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Western Regional Report
Toxic Chemicals Steamed Out of Washington Wildlife Refuge
Nearly 55,000 pounds of black, toxic chemicals have so far been removed from
soil and underground water next to Washington’s Ridgefield National Wildlife
Refuge using a steam-heating cleanup system.
“We are making excellent progress. Our steam-extraction system is humming
along day and night, pulling tons of contaminants from the environment,”
says Dan Alexanian, who is overseeing the cleanup for the Washington Department
of Ecology.
The former Pacific Wood Treating site on Port of Ridgefield property is one
of the most contaminated sites in Clark County and one of the most expensive
cleanup sites in the state. So far, the Port of Ridgefield is paying for the
cleanup using $8 million in state loans and grants, although more money will
be needed to finish the job.
The site is polluted with an estimated 100,000 gallons of toxic chemicals once
used to coat and preserve poles, pilings and railroad ties. They include creosote,
pentachlorophenol, cancerous polyaromatic hydrocarbons, copper, chromium and
arsenic. The chemicals are highly effective at preserving wood, but they are
deadly to living things.
At Ridgefield, a dangerous underground plume of contamination has poisoned soil
and underground water, threatening Lake River and Carty Lake in the Ridgefield
National Wildlife Refuge.
The steam technology, while initially expensive, provides a quicker and more
thorough cleanup than traditional technologies. It can finish the job in as
little as three years.
The system works by forcing steam deep into the ground. The steam rises in the
water table, warming up the contamination so it rises toward the surface within
reach of 11 pumps that extract it. A vapor-extraction system catches any toxic
chemicals that vaporize as part of the heating process. The steaming has been
going nearly nonstop since May.
“It’s like warming up molasses. The steam makes the viscous contamination
more liquid, and that makes it easier for us to pump it out and remove it,”
Alexanian said.
The “black yucky stuff,” as workers endearingly call it, is being
kept in containers at the site. The cleanup plan calls for it to be taken away,
most likely to an incinerator, where it can be destroyed without further environmental
harm.
Eventually, the port plans to redevelop the site for commercial, recreational
and tourist interests.