Seattle's shoreline gets cleaned up

Volunteers descended on downtown Seattle's shoreline Thursday looking to rid the beach of tons of creosote-treated wood that routinely washes up on an incoming tide.

The wood, which carries a whiff of tar from the preservative, is considered harmful, if not toxic, to marine life.

The two-day cleanup by the state Department of Natural Resources is part of a larger effort to clean up Puget Sound.

"It's one part of the overall impact on the Puget Sound," said Lisa Kaufman, restoration manager for the state Department of Natural Resources, which is working to remove contaminated pilings as part of Gov. Christine Gregoire's Puget Sound Initiative.

The Department of Natural Resources has been removing creosote-treated wood and pilings from around Puget Sound since 2004, Kaufman said.

For about a century, creosote was used to preserve wood from insects and decay. It was commonly used for telephone poles, docks and railroad ties.

Not only is creosote harmful to aquatic life, contact with creosote-treated pieces can give people burns or rashes, Kaufman said.

"There's a lot of handling going on. People always sit on them, and the chemicals continue to leach out for the life of the piling," Kaufman said.

The volunteers picked through the driftwood and logs along the Olympic Sculpture Park, Myrtle Edwards Park and Elliott Bay Park.

"It's labor-intensive work, there's no doubt about it," said Bill Brosseau, field-operations director for EarthCorps, a Seattle-based nonprofit that works on environmental-restoration projects.

EarthCorps sent a crew of about a dozen volunteers to the beaches Thursday.

Brosseau said the treated wood is floating all about the Sound, and it's hard to know where it comes from. The wood that is plucked up will be taken to a special landfill in Eastern Washington.

The cost for the project, including equipment and disposal, averages about $500 per ton of debris, Kaufman said.

Erika Lindsay, a spokeswoman for Seattle Art Museum, said removing the debris from the sculpture park's beach keeps the area clean and safe for the public.

The city of Seattle and the Port of Seattle are also helping with the cleanup.

Christina Siderius: 206-464-2112 or csiderius@seattletimes.com.