OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460



## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (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 exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxF AQs can be found on

the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq s/index

. asp or by telephone at 1

- 888

- 42

- ATSDR or 1

- 888

- 422

- 8737. *** Final Site*** May 2012 

### BREMERTON GASWORKS Bremerton, Washington Kitsap County

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

 **Site History:** The site includes discharges from an outfall pipe from the Bremerton Gasworks facility, a former gasification facility which used the carbureted water gas method from approximately 1930 to the mid

- 1950s. Between th e mid

- 1950s and 1963, the facility produced g as by blending propane and air. By 1968, the gasoline and oil above

- ground tanks had been removed and by the 1980s the remaining gas plant above

- gro und features had been removed. The majority of the

former facil ity area is currently vacant, although surrounding properties are used for commercial and industrial

purposes.

 **Site Contamination/Contaminants:**

Various contamina nt s have been detected within upland sources, ground water beneath the site, and within the Washington Narrows sediments. Site contaminants include tars which are associated with the gasification processe s used at the former facility. These tars contain volatile aromatics and carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons

. Heavy metals and benzene, among other contaminants, were also found at the site

. Upland sources include soil contamination to a depth of approximately 30 feet with contaminant concentrations above the EPA Regional Screening Levels (RSLs)

. Ground water beneath the site is also contaminat ed. Sediments in the Washington Narrows adjacent to the site
contain concentrations of contaminants above the Adverse Effects Levels set forth in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Screening Quick Reference Table.

 **Potential Impa cts on Surrounding Community/Environment:**  Site sources are potentially contaminating the Washington Narrows, a part of the Puget Sound designated a national priority as one of the nation’s great water bodies. Two species of federally listed threatened fish are present in the vicinity of the site

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

 **Response Activities (to date):**

In the f all of 2010, the US Coast Guard issued an order to Cascade Natural Gas to remove a pipe that was spilling tars into the Washington Narrows. Forty feet of pipe were rem oved and the pipe was plugged. Contaminated sediments adjacent to the pipe were also removed. In addition, visibly contaminated sediments were covered with organo

- clay mats and clean beach materials which will serve as a temporary cap. The removal action did not address the majority of imp acted sediments, upland sources or contaminated ground water.

 **Need for NPL Listing:** The Washington S tate Department of Ecology has requested that the EPA be the lead regulatory agen cy for this site. The scope and complexity of the site requires a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study to address site sourc es, ground water and sediments. The EPA receive d letters from the state and Suquamish Tribe supporting listing the site

on the NPL.