WA Dept of Ecology & Rayonier Port Angeles Superfund Site

The Washington State Department of Ecology recently mailed out the first report in a long time to residents near Ennis Creek in Port Angeles. This report covers the update to the work that has been going on for over a decade to try and restore the superfund site at Ennis Creek. There has been feedback from concerned citizens on the issue.

Status Update: Port Angeles Cleanup Sites and Natural Resource Damage Assessments

It’s the first report we’ve seen from Ecology since 2019 about what’s happening at the Rayonier site, Port Angeles Harbor and several other contaminated sites in the PA area that are being cleaned up, or will supposedly be cleaned up.

Here is the reply from the Friends of Ennis Creek.

ECOLOGY MAILING PROMPTS QUESTIONS, COMMENTS.

You may have recently received a 4-page mailing titled “Status Update: Port Angeles Cleanup Sites and Natural Resource Damage Assessments.”

It was sent out to North Olympic Peninsula residents and other interested parties by the state Department of Ecology (ECY) the first week of April.

The mailing came as a result of requests from Friends of Ennis Creek and others concerned about how long it’s taking to deal with toxic contaminants at the Rayonier mill site and in Port Angeles Harbor and impacts on Ennis Creek, our last best chance of a salmon stream in Port Angeles.

Here’s a link to the 4-page mailing Ecology sent — https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/cleanupsearch/document/123269.

The mailer provides a great deal of information — but it’s also concerning.

Robbie Mantooth, co-founder of Friends of Ennis Creek, found the Ecology mailing wanting in several areas:

“The city of Port Angeles, area tribes, Friends of Ennis Creek and many other governmental and non-governmental entities have told ECY leaving a toxic landfill on the Port Angeles waterfront is unacceptable.

“Public concerns have included how contaminants are likely to spread on water and land because of sea level rise and extreme weather.

“This mailing doesn’t provide enough detail to make the public’s overwhelmingly consistent demands clear.

“We have asked for speeding up actions, including doing cleanup and restoration whenever possible.”

Your comments about the mailing would be appreciated.

Please post them in this post’s comments section, below, and also email them to Barry Rogowski, program manager of state Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program. His email is brog461@ecy.wa.gov.

You also can email Robbie at ennis@olypen.com.

Here is Robbie’s reaction:

The public needs information about negotiations with Rayonier to restore land and water harmed by the company’s mill operations. If they must be confidential, the public deserves an explanation.

The public needs assurance that the change in property ownership, from Rayonier Properties LLC to Rayonier Advanced Materials (AM), will not affect the company’s financial responsibilities to pay for cleanup and restoration.

The public needs clarification of such subjective terms ECY is using — such as “maximum extent practicable” — and assurance this doesn’t mean a limit to the company’s responsibilities.

The public needs assurance that ECY is responsive to concerns expressed in more than 160 comments sent to ECY during the last public comment period.

Almost every comment demanded the removal of ALL contaminants from the former Rayonier mill site — but the ECY Model Toxic Control Act (MTCA) team’s most recent preferred alternatives would continue to cover and leave toxic wastes in our community rather than removing them.

We are also concerned that existing signage on the Rayonier fence does not adequately inform the public about the level of contamination and about toxic exposures to human health.

(Darlene Schanfald of the Olympic Environmental Council would like new signs at the Rayonier site and along the Olympic Discovery Trail that parallels it: “Eye-catching, informative signage is needed on the fences around the Rayonier site to inform the public why they should not enter the site.”)

The city of Port Angeles, area tribes, Friends of Ennis Creek and many other governmental and non-governmental entities have told ECY leaving a toxic landfill on the Port Angeles waterfront is unacceptable.

Public concerns have included how contaminants are likely to spread on water and land because of sea level rise and extreme weather.

This mailing doesn’t provide enough detail to make the public’s overwhelmingly consistent demands clear.

We have asked for speeding up actions, including doing cleanup and restoration whenever possible.

ECY has reported dissatisfaction with Rayonier’s failure to include some of the agency’s proposals into what is called the Interim Action Plan.

