Budd Inlet Sediments

We entered into an agreement, Amendment 2 of Agreed Order DE 6083, with the Port of Olympia (Port), who is a potentially liable person (PLP) responsible for cleanup of the site. 

From June 9 to July 10, 2023, we held a comment period for people to consider Amendment 2 and an updated Public Participation Plan for contamination cleanup of the Budd Inlet Sediments site. Sediment is the sand, mud, silt, and the remains of plants and animals under the water where the contamination is located. The comments we received during the comment period did not require making any changes to Amendment 2 or the Public Participation Plan, and we finalized the documents.

We appreciate the time and effort it took for people to review AO Amendment 2 and possibly other site documents. We appreciate that people submitted their thoughtful comments and we considered each comment. We responded to the topics of concern identified in the comments in a response to comments document.

Response to Comments document.

There have been several agreements between the Port and Ecology related to cleanup of Budd Inlet sediment. Each agreement reflects the current knowledge at the time. As investigations proceed, we learn more about the type and extent of contamination.

2008: AO DE 6083:  The AO focused on the elevated dioxins contamination located in sediment in the berth area located adjacent to the Port's docking facility in West Bay. The full nature and extent of contamination is unknown and the future cleanup in Budd Inlet was foreseen as a possibility. 

The Port completed two remedial actions:

• Remove sediment with elevated dioxins from portions of the berth area adjacent to the docking facility in West Bay.
• Perform a pilot study to assess characteristics of sediment and benefits of proposed dredging technologies for future cleanup of Budd Inlet. 

2012 Amendment 1: The Amendment requires the Port to conduct investigations into the nature and extent of contamination in the Study Area in the West and East bays and in the vicinity around the peninsula. The Study Area is different than the site, which is the area where contaminated sediment has come to be located. 

Among several requirements, the amendment requires the Port: 

• Investigate nature and extent of contamination in the Study Area.
• Draft an Interim Action Plan (partial cleanup) to address sediment contamination in the Study Area.
• Investigate potential sources of sediment contamination in the vicinity of the peninsula located between East and West bays. 

2023 Amendment 2: the amendment substantially increases the scope of cleanup actions required of the Port. Among several requirements, the amendment requires the Port: 

• Prepare a public review draft and final versions of the interim action plan for the Study Area. The plan will not rule out reasonable alternatives for the ultimate cleanup of the site as a whole.  

Dioxins and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs) are hazardous chemicals found in sediment in the vicinity of the Study Area and are the focus of the cleanup. Other hazardous chemicals that are being investigated are metals (mercury, arsenic, cadmium), pentachlorophenol, and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Some of the hazardous chemicals found in Budd Inlet sediment do not break down easily in the environment and, as a result, remain in the environment for a long time. They bioaccumulate or build up in animals through the food chain because they don't break down and go away. 

Most people are exposed to very small amounts of contaminants as they go about their daily lives. The main way people can be exposed to contaminants in the sediment is by eating fish or shellfish collected from the contaminated area. Another way people and animals are exposed is by having direct skin contact or accidentally consuming contaminated mud. 

Historical industries along the shoreline likely contributed to contamination of harbor sediments. In the 1920s to 1980s, lumber-related industries, like sawmills, plywood manufacturing, a veneer factory, and other lumber-related facilities often burned salt-laden wood that created dioxins. Wood was treated with pentachlorophenol, a chemical preservative, that was another source of dioxin contamination. Creosote was used as a wood preservative, likely adding to cPAH contamination of sediment. Historical stormwater runoff has also been a likely source of contamination. 

A key provision in cleaning up sediment is determining the amount of regional background contamination. The regional background is concentrations of chemicals in sediment from diffuse sources such as stormwater and vehicle emissions. Regional background varies between regions depending on the level of urbanization. To cleanup sediment, regional background contamination is considered because an area cleaned up to a level less than the regional background is likely to become re-contaminated from diffuse regional sources.

Knowing the regional background helps us set the sediment cleanup levels. Investigations have shown areas in East and West bays exceed the regional background for dioxins and cPAHs.