Legislation Would Remove Dickman Mill Pilings
Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz held a press conference at the Tacoma waterfront on March 17 to champion cleaner, healthier waterfronts by highlighting the positive impacts of House Bill 1378.{{more} The legislation would give the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) the authority to remove derelict aquatic structures like unused piers, pilings and decrepit marinas from Washington’s waterways. The House of Representatives passed the bill March 6 and its companion, Senate Bill 5433, passed days later.
Rep. Kristine Reeves, Sen. Ron Muzzall, Rep. Derek Kilmer, and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards joined Franz in talking about the benefits of clean waterways.
"This important legislation will allow us to remove pollution from our environment, support endangered species, and return economic vitality to our waterfronts,” Franz said. "To create a healthier and safer waterfront, we need to remove derelict structures that impede salmon recovery and jeopardize the health and safety of our communities.”
The group spoke at Dickman Mill in Tacoma, one of the "Filthy Four” industrial areas that most threaten habitat and public safety. There are about 1,200 creosote pilings at Dickman Lumber Mill, which operated from the 1890s until 1974, and the estimated cleanup cost is more than $3.5 million.
"Dickman Mill is…one of our top priorities when it comes to removing polluting and unsafe structures on our waterways,” Franz said. "These pilings need to be removed as soon as possible so we can restore this area to healthy waterways and healthy salmon habitat and also critical ability for people who are recreating in these waterways because it is more about safety as well, not just for our salmon but also for our people.”
The other three "Filthy Four” projects are the Triton America Pier in Anacortes, the former High Tides Seafood Pier in Neah Bay, and Ray’s Boathouse Pier in Ballard. The legislation would provide $19.75 million in capital funding to remove all the "Filthy Four,” create a formal program to remove large derelict structures from state-owned aquatic lands and allow local governments and nonprofits to use DNR’s expertise to get hazardous structures out of the state’s waterways.
"We have identified not only these Filthy Four but behind them we have a Dirty Dozen,” Franz said. "We are working tirelessly to identify what we call the worst aquatic structures that are causing the most amount of damage in addition to these four and be able to quickly get on and do the work, remove them and move on to the next one so we can restore these waters to our salmon where they rightfully belong and should be able to be.”
Source: Tacoma Weekly