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Bremerton Gasworks in Washington proposed for national hazardous cleanup listing

Release Date: 09/15/2011
Contact Information: Hanady Kader, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-0454, [email protected]; Ken Marcy, EPA NPL Coordinator, 206-890-0591, [email protected]

(Seattle--Sept. 15, 2011) Bremerton Gasworks, a former coal gasification plant that operated in Bremerton, Washington from 1930 to 1963, has been proposed for placement on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of the most contaminated sites in the nation. Located in Bremerton, Washington, the site occupies approximately three and a half acres of land next to the Port of Washington Narrows in Puget Sound. If it is placed on the National Priorities List, the site will be managed under EPA’s cleanup program, Superfund.

“Cleaning up Bremerton Gasworks means we’ll be putting an end to a source of industrial contamination that threatens Puget Sound,” said Dan Opalski, EPA Region 10 Superfund Director in Seattle. “The Superfund listing brings a host of tools we can use to get the site cleaned up once and for all.”

Bremerton Gasworks was a coal gasification plant that operated from 1930 to 1963, providing natural gas to Bremerton residents. From 1963 until 1985, the site was used for petroleum storage. The site is currently used for commercial and industrial purposes.

Sediments in the Port of Washington Narrows, soils and groundwater at the Bremerton Gasworks site have been found to contain contamination. Site contaminants include heavy metals, benzene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons from coal gas tars.

The Washington State Department of Ecology, EPA, Cascade Natural Gas, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Coast Guard have been involved in assessments of the site and a beach cleanup. Contamination in beach sediments, upland soils and groundwater requires cleanup well beyond the actions taken to date.

If the site is added to the National Priorities List, EPA will work in close partnership with the Suquamish Tribe and local and state government agencies to clean up the site. Cleanup would also support the Puget Sound Initiative under the Washington State Department of Ecology.

A final decision regarding inclusion of the site on the National Priorities List will occur after consideration of public comments, which will be accepted for 60 days. The Federal Register Notice, with instructions on how to comment on the proposed Bremerton Gasworks site, is available at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm.

More information on the site will be available at https://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/cleanup.nsf/sites/bremerton-gasworks.

Copies of supporting documentation for the proposed listing are also available for review at the Kitsap Regional Library, 1301 Sylvan Way, Bremerton, WA 98310, 360-405-9100, and at the EPA Region 10 Superfund Records Center located at 1200 Sixth Avenue in Seattle.