Inlet’s Dioxin Faces New Inspection
By John Dodge, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.
Jan. 5–Budd dredging project will await outcome of $250,000 state study
The state Department of Ecology will study whether Budd Inlet needs further cleanup of dioxin, a chemical whose buildup can be harmful to humans, before dredging can begin.
The $250,000 study, set to begin soon, is aimed at better determining the source and extent of dioxin contamination in lower Budd Inlet. It comes after last year’s discovery of high levels of the toxic chemical in marine sediments in the inlet.
The chemical was within the boundaries of a proposed project to dredge the shipping channel and marine terminal berths at the Port of Olympia.
More than 50 percent of the 458,000 cubic yards of sediment slated for dredging was too contaminated to dispose of at an open water site between Ketron and Anderson islands.
The Ecology study will expand on earlier samplings by checking pollution levels at different depths and locations in Budd Inlet, said Rebecca Lawson, toxics cleanup program manager in Ecology’s Southwest regional office. A consultant should be on board within a few weeks and deliver a final report by June, she said.
“We hope to gather enough information to determine if we need a further cleanup of Budd Inlet,” she told members of the Capitol Lake management committee Thursday.
She said the study should include about 50 sediment samples and laboratory tests of the dioxin to determine where it might be coming from.
Possible sources include particles in auto exhaust reaching the water in stormwater runoff and pollution from industries that once lined the waterfront.
The two highest concentrations of dioxin found in the first 4 feet of sediment slated for dredging were next to port shipping berths: 52.3 parts per trillion and 52.7 ppt. In this case, the dioxin limit for open water disposal of this sediment in South Sound is 3.8 ppt, a number set by state and federal officials.
Dioxin was found in numerous parts of the inlet. The highest concentrations are near port and Olympia stormwater discharge pipes, which means the outfall discharges should be tested, citizen activist Stanley Stahl said.
“They could be pumping dioxin into the area by the shipping berth,” Stahl said.
“The stormwater will need to be looked at,” Lawson agreed, adding that it might need to be part of another study.
In addition, Capitol Lake sediments need to be examined for dioxin, especially before any decision to take out the Fifth Avenue Dam and allow the Deschutes River to flow freely into lower Budd Inlet, Lawson said.
Any such decision is under study and years away.
Port of Olympia officials hope to do the first phase of dredging at the marine terminal berths in the fall, removing 30,000 to 70,000 cubic yards of dioxin-tainted sediment, Port Public Works Director Andrea Fontenot said.
The port has set aside $900,000 to dredge the berthing area, but that won’t be enough. A cubic yard of dioxin-stained sediments could cost $50 to $100 for proper disposal, according to rough estimates by the Corps of Engineers. That means it could cost $1.5 million to $7 million for the first phase of the dredging project.
Port critics oppose Ecology’s using money from its toxics-cleanup account to help pay for dredging, especially if it is not a preferred cleanup plan.
“It should be the responsibility of the port. It’s really a question of whether the marine terminal is economically feasible to operate,” said Jerry Parker, another activist.
The marine terminal and its tenants in 2005 generated more than 130 family-wage jobs and $7 million for the local economy, Fontenot said.
It’s possible the port could qualify for Ecology cleanup money, provided that dredging was a preferred dioxin-cleanup alternative, Lawson said.
“The port work could help us with an interim cleanup,” she said. “But we don’t support or oppose port business.”
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.
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