A gallon in every foot: innovative strategies for removing creosote-treated wood and large debris from the Salish Sea
Presentation Abstract
For the Salish Sea and Washington State’s inner-coastal waterway, pollution from wood preservatives and Styrofoam are a seasonal expectation, with every winter storm creating an opportunity for large, often derelict structures to break free from their original locations, and to migrate over-water to an unsuspecting, defenseless shoreline. Hundreds of toxic objects break free every year, including recreational, commercial, and industrial docks, submarine-net floats, aquaculture-related infrastructure and detritus, creosote-treated pilings, dolphins, piers, and bulkheads, wave-attenuators, and the occasional, untraceable, grounded vessel. Each of these objects presents its own set of unique challenges to the marine debris removal professional, and special consideration is necessary for each clean-up project. Washington Dept. of Natural Resources began tracking and removing large debris in 2004, and has continued to expand its operation ever since. Our project has developed some new and interesting ways to both remove and safely dispose of large marine debris items, and will discuss these methods in detail in our Poster Presentation. Since our project’s beginning, we have removed nearly 8 million pounds of diffuse, large debris from Washington shoreline, utilizing almost every conceivable tool available during the process. Our intention in presenting is to bring awareness to the issues these unconventional, and always cumbersome, forms of marine debris cause, and to inform others on practical solutions for safely removing them.
Session Title
Posters: Fate, Transport, & Toxicity of Chemicals
Conference Track
SSE18: Posters
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE18-60
Start Date
5-4-2018 11:30 AM
End Date
5-4-2018 1:30 PM
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Marine debris--Cleanup--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Subjects – Names (LCNAF)
Washington (State). Department of Natural Resources
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
A gallon in every foot: innovative strategies for removing creosote-treated wood and large debris from the Salish Sea
For the Salish Sea and Washington State’s inner-coastal waterway, pollution from wood preservatives and Styrofoam are a seasonal expectation, with every winter storm creating an opportunity for large, often derelict structures to break free from their original locations, and to migrate over-water to an unsuspecting, defenseless shoreline. Hundreds of toxic objects break free every year, including recreational, commercial, and industrial docks, submarine-net floats, aquaculture-related infrastructure and detritus, creosote-treated pilings, dolphins, piers, and bulkheads, wave-attenuators, and the occasional, untraceable, grounded vessel. Each of these objects presents its own set of unique challenges to the marine debris removal professional, and special consideration is necessary for each clean-up project. Washington Dept. of Natural Resources began tracking and removing large debris in 2004, and has continued to expand its operation ever since. Our project has developed some new and interesting ways to both remove and safely dispose of large marine debris items, and will discuss these methods in detail in our Poster Presentation. Since our project’s beginning, we have removed nearly 8 million pounds of diffuse, large debris from Washington shoreline, utilizing almost every conceivable tool available during the process. Our intention in presenting is to bring awareness to the issues these unconventional, and always cumbersome, forms of marine debris cause, and to inform others on practical solutions for safely removing them.
