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Navigation Restrictions Proposed for Eagle Harbor
Release Date: 3/8/1999
Contact Information: Ken Marcy
marcy.ken@epamail.epa.gov
(206) 553-2782
March 8, 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 99-10
For Immediate Release
In order to clean up and protect Bainbridge Island’s Eagle Harbor, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is partnering with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, and the City of Bainbridge Island. The Coast Guard is proposing the establishment of a Regulated Navigation Area (RNA), which will be used to preserve and protect the integrity of a clean sediment cap that has been placed over contaminated seabed in Eagle Harbor as part of the cleanup process at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund site.
The proposed RNA, if enacted, will prohibit activities that would disturb the seabed, such as anchoring, dredging, or laying cable. The Coast Guard may authorize deviations from some or all of the requirements of the proposed RNA if the proposed activity is cleanup-related, can be shown to pose no threat to the cap, or is otherwise necessary and consistent with protecting marine safety. As proposed, the RNA is not expected to affect transit or navigation of the area. It covers an area not usually used as an anchorage and lies primarily in the active Washington State Ferry lanes.
The Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund site is located on the east side of Bainbridge Island, in Central Puget Sound, Washington. The site includes a former 40-acre wood-treating facility, contaminated sediments in adjacent Eagle Harbor, and other upland sources of contamination to the harbor, including a former shipyard.
Part of the remediation process for this site consists of covering the contaminated sediments in Eagle Harbor with a layer of clean medium-to-coarse grained sand approximately one-meter (3-feet) thick.
This cap is used to isolate contaminants and limit their vertical migration and release into the water column. The cap also limits the potential for marine organisms to reach the contaminated sediment. By restricting activities such as anchoring, salvage, or dredging which would disturb the sediment cap covering the contaminated seabed, the Harbor bottom will continue the lengthy healing process.
The Coast Guard will accept written comment on this proposal until close of business on April 26, 1999. The proposal was published in the Federal Register (Volume 64, Number 35, pps. 8764-8765) on February 23, 1999.
For public comment, write to:
Lt. Paul M. “Bo” Stocklin
U.S. Coast Guard
1519 Alaskan Way South, Bldg 1
Seattle WA 98134-1192
or call, 206/217-6237
Lt. Paul M. “Bo” Stocklin
U.S. Coast Guard
1519 Alaskan Way South, Bldg 1
Seattle WA 98134-1192
or call, 206/217-6237
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