Eagle Harbor Shellfish Closure Advisory
In 1987, EPA designated the site as a Superfund site by adding it to the National Priorities List. The Wyckoff-Eagle Harbor Superfund Site (site) is located on the east side of Bainbridge Island, Washington in central Puget Sound. The site encompasses the former Wyckoff wood-treating facility (operated from 1903 to 1988), a former shipyard, and roughly 500 acres of contaminated Eagle Harbor sediments adjacent to these former facilities. The site was contaminated with residue from the wood treating facility including creosote, pentachlorophenol (PCP), and various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The shipyard contributed organic compounds and heavy metals to the Eagle Harbor sediments, notably mercury, lead, copper, and zinc.
PAHs, PCP, and heavy metals have been found in ground water, soils, and sediments at concentrations which may threaten human health and the environment. PAHs cause cancer and are toxic to fish and shellfish. PCP, and its associated contaminants, also cause cancer and are toxic to the liver and kidney. Young and unborn children are especially sensitive to the lead and mercury, both neurotoxins. Copper and zinc are primarily toxic to fish and the aquatic environment.
EPA divided the site into four parts called operable units (OUs): East Harbor OU (subtidal and intertidal sediments); West Harbor OU (sediments and the uplands of the former shipyard, currently the Washington State Ferries Facility); and the combined Soil OU and Groundwater OU (the former Wyckoff facility’s subsurface soils and groundwater aquifers). | |
View of former Wyckoff Facility, part of the Wyckoff/Eagle Harbor Superfund Site. Aerial Photograph taken in September 2005. |
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