Toxic Water, Toxic Soil: Budd Inlet and the Future of Puget Sound
Dioxin levels in the lower Budd Inlet are too high to safely dredge excessive sediment. Shellfish harvesting is off limits in the area due to safety concerns. During the summer months oxygen sinks too low, dangerous to marine life.
Once a favorite swimming spots for residents, Capitol Lake and Budd Inlet are heavily polluted by old industrial plants, untreated stormwater runoff from city streets and parking lots, even permitted discharge of treated sewage.
"We've suffered from over 100 years of industry and other damaging sources of pollution in Budd Inlet," said Bruce Wishart, legislative lobbyist for People for Puget Sound, a conservation group.
Almost 1/5 million cubic feet of sediment are slated to be dredged out of Olympia's port waters. The project is on hold while a $250,000 study by the Department of Ecology determines the dioxin content in the sediment, the potential harm caused by stirring it up, and methods for safe disposal. The study should be completed by June 2007.
City and state officials as well as local business owners and residents have generally reacted positively to the slated clean-up. The unanswered questions are who will be responsible for organizing the effort, and where the funding will come from.
Budd Inlet may become a poster child for the rest of Puget Sound. In the current Washington State Legislature, Governor Chris Gregoire is pushing a request for government funding and oversight for clean-up projects throughout the sound.
The proposed Puget Sound budget includes $54.7 million to prevent and clean up toxics pollution. State Ecology Director Jay Manning is confident that "Budd Inlet could be the site of a demonstration project for Puget Sound cleanup." And if the project is successful, it may be repeated in other parts of the country.
The family of chemicals known as dioxins are a byproduct of industrial processes. In Budd Inlet, dioxins were largely created by the former Cascade Pole wood-treating plant at the tip of the port peninsula. While the plant is gone, the dioxins remain.
The federal Clean Water Act requires states to clean up water bodies that don't meet water quality standards. In Washington State, the Department of Ecology began a cleanup study for the Deschutes River, Capitol Lake, and Budd Inlet in April 2003. Known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study, the multi-year process will result in development of a Water Cleanup Plan.
John Dodge, "Budd Inlet could become model for Sound cleanup" The Olympian www.theolympian.com/224/story/68738.html
Published by Charlotte Hoffstrom
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- Typical options for dealing with contaminated marine sediments are dredging and upland disposal.
- Budd Inlet had the highest number of low dissolved oxygen readings in a 2004 assessment of 22 sites.
- The Clean Water Act requires states to clean up water bodies that don't meet quality standards.
4 Comments
Post a CommentSediment sampling in lower Budd Inlet last year revealed dioxin levels ranging from 0.1 ppt to 52.7 ppt. The dioxin limit set by state and federal agencies for disposing of marine sediments at a South Sound marine disposal site near Ketron and Anderson islands is 3.8 ppt. In Washington, the state toxic cleanup standard for dioxin found in residential soil is 6.67 ppt.
I was just curious. Here in Mid-Michigan on the Tittabawassee River they have found levels of dioxins up to 100,000 ppt. in the river, and 84,000 ppt on the riverbank. State safe residential contact is 90 ppt. There is talk of dredging it, but it is meeting high resistance politically, and by The Dow Chemical Company, who put it there. Check us out.. www.trwnews.net
The dioxin contents are high enough that soil to be dredged has to be properly disposed of (on land, not deeper into the sound). The current study being done is to determine the actual dioxin content, so sure facts are not yet available.
Does anyone know the dioxin numbers in lower Budd Inlet? How High are the levels in parts per trillion or million?