Anacortes Baywide Cleanup Update

By Betty Carteret

Washington Department of Ecology in partnership with the Port of Anacortes, City of Anacortes, Samish Indian Nation, Swinomish and other local Tribes, and private landowners is making great progress in cleaning up contaminated shoreline areas in Anacortes along Fidalgo Bay, Padilla Bay, and Guemes Channel.  This cleanup work is bringing new life and energizing the economy of the Anacortes waterfront removing a legacy of toxic contamination from old mills, marinas, and waste sites.

The Anacortes Baywide Cleanup is the project that brings together cleanup work at the following sites under the State’s Puget Sound Initiative.  Projects are funded by a combination of sources including the Puget Sound Initiative, Model Toxics Control Act tax revenue, liable parties (corporations, businesses, governmental agencies, individual landowners), and grants.  Below is a summary of the status of cleanup work at these site and some links to other articles about the work.

Cap Sante Marine (11th & R, Port of Anacortes)

o   completed 2008; revisit monitoring in progress

Dakota Creek (Guemes Channel, Port of Anacortes)

o    in-water interim cleanup completed 2008

o   RI/FS[1] for upland cleanup in progress; cleanup slated for 2017/2018

Former Scott Paper Mill (Seafarers’ Park, Port of Anacortes, Kimberly Clark)

o   cleanup completed 2008; monitoring site thru 2020

MJB Properties – North Dock (part of Scott Paper Mill site)

o   Interim cleanup 2008– owner requests NFA[2]

MJB Properties – Hydrofill (T Avenue at 28th)

o   interim cleanup at boat launch during construction 2013; requests NFA

Custom Plywood Mill Site (34th & V, private landowner)

o    upland cleanup completed 2011; major in-water cleanup completed 2013

o   monitoring thru 2022; view video here

Former Shell Tank Farm (14th / 13th & Q, Shell Oil)

o   cleanup completed 2014; monitoring in progress

Port Log Yard (Guemes Channel – old Anacortes Box & Lumber Mill site, Port of Anacortes)

o   RI/FS in progress; cleanup slated for 2017/2018

Wyman’s Marina (Guemes Channel – Robinson ’s Cove at U Street, Port of Anacortes)

o   Cleanup completed by Port of Anacortes 2014

o   NFA de-listing review completed 2015

March Point Landfill (aka Whitmarsh Landfill, Skagit County, Texaco, private landowner)

o   RI/FS completed to be released for public comment spring 2016

Quiet Cove (Guemes Channel at Curtis Wharf, Port of Anacortes)

o   Agreed Order in progress, expected soon

o   Remedial Investigation planned for 2016/2017

For more information contact:  Arianne Fernandez, WA Ecology at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.