A Boat Full of Toxic Wood:
Beach cleanups in Samish traditional territory
Sometimes the simplest questions lead to the most impressive outcomes. That’s what happened with the question, “I’ve got a boat and some money, what can we do?” The answer — cleanup 702,000 pounds or 18,000 gallons of toxic chemical creosote from the Salish Sea. That’s enough creosote to fill nine dump trucks — the result of a remarkable partnership and a lot of hard work.
In 2014, Todd Woodard, the Director of Natural Resources for the Samish Indian Nation, approached Christopher Robertson, the Aquatic Restoration Manager at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) about expanding a marine debris program limited by road access, leaving out many of the islands in traditional Samish Indian territory. With funding in part from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Estuaries Program (NEP), and in partnership with WADNR, Washington Conservation Corps (WCC), Veterans Conservation Corps (VCC) and EarthCorps, the Samish Indian Nation Department of Natural Resources was able to launch a multiyear program to make the Salish Sea healthier for people, animals, and the environment.
Creosote stands out from other marine debris because it is known to cause cancer and be toxic for marine plants and wildlife. It is a wood preservative commonly used for things like pilings, telephone poles, railroad ties, or docks. During storms or with erosion overtime, preserved wood can be released into the Puget Sound and accumulate on beaches. In the summertime, you can smell the noxious tar radiating from logs and see it weeping out from the wood. The toxic nature of creosote makes disposal difficult and requires hazardous materials (HAZMAT) certification, limiting those that can participate.
Each year Samish and WADNR lead summer cleanups with members of WCC, VCC and EarthCorps as the hardworking boots on the ground. Over the past six years, the cleanup partnership has removed 702,000 pounds of creosote treated wood and an additional 65,000 pounds of other marine debris from public and private shorelines of the Puget Sound(a combined weight equivalent to 255 midsize sedans). Three years after the start, in 2017, their efforts improved by first surveying the islands in the springtime so they could prioritize areas with the most litter and treated wood as well as track their cleanup progress. Not only have yearly surveys expedited cleanups, they have also shown which sites are “accumulation zones” and likely to repopulate debris, allowing them to direct work accordingly. While the 2017 survey revealed shockingly that there were 325 impacted sites within the San Juan Islands, in 2019, they found 141 less sites due to their efforts.
Cleanups by boat are tricky business. They require skilled boat operators with training for navigating dangerous, super shallow water with 5000 pounds of debris on board, which would be similar in weight to two compact cars. Multiyear funding from NEP meant that they could find qualified staff, keep them, and take on bigger projects, rather than having to spend time bringing on new people and do piecemeal work from year to year. This is the type of long-term investment and support from federal programs that is needed to really make a difference in Salish Sea recovery.
Despite how complicated and monumental of an effort these cleanups were, the Samish Tribe took them on because removing creosote was found to be critical to preserving, protecting and enhancing culturally significant natural resources and habitats for current and future generations. Since time immemorial, the Samish people have been stewards of the San Juan Islands and have lived and prospered on the land and waters of the Salish Sea. Samish culture and traditions are intimately tied to resources and places in the region. The removal of toxins is critical to honoring traditional ways, their ancestors and preserving the cultural use of materials, foods and their identity.
Partnership between the Samish Tribe and WDNR was critical to the success of the project. Before the Samish Tribe was able to offer resources and boat access, marine cleanups were limited to places that could only be reached by car. Federal funding enabled the Samish Tribe to increase WDNR’s people power so they could focus and expand their work. If federal funding from NEP disappeared or was underfunded, cleanups in Samish Territory would stop all together in places that can only be reached by boat. This would be a huge step backwards for getting to those difficult to reach places that often provide rich habitat and where toxins will build up overtime, putting the environment and the community at risk.
To learn more about the Samish Tribe and their cleanup efforts over the years, check out their story map. And if you find creosote treated wood, please report it using the MyCoast app and help the Department with their survey efforts.
