EAGLE HARBOR WYCKOFF

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expects to begin several new phases of cleanup at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site next year. We expect to decommission existing groundwater wells, install replacement wells and demolish the old thermal pilot test system in early 2024. Read our fact sheet to find out about the multiple phases of cleanup planned at the site and how these activities will impact the community.

Background

Over the years, extensive cleanup actions have been completed in the soil and sediment of the site. The two areas remaining to be cleaned up are the beaches around the point and the former wood treating operations area. The beaches cleanup will include removal of contaminated sediments and capping remaining contamination. Cleanup will begin with demolition of the former thermal pilot test system and replacement of groundwater wells, described above. Future activities include replacing the perimeter sheet pile wall, in-situ soil stabilization, and soil capping.

What’s Happening?

Within the next year, the U.S. EPA will be entering a very active construction period at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site. Additional cleanup actions are needed in the soil and groundwater at the former Wyckoff wood treating facility, and in the adjacent beach sediments. Cleanup investigations will support ongoing construction design for additional work at the site. Through the fall of 2023, residents will see pre-design investigation activities at the former Wyckoff wood-treatment facility, located at the mouth of Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. 

These activities will include porewater sampling, surface and subsurface sediment sampling, bathymetry and LiDAR surveys, a baseline eelgrass survey, geotechnical drilling, and cap stability measurements. Crews will perform some of this work from the water on barges, and some work during low tides on the beach. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will direct and oversee all work. Most work will occur on closed portions of the beaches surrounding the site. The portions of the beach that are safe for recreational use will remain open to the public, with limited access during active sampling operations. 

EPA expects the design investigation activities will continue through October 2023. For more information, contact EPA Remedial Project Manager Bernadette Wright, wright.bernadette@epa.gov (206-771-3106) or Ecology Site Manager Hun Seak Park, hunseak.park@ecy.wa.gov.

Check out the EPA's project website for more details.

The Wyckoff Superfund Site is on the eastern side of Bainbridge Island, in central Puget Sound. It forms the entry to Eagle Harbor. The site includes the former Wyckoff Company wood-treatment facility and subtidal and intertidal sediments in Eagle Harbor.

A creosote wood-treatment facility operated on the point for 85 years. These operations contaminated the soil and groundwater beneath the Former Process Area (the Point) with chemicals from the wood-treatment process, primarily creosote-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pentachlorophenol (PCP), aromatic carrier oils, and dioxins/furans. These contaminants pose a risk to public health and the environment.

It is in an area of significant wave action, exposed to a wide northeasterly fetch and vulnerable to constant ferry wake. It is located next to an ancestral and important current tribal fishing ground, with established eelgrass beds.

The City of Bainbridge Island and the Bainbridge Island Metro Park and Recreation District have purchased the Wyckoff property, including the Point, with plans to establish a showcase regional public park. The City owns the Point, while approximately half of the site, including the Japanese-American World War II Exclusion Memorial, are co-owned by the City of Bainbridge and Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District. Development of the park must occur in accordance with requirements stated in the 2006 Agreed Order entered into between the Department of Ecology and the City of Bainbridge Island.

EPA listed Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor as a Superfund Site in 1987 and began Superfund cleanup actions in 1991. The Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site encompasses contaminated areas within Eagle Harbor. The Superfund Site was divided into four operable units (OU). Three of these areas (OU’s) are within the subject site of the 2006 Agreed Order, including the East Harbor OU, Wyckoff Soil OU and Wyckoff Groundwater OU. More information about these areas can be found in Ecology’s 2006 Phase III Acquisition Area Fact Sheet or on the EPA webpage.