WASHINGTON STATE
DEPARTMENT DF

ECOLOGY

Bainbridge Island, Washington	October 2012

Moving forward with cleanup at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site is important for Bainbridge
Island and our region. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Washington State
Department of Ecology (Ecology) want to share information on the progress made so far and the work that
will take place in the next two years.

Site Background

The Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site
is located on the east side of Bainbridge
Island, Washington, in central Puget Sound. It
encompasses the former Wyckoff wood-treating
facility (operated from 1903-1988), a former
shipyard, and roughly 500 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.

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.

Current Groundwater Conditions at the Site and Sheet Pile Wall

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Work Moves Forward at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site

Completed Remedial Activities

D

EPA has completed a great deal of work at the Wyckoff/
Eagle Harbor Superfund Site since 2000. Major activities
that have been completed include:

Installing more than 2,300 lineal feet of sheet pile wall
around the most heavily contaminated area of the site.

Capping 15 acres of contaminated harbor sediments
with clean materials.

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Creating more than 1,200 lineal feet of habitat beach.
Constructing a new groundwater treatment plant.
Upgrading the existing groundwater extraction well
system and groundwater level monitoring system.

Demolishing the old groundwater treatment plant.
Continued monitoring of groundwater for hydraulic
containment and water quality.

So far, more than $150 million has been spent
on cleanup activities.

Currently, contaminated soil, groundwater,
and liquids lighter than water ( non-aqueous
phase liquids) are contained within the site by
the sheet pile wall. The groundwater extraction
system and groundwater treatment plant prevent
contaminated groundwater from leaving the site
and entering into the harbor and lower aquifer.

EPA believes the risks to human health and the
environment from the site are under control,
and that the site is stable and will remain so
during ongoing operations and maintenance of
the containment system and the groundwater
treatment plant.

Ecology's Concerns with the Containment Remedy

Under the Superfund law, the State is required to take over
and pay for operation and maintenance of a cleanup that is
funded by EPA. Ecology's primary concerns with the EPA
containment remedy are:

•	The long-term environmental consequence of leaving
large amounts of mobile contamination beneath the
former process area, given its important and sensitive
location on the shores of Puget Sound.

•	The financial and logistical burden placed on the State
and the Bainbridge Island community. The life-cycle
costs to operate and maintain the containment remedy
in perpetuity are estimated to require hundreds of
millions of dollars.

Due to these concerns, in September 2009,
Ecology began a nine-month generational
remedy evaluation. The evaluation looked
at other solutions that would reduce the
remaining volume and mobility of the site
contaminants.

Members of the Bainbridge Island community
were involved in the evaluation, including
a workshop of nationally known technical
experts who posed potential cleanup ideas.

The evaluation was completed in August
2010, and results presented in the Wyckoff
Generational Remedy Evaluation Report.

Moving Forward

EPA and Ecology agreed on an approach to address some 1.
of the challenging issues posed by the site, and entered into
a two-year comprehensive Superfund State Contract (SSC)
to guide these efforts.

This contract covers the period from April 1,2012 through 2.
March 31,2014. It defines specific activities for Ecology
and EPA as follows:

Ecology will operate and maintain the Wyck-
off Groundwater Extraction and Treatment
System to contain groundwater contamination
within the upland part of the site.

EPA will evaluate cleanup alternatives specific
to removing sources of contaminants at the
site's former process area. This will be done in a
document called a Focused Feasibility Study.

Continued on next page O

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Moving Forward

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Operations and Maintenance of the
Wyckoff Groundwater Extraction and
Treatment System

In March 2012 Ecology (through a competitive bid
process) selected and entered into a contract with
CH2M Hill to operate and maintain the Wyckoff
Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System
through March 31,2014.

Focused Feasibility Study Activities

EPA has just completed the work plan for the study
EPA proposes to:

1.	Further assess the lateral and vertical extent of
mobile contaminants.

2.	Evaluate the effectiveness of thermal/heat reme-
diation on remaining contaminants.

3.	Better understand the groundwater aquifer.

4.	Assess how well the sheet pile wall holds back the
contaminated groundwater.

5.	Develop potential alternatives for removing the
contaminant sources, including thermal remedia-
tion.

6.	Determine what other supporting structures
might be needed, such as an expanded treatment
plant and power requirements.

7.	Compare the alternatives using the National Con-
tingency Plan's nine evaluation criteria.

These results will be presented in a Focused
Feasibility Study report.

Next, EPA will prepare a document called a Proposed
Plan that explains the preferred cleanup alternative.
The Proposed Plan will be available for public
comment.

A second Focused Feasibility Study report will
summarize the findings related to the creosote seeps
along the eastern beach area. The findings of both
of these reports may be combined into one Proposed
Plan available for public comment.

Path Forward

For the selected remedy, EPA and Ecology will
negotiate a framework for funding and carrying
out the site's cleanup actions and long-term care
responsibilities as defined in the Proposed Plan and
the subsequent Record of Decision Amendment. The
framework will be formalized in a Superfund State
Contract that defines obligations for the site into the
future.

Making Progress on Other
Key Site Studies

1.	In summer 2012, EPA sampled the subsurface
beach sediment at the North Shoal and East
Beach at the site. EPA used a coring drill to take
samples. The completed beach sampling report is
expected to be available later this year.

2.	EPA has completed the Year Seventeen Monitor-
ing Report for the East Harbor Operable Unit.
Results show the intertidal and subtidal sediment
caps, except for a "scour zone" around the ferry
lanes, are effectively isolating contaminants. The
scour zone is the area where the ferry speeds up
and slows down in Eagle Harbor, and erodes the
sediment caps.

3.	EPA has finished the third Five-Year Review
Report for the site.

4.	EPA and Ecology plan to hold a community
meeting later this year to present the progress and
future work at this site.

If you need materials in an alternative format, please
contact Debra Sherbina at 1-800-424-4372 ext. 0247
[ft TDD users: please call the Federal Relay Service at
800-877-8339 and give the operator Debra Sherbina's
phone number.

For More Information

Howard Orlean,

EPA Region 10
Project Manager
206-553-2851
orlean.howard@epa.gov

Chung Ki Yee

Ecology

Project Manager
360-407-6991
cyee461 @ecy.wa.gov

On the web:

yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/sites/wyckoff

If 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 sherbina.debra@epa.gov or
800-424-4372, ext. 0247. If you received this fact
sheet directly, you are already on the mailing list.

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Work Moves Forward at the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site

&EPA

United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

ECOLOGY

Region 10

1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, ETPA-081
Seattle,Washington 98101-3140
October 2012r

Pre-Sorted Standard
Postage and Fees Paid
U.S. EPA
Permit No.G-35
Seattle, WA

Work Moves Forward at
Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor
Superfund Site

Rend Inside for details

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