Around the Sound: Wyckoff report due in a few months

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Manager

Ecology expects to produce a report on possible alternatives for the Wyckoff cleanup site in May or June.

The report will go to Bainbridge Island community members and to the Environmental Protection Agency, said Tim Nord, land and aquatics cleanup manager for Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program.

When the report is ready, Ecology and EPA will discuss it and the options it details.

"I can’t tell you what’s going to happen after that. I’m optimistic, but I just can’t tell you," Nord told about 50 community members at tonight's community meeting at IslandWood.

Nord walked the crowd through a short review of the Wyckoff site and the cleanup process around it that involves EPA and Ecology. Nord noted that the site is “a very complex and difficult issue, both for us and EPA, as well as for the community.”

The site contains roughly 1 million gallons of creosote-type material. Creosote "lasts a long time. It's made to last a long time," Nord said, which is one of the major difficulties about the Wyckoff property.