Cornet Bay Marina

The remedial action was completed in August 2014 and the Consent Decree was closed out after a Joint Motion To Dismiss was issued by the Island County Superior Court in December 2014.

The site was delisted from Ecology's Hazardous Sites List in February 2016 after results from four consecutive quarterly groundwater sampling events showed compliance with state cleanup levels. 

• Responsiveness Summary 2015

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA; Chapter 70.105D RCW) is Washington’s environmental cleanup law. It provides requirements for contaminated site cleanup and sets standards that protect human health and the environment. Ecology enacts the MTCA and oversees cleanups. The MTCA site cleanup process is completed in steps (see graphic to the left) over a variable timeline.

The Cornet Bay Marina Site is associated with a marina located on 200 Cornet Bay Road in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. It is bounded on the west by Cornet Bay and on the east by Cornet Bay Road and mixed residential homes and light commercial land uses. Deception Pass State Park is immediately adjacent to the north of the Site. The marina was constructed in the 1960s and operated as a marina and general store since then. The Site, which covers approximately 1.1 acres of upland property, includes a store building, a gravel parking lot, and a 360-foot-long steel bulkhead that separates the upland facility from the marina. Fuel is provided to boats via a vaulted underground storage tank (UST).

There were four USTs in use at the Site from the mid 1960’s through 1989. Three of the tanks contained gasoline, and one tank contained diesel. Petroleum from leaking underground storage tanks and fuel lines was discovered at the Site in 1989. The four tanks were removed in 1990 and replaced with a 12,000 gallon tank enclosed within an underground concrete vault. This tank has the capacity of holding 9,000 gallon gasoline and 3,000 gallon diesel.

The state entered into a Mixed Funding Consent Decree with the property owner in 1993 for the cleanup of the petroleum contamination.  The cleanup allowed the parties to share the cost of the cleanup. Several investigations and preliminary cleanup actions occurred in the 1990s and 2000s. Adequate funding was finally procured from the state legislature to proceed with the final cleanup efforts in 2014. The cleanup was more complicated by its location along the shoreline of state and federal waters, requiring a number of permits, and the poor condition of the old bulkhead.

In 2014, about 23,000 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil were excavated at the property to a depth of 16 feet. The contaminated soils were transported to Cemex in Everett for disposal. New clean soil was used to re-fill the excavated area. Confirmation soil samples were taken to verify that contamination had been removed to below state cleanup levels.

The old wooden bulkhead was replaced with a new 360 foot steel bulkhead. This was to accommodate the safe excavation of contaminated soil in the upland and to prevent contamination into the Bay during cleanup activities. A sidewalk and guardrail were replaced.

Petroleum-contaminated soils were excavated from the small wetland on the west end of the property noted as the sediment pond. The wetland area was enhanced by re-grading and planting native plants as part of the permitting requirement (Joint Aquatic Resources Permit) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies.

The Marina store building was temporarily moved to the adjacent state park property to facilitate excavation of contaminated soils beneath the building. The store was moved back to its original location and is open for business including the sale of marine fuel. The old septic system was also removed and replaced during the excavation activities.

Ecology created a Flicker account  for this cleanup site.

Soil and groundwater has been contaminated by petroleum from several fuel line releases during 1989. Contamination had spread almost across the entire property over the years. The known contaminants in soil and groundwater included:

• Gasoline
• Diesel fuel
• Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX)