Though many of us are thankful for the first Seward’s Folly, citizens of the town that bears his name are not so impressed with the folly of one of their corporate citizens. Thanks to some hard work done by the Eastern Kenai Peninsula Environmental Action Association (EKPEAA) (which preceded the Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance (RBCA)), Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) and Trustees for Alaska, this folly has been uncovered.
In 2007 the Environmental Protection Agency carried out an assessment which determined that Seward Ship’s Drydock did not rank as a Superfund Site. However, with the data gathered to make this determination the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has declared the facility a Contaminated Site. In spite of years of effort to end this contamination of our environment, the waste generating operations are still being carried out with inadequate containment, allowing the pollution to continue. The Alaska Department of Law has assigned the Deputy Attorney General of Environmental Issues to help bring this facility into compliance. We will continue to assist the agencies in this effort.
In the fall of 2005, local citizens in Seward, Alaska became concerned about boat repair activities at Seward Ship’s Drydock (SSD), which is located on the east side of Resurrection Bay, a marine environment that supports abundant sea life and sustains the human community surrounding it. SSD has been in operation for about 15 years to repair and paint large vessels, including U.S. Coast Guard cutters and ferries from the Alaska Marine Highway system. At issue are plumes of sandblasting grit that can be seen from town, several miles across the bay from SSD. Plus, the contaminated and uncontained sandblast grit falls onto permeable gravel, is sometimes bladed into uncovered piles or directly into Resurrection Bay.
Local citizens with RBCA began documenting the activities occurring at the shipyard and making complaints to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). They sought help from Trustees for Alaska and ACAT. Investigations by the three groups found that the anti-fouling paint used on the vessels serviced by SSD, part of the sandblast plumes emanating from the facility, contains tributyltin (TBT) and cupric oxide, which are toxic to marine life. Exposure to TBT has caused sex changes in certain marine snails, for example. Also alarming was that SSD is not covered by U.S. EPA’s Multi-Sector General Stormwater Permit, which is required for boat and ship repair yard facilities.
As a result of citizen complaints, DEC has issued a notice of violation for violating a state air pollution standard. In addition, SSD and the City of Seward are also in the process of obtaining coverage under the Multi-Sector General Stormwater Permit. This EPA-issued permit imposes stipulations that attempt to contain the sandblast waste. There are also issues regarding sandblast material that was used as fill at an off-site property, which the agencies are investigating.
Despite exhaustive efforts (five years) to compel the DEC and EPA to adequately enforce its own regulations and law, nothing substantive has occured to contain contaminated sandblast. This photo shows an employee blasting in the Seward Shipyard without containment on May 16, 2008.
Despite exhaustive efforts (five years) to compel the DEC and EPA to adequately enforce its own regulations and law, nothing substantive has occured to contain contaminated sandblast. This photo shows an employee blasting in the Seward Shipyard without containment on May 16, 2008.
Uncontained sandblast dust cloud drifts south over Resurrection Bay on October 28, 2005.
Stormwater runoff drains from the east gate of the Seward Ships Drydock facility into ditches and ponds and ultimately into the Bay.
Sand and paint chips litter the beach near Seward Ships Drydock.
The paint chips are likely antifouling paint removed from the hulls of
large vessels. The paint may contain tribuytl tin (TBT),
one of the world's most toxic compounds.
Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC) with Seward Ships Drydock (SSD)
at the large white tent at water's edge. Spring Creek Prison in middle ground.
Taken from Mount Alice. (Harold Faust)