We have asked ECY to make those concerns available to the public as well as what Rayonier has proposed.

Ecology says 30,000 tons of contaminated material have been removed — but doesn’t describe the amount or contents of what remains.

When will the cleanup be finished?

A report to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included a revised timeline much more specific than what was in the ECY mailing this month.

The timeline is especially concerning since the mailing says ECY doesn’t “yet know how far the contamination from the mill spreads.”

We have asked ECY to focus on land and water affected by the Rayonier mill — even though we share interest in the Port Angeles Harbor to the west.

Although we commend the agreement among those who have agreed to pay for the western harbor cleanup and restoration, we want to be sure that progress doesn’t detract from what remains be done for people, fish and all other life continuing to be affected by what Rayonier left behind.

We also need to clarify how the cleanup under Washington State’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) is related to the federal EPA.

Darlene Schanfald, who has led public involvement efforts with a grant under MTCA through the Olympic Environmental Council, provided some history of what happened after the Rayonier mill closed in 1997.

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Administration considered a Superfund designation for the land and water impacted by Rayonier Pulp Mill operations.

“EPA agreed to let the state Department of Ecology lead the cleanup under the state’s Model Toxics Control Act, but EPA would oversee actions and would have to sign off on a delisting.”

Friends of Ennis Creek and others have asked for copies of the annual report EPA requires from Ecology.

We’ve received only the one for October 2022 but have asked to be notified when others are made available, as we were told they would be, on the ECY website ( https://ecology.wa.gov/Rayonier ).

We have asked our congressman, Derek Kilmer, who grew up in Port Angeles, to help us meet with an appropriate EPA representative.

Port Angeles City Council puts stamp of approval on harbor cleanup plans – PDN

The ongoing cleanup of the Rayonier plant superfund site continues. Background: The bill to the citizens of the State and Federal Government (meaning all of us) continues to rise for decades of allowing unregulated dumping of chemicals into the Bay. We look forward to a future without these toxic, cancer causing pollutants affecting our fish and waters.

The (Port Angeles) City Council has put its stamp of approval on two documents necessary for the cleanup of the western portion of Port Angeles Harbor. The agreed order and work plan for the cleanup process, approved Tuesday night by a 5-1 vote, with Councilman Max Mania opposed and Councilwoman Sissi Bruch recusing herself, formalizes how the city will work with four partners to develop a plan for studying and cleaning up industrial toxins from the bottom of the harbor’s west portion, City Attorney Bill Bloor said. The state Department of Ecology has named the city, the Port of Port Angeles, Georgia-Pacific LLC, Nippon Paper Industries USA and forest services company Merrill & Ring as at least partially responsible for cleaning up such contaminants as heavy metals that were found in the harbor during a 2008 Ecology study. Jeremy Schwartz reports.

http://peninsuladailynews.com/article/20130523/news/305239997/port-angeles-city-council-puts-stamp-of-approval-on-harbor-cleanup

CEO of Rayonier to speak in Port Angeles on cleanup efforts

If you are concerned about the Rayonier toxic cleanup, you may want to go to this opportunity to speak to the head of the company.

PORT ANGELES BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
MEETING: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 7:15 AM at the PA Business Association locationThe PABA meets every Tuesday morning at 7:30 at Joshua’s Restaurant on Highway 101 and Del Guzzi Drive.  Meetings are open to the public and guests are encouraged to attend.  There is a $2.16 minimum charge for those who do not order from the menu.

The Port Angeles Business Association welcomes Mr. Lee M. Thomas, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rayonier Inc., since March of 2007, his Chairman’s title was added on July 1, 2007.  Mr. Thomas joined Rayonier as a member of the Board of Directors in June 2006. Previously, Lee was President and Chief Operating Officer of Georgia-Pacific from 2002 until his retirement in 2005. Prior to joining Georgia-Pacific in 1993, he was Chairman of Law Companies Environmental Group Inc. from 1989-1993, and Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1985-1989. Lee also serves on the boards of Airgas Inc., the Regal Entertainment Group, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the World Resource Institute. He is a graduate of the University of the South, and the University of South Carolina Graduate School of Education.

