Port of Port Angeles to test for log yard contamination
Published 1:30 am Friday, June 2, 2023
PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles will install multiple groundwater monitoring wells in August and September along the shoreline at the Port Log Yard to test for petroleum and chemical contamination in the soil and groundwater.
The project is part of an agreed order with the state Department of Ecology for investigating contamination at terminals 5, 6 and 7 Uplands study area, identifiable by the large blue chip conveyor tower at Terminal 7.
An agreed order is when both sides settle on what needs to be done to resolve a situation instead of having a court impose a solution.
Ecology is seeking public comment until July 3 on the following documents, available on the agency’s website, by email and by mail:
• Agreed Order DE 21560, which requires the port to conduct Phase 1 of a remedial investigation described in the Remedial Investigation Work Plan Phase 1.
• Remedial Investigation Work Plan (RIWP) — Phase 1. The investigation focuses on determining whether contaminated soil or groundwater is moving from the study area into the harbor.
• Public Participation Plan describes how Ecology informs the community about cleanup at the site.
The area is being used for log storage, debarking operations, and wood chip and trailer storage. Historically, it was used for purposes including mill operations, wood processing and log storage.
Those operations potentially could have contaminated the site with pentachlorophenol (PCP) and tetrachlorophenol (TeCP), hazardous chemicals used as wood preservatives.
A hog fuel boiler also burned salt-laden wood that may have contaminated the soil with dioxins and furans.
Environmental reports and information about historical operations suggest petroleum hydrocarbons, dioxins/furans, TeCP, PCP and related compounds may be present in soil and groundwater at levels that require cleanup under the state’s cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), a citizens initiative that went into effect in March 1989.
Phase I will focus on whether contaminated soil or groundwater is moving from the study area into the harbor. Data will be collected to identify whether upland sources of contamination are an ongoing source of sediment contamination.
Public comments accepted
Comments can be submitted online, by email or by U.S. Postal Service during the comment period from June 1 to July 3, 2023. The state Department of Ecology will consider comments, and if there are no changes, the Port of Port Angeles will do the investigation described in the work plan.
Submit comments online: http://tcp.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=CR6iejMdT
Or by mail: Connie Groven, cleanup site manager
State Department of Ecology
PO Box 47775
Olympia, WA 98504-7775
Or by email: Connie.Groven@ecy.wa.gov
Documents are available at the following locations:
Port Angeles Main Library
2210 S. Peabody St. Port Angeles, WA 98362
Ecology’s Lacey office (by appointment)
300 Desmond Drive SE
Lacey, WA 98503
Email: SWRO@ecy.wa.gov or 360-407-6365
Ecology webpage: https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/ cleanupsearch/site/15440
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@sound publishing.com.
