Event Title

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

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COinS
 
Apr 5th, 11:30 AM Apr 5th, 1:30 PM

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.