6/20/16
Efforts to identify whether toxins left over from historic lumber operations have permeated into soils near the Arcata Marsh and Arcata Bay are currently underway, with projects and weight of the city’s coffers hinging on the results.
The toxin, known as dioxin, is a leftover from a wood preservative that was used by over a hundred lumber mills that were located near the bay from the 1950s to the 1980s. The preservative was banned in the late 1980s, except for use on power poles. Unknown quantities of the preservative have been dumped into or spilled into the bay and surrounding soil over the decades, but where the toxin ended up is still unknown.
“There are some soil issues there, that’s a known,” Arcata Environmental Services Department Director Mark Andre said. “But the extent is still not well mapped out.”
The toxin is able to bind to soils, allowing it to persist for long periods of time.
For those few areas around the marsh that have been tested, the results aren’t looking favorable for the city, but they cannot be assumed to represent the entire area, said Humboldt Baykeeper Director Jennifer Kalt.
“(The city) only tested two samples for dioxin and both of them were at extremely high levels of dioxin,” Kalt said. “How far and how concentrated it is is totally unknown.”
For proponents of a regional dog park at the former Little Lake Industries property on South I Street in Arcata, the chemical is yet another obstacle they and the city must overcome before the property is made available. Arcata Dog Park Working Group member Lynette Chen said the city has taken steps to address the issue and is moving in the appropriate direction.
“This wasn’t a hurdle that was imposed by anyone except the past,” Chen said. “So it’s something we have to deal with.”
Arcata has since contracted with a consulting firm to perform soil sampling and work with the state to plan to clean up any of the contaminated areas they identify.
One of the study areas is the nearly 12-acre property on South I Street that was once home of a Little Lake Industries plywood mill. Arcata purchased the old mill property in 2001 and analyzed the site in 2004, which included data on dioxin concentrations. The two soil samples tested at the site showed dioxin levels that were over 100 times higher and 1,000 times higher than the safe exposure levels.
However, Kalt said that these high results may not represent the rest of the property as they were stockpiled soils that could have been moved around, such as from the city’s removal of 11,000 cubic-feet of soil from Butcher’s Slough in 2002 that was done to reduce flooding.
“That whole Arcata Marsh area has been heavily disturbed and reconfigured over the years,” she said. “There’s really no telling where (the dioxin) came from, where it ended up and how far across the property it spread until they do the sampling.”
Dioxin is produced by man-made and natural sources. Exposure to dioxin has been linked to cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and a skin disease known as chloracne, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
A more recent test on Arcata Bay soils near the marsh in 2015 as part of a feasibility for the city’s “Living Shoreline” project showed dioxin levels were 10 times higher than is deemed safe for human exposure. The project seeks to create 22 acres of salt marshes near the marsh’s rock levees in order buffer vulnerable city facilities like the wastewater treatment plant from the impacts of sea level rise.
Andre said that sampling efforts will continue, with the level of contamination detected determining the extent — and cost — of the cleanup.
“For example you can pave a parking lot over some soil issues, but you might have to remove them if it’s a health hazard for other uses,” he said.
As to when a cleanup plan will be completed, Andre estimated, “Hopefully, less than seven years in dog years.”
Chen said the working group has already waited several years as the city addressed other issues relating to the property, including the repayment of over $2 million to the state after the state dissolved redevelopment agencies and froze funding in 2011. Despite the obstacles, Chen said the site still remains the best location for the dog park.
“Those have all been surmounted now,” she said. “We have a new one, but it doesn’t seem insurmountable.”
Chen said they envision creating a larger regional dog park about 5 to 7 acres large that would be split depending on the size of the dogs. Other envisioned amenities include a trail connecting to the nearby Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, a bathroom, dog agility equipment such as teeter totters and hoops, as well as fencing and parking.
Until the site is secured and deemed safe, Chen said they cannot begin fundraising or planning.
“We’re hanging our hat in this ring with yet another hurdle to go through and it’s our hope that it can be done in a reasonable time frame,” she said.
Andre said the city is also using the site as a “Plan B” for the second phase of the Humboldt Bay Trail, which will run from Samoa Boulevard southward to Bracut along the bay, as well as removal of an invasive grass from existing salt marshes.
The city is being required to create 2.6 acres of wetlands in order to makeup for the wetlands that will be lost or impacted as part of the Humboldt Bay Trail construction. The California Coastal Commission still needs to approve the project before it moves forward, with the project set to go before the commission in September.
Whether the trail and dog park can both share the site is a decision that will go before the city council, though Andre said he thinks there will be enough space.
“I don’t want people thinking (the wetland) is going to take up a lot of space,” he said. “Just a small sliver.”
Kalt said she hopes the city will expand the scope of their studies to other areas, such as near the marsh Interpretive Center where an amphitheater has been proposed for construction.
“Because the extent of dioxin contamination at that site is unknown, Baykeeper’s contention is that no development or ground disturbing activities should be done until its tested for dioxin,” Kalt said. “Maybe they’ll test and find no dioxin.”
