Removal of Creosote-Treated Pilings and Structures from San Francisco Bay
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Removal of Creosote-Treated Pilings and Structures from San Francisco Bay Prepared by Christine Werme,a Jennifer Hunt,b Erin Beller,b Kristen Cayce,b Marcus Klatt,b Aroon Melwani,b Eric Polson,c and Robin Grossingerb a Independent Consultant, Berkeley, CA b San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, CA c Eric Polson Engineering, Novato, CA Prepared for California State Coastal Conservancy 1330 Broadway, 13th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 CONTRIBUTION NO. 605 SAN FRANCISCO ESTUARY INSTITUTE 7770 Pardee Lane, Second floor, Oakland, CA 94621 DECEMBER p: 510-746-7334 (SFEI), f: 510-746-7300, www.sfei.org 2010 This report should be cited as: Werme, C., J. Hunt, E. Beller, K. Cayce, M. Klatt, A. Melwani, E. Polson, and R. Grossinger. (2010). Removal of Creosote-Treated Pilings and Structures from San Francisco Bay. Prepared for California State Coastal Conservancy. Contribution No. 605. San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, California. Creosote-Treated Structures in San Francisco Bay - i Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... iv 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Subtidal Habitat Goals Project and Artificial Substrates in San Francisco Bay 2 1.2 San Francisco Bay .................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Creosote-Treated Wood in San Francisco Bay ......................................................... 9 1.4 Lessons from Other Locations ................................................................................ 10 2. Mapping ........................................................................................................................ 13 2.1 Methods .................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 Numbers, Locations, and Hot Spots ....................................................................... 17 2.3 How to Use the Information ................................................................................... 21 3. Environmental Assessment ........................................................................................... 22 3.1 Properties of Creosote ............................................................................................. 22 3.2 PAHs in San Francisco Bay .................................................................................... 24 3.3 Potential Environmental Risks ................................................................................ 28 3.4 Possible Environmental Benefits ............................................................................ 30 4. Historical Significance Assessment .............................................................................. 33 4.1 Pilings as Cultural Features .................................................................................... 33 4.2 Methods for Evaluating Significance in San Francisco Bay .................................. 34 5. Action Plan.................................................................................................................... 39 5.1 Removal Techniques and Costs .............................................................................. 39 5.2 Disposal and Reuse Options and Costs ................................................................... 42 5.3 Encapsulation Techniques ...................................................................................... 43 5.4 Permitting and Ownership Issues ........................................................................... 43 5.5 Removal of Creosote-treated Debris from Intertidal Areas .................................... 45 6. Other Artificial Substrate .............................................................................................. 47 6.1 Options for Removal or Replacement of Existing Structures ................................. 47 6.2 Suggestions for Replacement and New Structures ................................................. 49 7. Conclusions and Next Steps.......................................................................................... 50 References ......................................................................................................................... 58 List of Acronyms .............................................................................................................. 65 Creosote-Treated Structures in San Francisco Bay - ii List of Figures Figure 1-1. San Francisco Bay project extent and sub-regions .......................................... 5 Figure 1-2. Distribution of eelgrass beds and other submerged aquatic vegetation in San Francisco Bay...................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 1-3. Historical herring spawning areas in San Francisco Bay ................................. 8 Figure 1-4. Tons of creosote-treated pilings and debris have been removed from Puget Sound ................................................................................................................................ 11 Figure 1-5. The Hudson River Park Trust removed decking but is committed to preservation of piles as habitat for invertebrate and fish species...................................... 12 Figure 2-1. Mapping coverage by NOAA and SFEI ........................................................ 14 Figure 2-2. Bing Maps Birds Eye screenshot from the south side of Brooks Island, Richmond. ......................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 2-3. Bing Maps screenshot with outline depicting complexes to be mapped in Google Earth ..................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 2-4. Pilings and piling complexes in San Francisco Bay ...................................... 18 Figure 2-5. Piling hot spots ............................................................................................... 20 Figure 3-1. Visible apparent creosote slick detected during field mapping in San Francisco Bay.................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 3-2. Total PAHs in San Francisco Bay sediments ................................................. 26 Figure 3-3. Number of observations and cumulative probability of total PAHs in San Francisco Bay sediments................................................................................................... 27 Figure 3-4. Creosote-treated pilings, historic range of Pacific herring spawning habit, and current and potential eelgrass habitat, including an inset of the Point Richmond area .... 31 Figure 3-5. Sea lions at Pier 39, San Francisco waterfront ............................................... 32 Figure 4-1. Evaluation of piling groups based on National Register criteria ................... 35 Figure 4-2. Piling significance scenarios: 2a, pilings associated with a significant onshore structure; 2b, extensive complex retaining ability to convey form, function, and association; 2c, association with an archeologically significant site; 2d, element in a multiple-property district .................................................................................................. 38 Figure 5-1. Environmental work windows in San Francisco Bay .................................... 41 Figure 5-2. Intertidal debris at Point Richmond ............................................................... 45 Figure 7-1. Old pilings may be hazards to navigation ...................................................... 53 Figure 7-2. The old ferry terminal at Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline in Richmond is of historic interest .................................................................................................................. 55 Figure 7-3. Abandoned pilings in San Francisco Bay—romantic reminders of the past or eyesores? .......................................................................................................................... 56 Final Report Creosote-Treated Structures in San Francisco Bay - iii List of Tables Table 1. Potential attributes of high-priority removal projects ......................................... vii Table 1-1. Questions about creosote-treated pilings San Francisco Bay. ........................... 2 Table 1-2. Types of artificial substrate in San Francisco Bay ............................................ 3 Table 2-1. List of attributes included in the database ....................................................... 17 Table 2-2. Pilings and piling complexes in sub-regions of San Francisco Bay. ............... 19 Table 2-3. Number of piles, complexes, and area in identified hot spots. ........................ 21 Table 3-1. Estimated loads of PAHs to San Francisco Bay .............................................. 25 Table 7-1. Answers to questions posed at the beginning of the project. .......................... 50 Table 7-2. Possible additional studies suggested from the project ................................... 51 Table 7-3. Potential attributes of high-priority removal projects ..................................... 51 List of Appendices Appendix A. Mapping Appendix B. Environmental Assessment Appendix C. Historical Significance Appendix D. Action Plan Appendix