program


We’re asking the public to comment on the final round of cleanup work planned at the Cap Sante Marine site on the Anacortes waterfront.

The Port of Anacortes owns the site on Fidalgo Bay. The port did some substantial
cleanup work in 2007 – the photo at right captures some of that effort.

This last round will focus on two small

Around the Sound: A Sound check on salmon, seal health

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Two
newspapers offer their looks at Puget Sound’s health as measured through
different creatures that live in the Sound’s waters.

Chris Dunagan of the Kitsap Sun has published his latest take the Sound’s health. This one focuses on salmon and other fish in the Sound’s waters.

Dunagan
delves into “vital signs” collected by the

Around the Sound: Work underway at the K Ply cleanup site

By Connie Groven, Site Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program


Here the K Ply smokestack is being covered so that asbestos can be scraped from the surfaces the port could reach. January 29, 3013

The past few weeks have seen a lot of activity at the K Ply cleanup site (also known as PenPly or Peninsula Plywood). You can see pictures of the April 9 smokestack demolition here and the whole demolition

Around the Sound: Fresh start for 'Puget Sound Starts Here'

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

The “Puget Sound Starts Here” education campaign has a fresh look.

“Puget Sound Starts Here” is an effort by a partnership of cities, counties, state and federal agencies, nonprofit groups, and local organizations that focuses on improving waters and aquatic habitat in the Puget Sound region.

The Puget Sound Partnership has

Around the Sound: DNR, Kitsap clean up toxic creosote

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Kitsap County Parks & Recreation are going to work next week to pull creosote-soaked debris from Kitsap beaches.

That includes old pilings treated with toxic creosote (similar to those shown in the photo to the right), as well as in-water structures and marine debris tainted

Around the Sound: Toxic pilings removed from Budd Inlet

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

If you happen to pass by the southern end of Olympia’s Budd Inlet these days, you probably will see crews removing old pilings from the bay.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and several partners are coordinating the work, as detailed in this story by The Olympian and this DNR news release.

Also, here’s a map

Around the Sound: Irondale cleanup celebrated

By Michael Bergman, Public Involvement Coordinator


The photo, courtesy of Charlie Bermant of the Peninsula Daily News, shows Chimacum fourth-grader Fox Elder cutting the ribbon during the park celebration.
A spirited and concluding chapter was written on Jan. 24, 2013, for the former Irondale Iron and Steel cleanup site. Jefferson County officials, state agency representatives, members of

Around the Sound: Responsiveness summary for the Rayonier Mill site now available

By Diana Smith, Public Involvement Coordinator, Toxics Cleanup Program




This fall, Ecology held a public comment period on changes to the agreed order (legal agreement) for the Rayonier Mill site.




The agreed order now includes cleanup work during the City of Port Angeles’ combined sewer overflow (CSO) project. The materials management plan describes the interim action (partial cleanup)

Around the Sound: Work underway at the Rayonier Mill cleanup site

By Marian Abbett, Site Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed activity on the Rayonier Mill site. The City of Port Angeles (city) and Rayonier have begun work on the part of the city’s CSO project on the mill property.

About one mile of CSO pipeline trenches will be on the former mill property. Some soil and groundwater the city is finding on the former

Around the Sound: K Ply cleanup process and schedule

By Rebecca Lawson, Regional Section Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Ecology is entering into an agreed order (legal agreement) with the Port of Port Angeles (port) for the K Ply cleanup site (also known as PenPly or Peninsula Plywood). The agreed order requires the port to do an interim action (partial cleanup), investigate the site, and evaluate options for cleanup. Last week Ecology’s

Around the Sound: Irondale cleanup starts soon

By Michael Bergman, Public Involvement Coordinator, Toxics Cleanup Program



Preparations start the week of Aug. 13 for cleanup and restoration work at the former Irondale Iron and Steel site (shown in the photo). Here’s our news release on the project.

The site in Jefferson County is contaminated with metals and total petroleum hydrocarbons from the now-defunct smelter’s operations from 1881

Around the Sound: Public comment period for Rayonier Mill legal agreement amendment

By Marian Abbett, Site Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program


Ecology is amending the agreed order (legal agreement) for the Rayonier Mill site to include cleanup work during the City of Port Angeles’ combined sewer overflow (CSO) project.

The proposed agreed order amendment and Materials Management Plan describe the interim cleanup action tasks. This includes Rayonier’s and the city’s roles and