OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460



## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (NPL)

***Proposed Site*** September 2011


### BREMERTON GASWORKS Bremerton, Washington Kitsap County

 **Site Location :** 
The Bremerton Gasworks site is located Bremerton, Washington along the Port Washington Narrows. The site is approximately three and a half acres in size and is located approximately a mile and a half from downtown Bremerton.

 **Site History:**

The Bremerton Gasworks site was a coal gasification plant which operated at the site from 1930 to 1963. The plant provided natural gas to customers in the City of Bremerton. From 1963 to 1985 the site was used for petroleum storage. The g asification plant, boiler and above ground storage tanks ( ASTs ) were removed sometime between 1985 and 1993

. The site is currently used for commercial p urposes and some light industry.

 **Site Contamination/Contaminants:**

Various contamina n ts have been detected within upland sources, ground water beneath the site, and within the Washington

Narrows sediments. Site contaminants include coal gas tars which are associated with coal gasification processes used at the former facility. C oal gas tars contain carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons

. H eavy metals and benzene, among other contaminants, were also found at the site. A pipe that was releasing contaminan ts associated with coal gas tars was presen t along the beach at the site. U pland sources include soil contami nation to a depth of approximately 30 feet with contaminant concentrations as high as 2 ,4 00 times the EPA Regional Screening Levels (RSLs) . Groun d water beneath the site is also

contaminated. Sediments in the Washington Narrows adjacent to the site contain concentrations of contaminants as high as

70 times the Adverse Effects Levels set forth in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) Screening Quick Reference Table.

 **Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment :**  Site sources are potentially contaminating the Washington Narrows, a part of Puget Sound which h as been designated a national priority as one of th e Nation’s great water bodies. T wo species of federally listed endangered or threatened fish are
present in the vicinity of the site

. Puget Sound is also used as a sport and commercial fishery. The Suqamish Tribe has also used the area as a subsistence fishery.

 **R esponse Activities (to date):** 
In the fall of 2010, the US Coast Guard issued an o rder to Cascade Natural Gas to remove a pipe that was spilling coal gas tars into the Washington Narrows. Forty feet of pipe were removed and the pipe was plugged. Contaminate d sediments adjacent to the pipe were also removed. In addition, visibly contaminated sediments were covered with

organo- clay mats and clean beach materials which serve as a temporary cap. The removal action did not address the

m ajority of contaminated sed iments, upland sources or contaminated ground water.

 **Need for NPL Listing:**

The Washington State Department of Ecology has re quested that EPA be the lead re gulatory agency for this site. The scope and complexity of the site contamination require a n NPL l isting and subsequent investigation to address site sources, ground water and sediments. EPA received a letter from the state supporting the listing of the site on the NPL.

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.]

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of ex posure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet

at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1

- 888

- 42

- ATSDR or 1

- 888

- 422

- 8737.