Helicopter to lift tainted debris from beaches
By Jeff Chew, Peninsula Daily News
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Work this week focuses on debris at Fort Worden and Fort Flagler state parks, said Lisa Kaufman, Resources restoration manager of the Orca Straits District Northwest Region.
Explaining that pilings removal would not resume until July 15 when the salmon migration window closes, Kaufman said an estimated 1,139 cubic feet and 18.2 tons of treated material would be removed at Fort Worden.
At Fort Flagler, an estimated 1,153 cubic feet or 20 tons of treated material would be pulled, totaling 36.6 tons for both parks.
"This is debris that breaks off from elsewhere and washes onto beaches from docks, piers and ferry terminals," Kaufman said Tuesday, standing on the Fort Flagler State Park shore on Marrowstone Island, fronting Kilisut Harbor.
There, she was supervising two heavy-lifting workers from the Washington Conservation Corps.
About eight Resources representatives combed the Fort Worden shores Monday and Fort Flagler's beaches Tuesday to gather, tag and stack debris for a helicopter that will airlift the debris for proper disposal by rail at the Roosevelt Landfill in southern Washington.
The helicopter is scheduled to begin its debris airlift work after 9 a.m. today.
It will operate north of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.
The airlift will resume Thursday morning on Fort Flagler beaches.
Volunteers help
The cleanup work, which focused last year on the Port Townsend shoreline, is aided by such volunteer organizations as the Jefferson County Beach Watchers, Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee, and the Northwest Straits Commission.
About $800,000 in funding has been provided through the Puget Sound Partnership for the Jefferson County cleanup, Kaufman said.
The state project aims to clean up Puget Sound by 2020.
Work this summer in Jefferson County will remove the dock at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, finish removal of the railroad trestle off the Port of Port Townsend Boat Haven, and pull pilings from Old Fort Townsend State Park shores and off Glen Cove Industrial Park south of Port Townsend, Kaufman said.
Creosote, a distillate of coal tar often containing more than 300 chemicals, was used as a wood preservative during much of the past century.
It was commonly used to treat telephone poles, railroad ties, piers, docks and floats.
Chemicals in treated wood materials, such as those on beaches or old dock pilings, can be harmful and even toxic to marine species, say Resources officials.
Removal work in Port Angeles last summer razed the A-frame dock on Ediz Hook and pulled pilings off Oak Street, west of the Coho ferry terminal.
Resources also has removed pilings and toxic-laden debris at Dungeness Spit Wildlife Refuge, using helicopters to remove 150 tons of logs for safe disposal.
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Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: April 22. 2008 9:00PM