USA: Ecology Seeks Comments on Anacortes Cleanup Plan

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) invites the public to comment from today to June 30, 2013, on draft documents related to final cleanup work at the Cap Sante Marine site in Anacortes.

Most cleanup work is already done at the site between 11th and 13th streets east of Q Avenue on the Fidalgo Bay shore. Ecology and the Port of Anacortes, which owns the site, are working to finish and maintain cleanup efforts. That includes long-term monitoring and protecting people and the environment from two remaining small pockets of low-level contamination.

Cap Sante Marine is one of several Anacortes-area sites being cleaned up under the Puget Sound Initiative. That’s an effort by local, tribal, state and federal governments; business, agricultural and environmental communities; scientists, and the public to restore and protect the health of the Sound. An Ecology team is working with the port, the city of Anacortes, other site owners, area tribes and other stakeholders to help shape cleanups at those sites.

The port bought the Cap Sante Marine site in 1956. Historically, it has been used as a marine services area, boat yard and offshore fueling facility. From the late 1970s to 2007, Cap Sante Marine Ltd. occupied the site’s northern portion and continued to supply marine services. In the early 1980s, fuel was observed seeping from an underground storage tank into Fidalgo Bay next to the site. Fuel was recovered and the leak was stopped. In 1985, the port removed the tanks and replaced them with new ones.

But petroleum-contaminated soil was not removed at that time. In 2004 and 2005, the port found that a fan-shaped contaminated area around the former tanks that extended to the bay was impacting soil and groundwater. In 2007, underground tanks, supply lines and about 10,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil were removed.

An Anthony’s restaurant is now located on part of the site that was cleaned up in 2007.

From May 30 through June 30, 2013, the public is invited to review and comment on:

– A consent decree, which is a formal legal document that details the cleanup actions Ecology and the port agree are needed to protect human health and environment at the site.

– Investigation results and an evaluation of cleanup alternatives.

– A draft cleanup action plan, which identifies a preferred cleanup option and a schedule for carrying it out.

The preferred option includes:

* Containing contamination and limiting the risk of contact with contaminated soil.

* Groundwater monitoring.

* Controlling any future disturbance of possibly contaminated soil.

– A draft public participation plan, which details how Ecology will involve people interested in the cleanup process for the site.

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Press Release, May 30, 2013