I feel better about the piling removals knowing the degree to which the
problem has been studied though I'm still not clear on the magnitude of
actual measurements of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons leaching from the
really old pilings (maybe I need to read more carefully). Many times over
the course of my life, I have chipped away at the deep crusts of barnacles
and mussels on these old pilings to obtain polychaete worms for fish bait
and to attract pile perch once the tide rose. The number and diversity of
invertebrates that live on them and the density of fish; Shiner Perch, Pile
Perch, Striped surf perch, and salmon is unlike anything you see elsewhere
in south Puget Sound. In turn, the number and variety of fish-eating birds
and mammals is striking at these locations. It makes it counter-intuitive
that they are killing the aquatic life that is so overwhelming abundant all
around them.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia


Pilings leach creosote throughout their entire life spans, particularly when
they start to decay. The Department of Ecology recently did a study that
showed that creosoted pilings and other creosoted structures around Puget
Sound were responsible for some 30% of the toxic hydrocarbons still entering
the Sound, second only to wood stove emissions. Here are some references if
you want to read more about it:

https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1103055.html
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20111108/news01/711089878
http://www.sanjuans.org/documents/4-2CreosoteFlyer_small.pdf