Following Mr. Thomas’ presentation we will hear briefly from the following organizations and entities:

Rebecca Lawson, Regional Manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology-Toxics Cleanup Program will present an update on the status of the most recent study set to determine the extent of dioxin contamination of the former Rayonier Pulp Mill site.

Honorable Frances Charles, Chairwoman of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and Matt Beirne, Environmental Coordinator for the Lower Elwha Tribe will give a brief update on the current standing of the Lower Elwha Tribe’s position in the former Rayonier Pulp Mill site clean-up, it’s redevelopment, and their participation in the process.

Mr. Jeff Lincoln, Executive Director for the Harbor Works Public Development Authority will also be in attendance.

A guided tour of the former Rayonier Pulp Mill Property may be offered at this meeting for later in the day, the time TBD.

Free discussion on the Rayonier Mill Site Cleanup tonight

STATE OF THE CLEANUP:  A PUBLIC FORUM ON THE RAYONIER MILL SITE CLEANUP

Dr. Peter deFur will speak on the state of the hazardous waste  cleanup at the Rayonier mill site, Monday, June 15, 7 PM in the  Carver Meeting Room at the Port Angeles library, 2210 South Peadbody Street.

Dr.deFur is  the Technical Consultant to the Olympic Environmental
Council, the local non profit organization funded by the WA State
Department of Ecology to do public outreach and education on the
Rayonier cleanup of contamination.  Dr. deFur has served as their
consultant since 1998.

His presentation will cover where we are in the process of the
cleanup under the WA State Department of Ecology Model Toxics Control
Act,  and the contaminants of concern to public health and the
environment such as dioxins, PCBs and heavy metals relevant to Port
Angeles soils, Port Angeles Harbor sediments, and the mill site. He
will compare this site to others he consults on, such as the Duwamish
River in Seattle.

Dr. deFur  is president of Environmental Stewardship Concepts in
Richmond VA, and an Affiliate Associate Professor and Graduate
Coordinator in the Center for Environmental Studies at Virginia
Commonwealth University, where he conducts research on environmental
health and ecological risk assessment.

He has consulted on several cleanup sites around the nation.  He
served on the National Research Council Board on Environmental
Studies and Toxicology,  on the Virginia State Advisory Board to the
Air Pollution Control Board, on various federal advisory committees,
on numerous scientific reviews of EPA ecological and human health
risk assessments, and on federal advisory committees for EPA’s
Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Testing Program.

The event is free.

Port Angeles Public Forum for Rayonier Mill Cleanup

STATE OF THE CLEANUP: A PUBLIC FORUM ON THE RAYONIER MILL SITE CLEANUP

Dr. Peter deFur will speak on the state of the hazardous waste cleanup at the Rayonier mill site, Monday, June 15, 7 PM in the Carver Meeting Room at the Port Angeles library, 2210 South Peadbody Street. Dr.deFur is the Technical Consultant to the Olympic Environmental Council, the local non profit organization funded by the WA State Department of Ecology to do public outreach and education on the Rayonier cleanup of contamination. Dr. deFur has served as their consultant since 1998. His presentation will cover where we are in the process of the cleanup under the WA State Department of Ecology Model Toxics Control Act, and the contaminants of concern to public health and the environment such as dioxins, PCBs and heavy metals relevant to Port Angeles soils, Port Angeles Harbor sediments, and the mill site. He will compare this site to others he consults on, such as the Duwamish River in Seattle. Dr. deFur is president of Environmental Stewardship Concepts in Richmond VA, and an Affiliate Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Center for Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he conducts research on environmental health and ecological risk assessment. He has consulted on several cleanup sites around the nation. He served on the National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, on the Virginia State Advisory Board to the Air Pollution Control Board, on various federal advisory committees, on numerous scientific reviews of EPA ecological and human health risk assessments, and on federal advisory committees for EPA’s Endocrine Disrupter Screening and Testing Program. The event is free. —

%d