Removal of Contaminated Tacoma Sediment Begins

By Mark Edward Nero

The Port of Tacoma has begun dredging contaminated sediments in Blair Waterway in preparation to expand Pier 4, which is located within the major South Puget Sound waterway of Commencement Bay.

The work became necessary after the port detected a marine biocide, called tributyltin, while completing a dredging inspection for the site evaluation to expand Pier 4 for larger ships. The Port of Tacoma has agreed to complete the cleanup of the sediments, which the US Environmental Protection Agency will oversee.

The dredging work began September 15th.

The port plans to dredge an additional 500,000 cubic yards of clean sediment to make the base of the pier deeper as part of the pier expansion.

“In an effort to contain costs and remain competitive, shipping lines are increasing the size of the container ships, providing economies of scale. The planned upgrades to Pier 4 will allow Husky Terminal to handle two of the world’s largest ships simultaneously,” Port of Tacoma Commission President Don Johnson said. “An estimated 1,500 jobs in Washington State are connected to the movement of cargo through Husky Terminal. These berth improvements will add capacity, creating the demand for additional family-wage jobs in the region.”

A 2013 investigation performed by the Port of Tacoma showed that the fill material used to create the bulkhead under Pier 4 was contaminated with TBT.

Developed to be toxic to aquatic life, TBT is a marine biocide, commonly added to ship paint to prevent mollusks from sticking onto vessels and other objects that contain the chemical. EPA canceled all TBT antifouling paint product registrations in December of 2005.

The port removed the Pier 4 deck and pilings between May and August and plans to dredge about 40,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments. The contaminated sediments are to be dewatered and trucked to a waste disposal facility. The Superfund phase of the work is expected to be finished by April of 2016 at an overall cost of $19.3 million.

Once the contamination extraction is complete, the Port of Tacoma begins the second phase of the Blair Waterway extraction and reconstruction, which includes additional piling removal, deck demolition, dredging and reconfiguration of the existing pier.

Oil Spilled in Tacoma’s Blair Waterway

About 50 gallons of oil accidentally spilled into the Port of Tacoma’s Blair Waterway the night of July 6 after a tanker truck aboard a ship was inadvertently ruptured.

The incident occurred when a tanker truck on board the M/V Midnight Sun was struck by another vehicle, rupturing one of the truck’s four compartments, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.

The Ecology Dept. and US Coast Guard both responded to the scene, where about 1,500 gallons of lube oil wound up spilling from the tanker. Most of the fluid, however, was contained on the ship’s deck.

The spill to water was controlled with an oil containment boom, and no more oil was believed to have gotten into the waterway.

A private contractor, NRC Environmental Services, and other cleanup crews worked on the deck of the M/V Midnight Sun and on the water last weekend, according to the Ecology Dept.

The accident came just two weeks after the Ecology Dept. announced it had fined US Oil & Refining Co. more than $28,000 for spilling about 75 gallons of diesel fuel in Blair Waterway.

The spill, which occurred in November 2010, happened when the Tacoma-based refinery was testing a new eight-inch oil pipeline.

Manson Construction Fined for Blair Waterway Spill

The Washington State Department of Ecology on April 30 announced that it is fining Seattle-based Manson Construction Co. $10,000 by for spilling nearly 180 gallons of diesel fuel from a barge into the Port of Tacoma’s Blair Waterway.

The Ecology Dept. says it has also billed Manson $2,800 to recover the state’s costs for conducting the cleanup. The final penalty amount collected will be deposited in special accounts to pay for environmental restoration and enhancement projects, according to the Ecology Dept.

The penalty was levied in part because it was determined the spill was due to negligence, according to the Ecology Dept.

The spill occurred on the morning of Oct. 29, 2010, when Manson was transferring fuel from a tug to the fuel tank of a barge. The company failed to monitor the transfer, and consequently diesel fuel overflowed from the fuel tank vent.

The vessels were moored just offshore of the Washington United Terminal at the time.

“Quick action by the barge and tug crew resulted in 168 gallons recovered from the water out of 177 spilled to water,” Southwest Regional Office Spill Response Unit Supervisor Jim Sachet said. “However, anytime that any amount of fuel is spilled into a waterway it causes damage.”

In a prepared statement, Manson Construction President Eric Haug said his company accepted responsibility for the incident.

“Manson Construction takes environmental quality very seriously and deeply regrets this incident taking place,” he said. “Manson has taken actions to prevent such accidents in the future.”

Manson is eligible to appeal the penalty to the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board within 30 days, according to the Ecology Dept.

Port of Tacoma Contemplating Bulk Goods Terminal

A former aluminum smelter that’s been closed for over a decade at the Port of Tacoma could be transformed a bulk export terminal, according to port CEO John Wolfe.




Wolfe, in an April 24 interview with the Tacoma News Tribune, said that the 96-acre former smelter site, which is located at the northeast end of the port’s Blair Waterway, could eventually become the location of a bulk export terminal that could ship raw materials such as iron ore and potash.


The smelter, which was built during World War II and has been closed since June 2000, was bought by the port in 2003 for $12.1 million.

The bulk terminal, Wolfe told the newspaper, is part of a strategy to diversify the port’s business beyond traditional containerized goods import. As part of the strategy, Tacoma is looking as widening the Blair Waterway to more easily handle the larger ships calling at container and bulk terminals, Wolfe said.

Although there’s been interest, no customers have yet signed up to use the proposed bulk terminal, Wolfe told the paper.

One material the port’s already ruled out exporting, however, is coal. This, Wolfe said, is due to various reasons, including ongoing resistance to other planned coal terminals in the Pacific Northwest by environmental groups.

Another possible venture the port is looking into, Wolfe said, is bringing in crude oil from North Dakota by train, then distributing it via tankers and barges to various West Coast refineries.

Tacoma Port to Drop Blair Waterway Condemnation Suits

Now that the Port of Tacoma has canceled the redevelopment of the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula, including a major new terminal for NYK Line, the port is seeking to drop condemnation lawsuits against property owners still remaining on the peninsula.

When first announced in 2007, the Blair Waterway redevelopment project, including the NYK Terminal, was originally estimated by the port to cost about $800 million. By the time the project was canceled in late 2009, the cost of the development project had risen to $1.2 billion. In the end the port wound up spending $190 million into the deal– $146 million on the purchase of real estate along the peninsula and $38 million for design, planning and staff time.

As the development project got underway, the port aggressively tried to buy up just under 140 acres of property on the peninsula, eventually approving the use of eminent domain to obtain some of the needed parcels that were in private hands.

In all the port wound up filing condemnation suits against all of the 23 landowners on the peninsula. While it settled with 19 of the landowners, four holdouts remained including owners of the former CleanCare site, owners of Graymont Lime, owners of the former Occidental Chemical site and owners of Philips Environmental Services. These four properties cumulatively total 70 acres, or nearly 60 percent of the port's desired redevelopment project property.

The port commission voted last week to dismiss the four outstanding condemnation lawsuits, though the port's Real Estate Director, Jack Hedge pointed out that the port is in final negotiations with all four property owners to purchase their properties.