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Wyckoff Point
East Beach/North Shoal
Work is also under way at another part of the site, East Beach/North Shoal, which is the beach area next to the Point. Contamination in deeper areas of Eagle Harbor was capped with clean sediment years ago, but cleanup of the East Beach/North Shoal area was deferred until the discharge of contamination from Wyckoff Point could be controlled.
The EPA completed additional sampling in 2012, and the results greatly enhanced our understanding of the nature and extent of contamination in the beaches. We are currently evaluating a range of cleanup options. The EPA will include the preferred cleanup alternative for the East Beach/North Shoal in the same Proposed Plan for the Wyckoff Point, described above. To protect people’s health, East Beach and North Shoal are closed to the public and will remain closed until cleanup actions are complete.
Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site Update
Region 10
Bainbridge Island, Washington April 2014
Wyckoff Point Update
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington State Department of Ecology continue to work together on investigations at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site. Both agencies want a technically sound and cost effective cleanup that protects Bainbridge Island people and the environment, as well as the larger Puget Sound region, for many years to come. This update covers work underway during 2014 and plans for work that will continue through summer 2015.
East Beach/North Shoal Update
The EPA is performing a Focused Feasibility Study at Wyckoff Point, the site’s former processing area. The study will help us better understand the extent of creosote contamination at the Point. We are further evaluating how contaminants are distributed at this part of the site, as well as alternatives for permanently removing these contaminants.
We are also looking at treating mobile contaminants in the upper aquifer as much as practical, to significantly reduce movement and leaching of these contaminants. The Focused Feasibility Study will be used to develop a proposed cleanup plan, or Proposed Plan. The Proposed Plan will describe the EPA’s preferred cleanup alternative for the Point. We hope to issue the Proposed Plan for public comment by fall 2014, and a cleanup decision, or Record of Decision Amendment, by summer 2015.
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Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site Update
On April 1, 2012, the Department of Ecology, in support of the EPA, assumed interim responsibility for conducting the operation and maintenance of the Wyckoff groundwater extraction and treatment system while EPA completes its work on the Focused Feasibility Study for Wyckoff Point.
Ecology agreed to operate the groundwater extraction and treatment system plant for two years. During this time, the EPA would complete the Focused Feasibility Study for the Point. The Wyckoff site is complex, and the EPA’s work has taken longer than anticipated to complete. However, the additional data collection and analysis during this time has led to a far better understanding of conditions at the site. The EPA and Ecology continue to work closely together as EPA develops cleanup alternatives.
Between April 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, Ecology has agreed to continue the operation and maintenance of the Wyckoff groundwater extraction and treatment system. Ecology had not anticipated this responsibility but has identified and committed limited funds to operate the plant during this period, by rearranging cleanup project financial obligations.
Ecology is working with the plant contractor CH2M Hill to maximize the operating period of the groundwater extraction and treatment system, based on the available funding. Ecology anticipates that funds will be sufficient to operate the groundwater extraction and treatment system during the wettest times of the year (about November through March), when contaminants have the highest potential to migrate off site.
Operating Schedule Change for Wyckoff Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System
During the remaining months, there will be continued limited maintenance activities at the plant. There is also a security system in place to protect the plant. To assess the environmental impacts of this modified operating schedule, the EPA will continue to monitor groundwater levels at the site and the groundwater quality within the lower aquifer.
To plan for normal operation of the plant for the period July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017, Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program will be developing a budget request to the state legislature.
Inside the groundwater treatment plant, large tanks hold granular activated carbon, which removes polyaromatic hydrocarbons from the water
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Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site UpdateWyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site Update
If you need materials in an alternative format, please contact Debra Sherbina at 800-424-4372, ext. 0247.TTY users: please call the Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339 and ask for Debra Sherbina.
Chemical InformationFor information on possible health effects from polyaromatic hydrocarbons, pentachlorophenol, and other contaminants at the site, see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry web portal at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp
Site BackgroundThe Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site is on the east side of Bainbridge Island, Washington, in central Puget Sound. It encompasses the former Wyckoff wood-treating facility (operated from 1903-1988) and a former shipyard. The EPA capped approximately 60 acres of contaminated sediments located next to these former facilities in Eagle Harbor.
The site is divided into four program work areas called “operable units.” The four operable units are West Harbor, East Harbor, Soil, and Groundwater. In the past, creosote, oil, and other wood-treatment chemicals were used at the site. These chemicals have left high levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, pentachlorophenol, and dioxins in soil, groundwater, and in seeps on beaches next to the site. These contaminants are at the site in three forms: dissolved contaminants, liquid lighter than water (light non-aqueous phase liquid), and liquid heavier than water (dense non-aqueous phase liquid).
The most severe contamination is found in the upper aquifer groundwater underneath the site’s former process area. There is also a lower aquifer at the site, separated from the upper aquifer by a clay layer called an aquitard. The lower aquifer has lower concentrations of contaminants than the upper aquifer. The aquitard reduces movement of groundwater between the two aquifers.
The Eagle Harbor sediments were also polluted with organic compounds from the wood treating operations, along with heavy metals such as mercury, lead, copper, and zinc from shipyards.
The EPA and the Department of Ecology are working together to make sure the community has opportunities to learn about, ask questions, and stay involved as site work moves forward.
In December 2013, the EPA held a public meeting to present the results of soil sampling at the Point and East Beach/North Shoal earlier in 2013. The EPA also presented the “conceptual site model,” which showed how much contamination there is on parts of the site and where it is located. The next public meeting will be held in summer 2014, after the EPA
produces the Comparative Analysis of Alternatives, which will compare and contrast the different cleanup options.
Ecology also formed a small Community Interest Group, to be active over the next year. The purpose of the group is to communicate community concerns, suggestions, and interests to the EPA team to consider in the development of cleanup alternatives.
This is an informal process. The group meets quarterly with EPA and Ecology to discuss project status.
How to Stay Involved
ContactHoward Orlean, EPA Project Manager 800-424-4372, ext. 2851 [email protected]
Chung Ki Yee, Ecology Project Manager 360-407-6991 [email protected]
EmailIf you would like to be added to the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site mailing list to receive updates on site activities, contact Debra Sherbina at [email protected] or call 800-424-4372, ext. 0247. If you received this fact sheet directly, you are already on the mailing list.
For More InformationSite Documents
See the list on the back page
Printed on 100% recycled paper
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, ETPA-202-4 Seattle, Washington 98101-3140April 2014
Region 10
Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site Update
Look Inside for • Wyckoff Point Update • East Beach/North Shoal Update • Operating Schedule Change for
Groundwater Treatment System
Find Site DocumentsView technical documents, fact sheets, and other documents related to the cleanup:
Online, visit:http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/sites/wyckoff
EPA Superfund Records CenterCall for an appointment Toll-free: 800-424-4372, ext. 44941200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101
Bainbridge Public Library1270 Madison AvenueBainbridge Island, WA 98110Call for hours: 206-842-4162
