Polluting Pilings: Inventorying Creosote Pilings in San Juan County

Please join the Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead for a webinar highlighting the results of one of our grants, Mitigating Contamination to Nearshore Habitat from Creosote Pilings. Creosote treated wood pilings are harmful to nearshore environments of the Salish Sea. This presentation will share the results of an inventory of creosote pilings in the nearshore waters of San Juan County and the next steps to explore avenues of removal. The presentation will include lessons learned for other organizations interested in developing a similar inventory program.

Please register in advance for this webinar.

Creosote has been used throughout Puget Sound as a preservative on wood for more than a century. As creosote leaches from treated wood pilings into the marine environment, it impacts forage fish spawning habitat, valuable eelgrass beds, and other nearshore habitats and species. Creosote can also pose threats to human health through breathing creosote vapors or direct contact. Removing creosote treated material from the marine environment is a priority for San Juan County. The County’s Environmental Stewardship Department completed a county-wide inventory of creosote pilings in 2023, counting 8,016 piles at 590 sites across 26 islands. Seventy-two percent, or 5,744 of these piles were identified as creosote treated piles, equating to approximately 7,385 tons of creosote remaining in the County’s shorelines. The survey allows the county to lay out a roadmap for permitting mitigation methods through removal and alternatives to reduce human exposure and improve the quality of nearshore habitats.