Over the next two years, the Port of Anacortes and the state Department of Ecology will clean up a 36-acre site just south of Cap Sante Marina and east of Q Ave. The site is currently owned by the Port of Anacortes, MJB Properties and other smaller landowners.
The proposed $20 - $26 million cleanup of the former Scott Paper mill site is the largest single cleanup effort to date planned under the Puget Sound Initiative. The initiative is a comprehensive effort by local, tribal, state and federal governments, business, agricultural and environmental communities, scientists, and the public to restore and protect the Sound.
A lumber mill started operating at the site in 1890. In 1925, a pulp mill operation was added. In 1940, Scott Paper Co. bought the mills. The company closed the lumber mill in 1955 and the pulp mill in 1978. Scott sold the mill properties in 1979. In 1995, Scott merged with Kimberly-Clark.
In 2008, Ecology investigated contamination at the site and in nearby aquatic sediments. The investigation showed:
- Soil is contaminated with metals, petroleum products, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins/furans.
- Groundwater shows sporadic low level contamination from petroleum products, arsenic, bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, sulfide, ammonia, and 4-methylphenol.
- Aquatic sediments contain metals, PCBs and wood debris.