By MATT PHELPS
Bothell Reporter Assistant Regional Editor
July 16, 2013 ? 12:09 PM
Kenmore residents recently met with state officials for the first time since sediment testing results from the Kenmore waters of Lake Washington were released in January.
During the question and answer session, residents and even some elected politicians had some pointed questions for representatives from the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington State Department of Health on July 11 at Kenmore City Hall.
Ecology spokesperson Larry Altose noted that the study was a screening to determine if the areas where people and animal recreate are of concern to their health and not the end of testing for many areas.
Ecology's testing revealed just two locations, one at Harbor Village and one at the North Lake Marina, had elevated levels of contaminants out of the 34 sites tested. The Department of Health concluded from the testing results that contact with the sediment or water is not expected to harm people's health.
But some of the most detailed questions came in a letter from People for an Environmentally Responsible Kenmore (PERK), who commissioned its own scientists to analyze the testing results.
The letter takes issue with the one-time screening without follow-up studies, that testers did not consider different weather conditions and turbidity, the sample depths and the "limited" sampling sites.
Ecology's Maura O'Brien said the study was conducted during the times where the environment is most like when people would recreate in the area.
"Given the distribution of the samples and the budget, we accomplished a screening level of sampling," said O'Brien.
Less than $160,000 was spent on the testing.
"It gives us a baseline condition," said O'Brien.
The letter also outlined where the organization would like to see the process go in the future and praised the state for most of the work.
A scientist hired by the Kenmore Action Network, Greg Wingard, analyzed the data and said that he was happy with the testing but that more steps need to be taken.
"There needs to be more work done to find the source of the dioxins," Wingard said. "The reason that is so important is because we do not yet know if the dioxins we have detected sitting at these marinas are static, meaning they were deposited there a while ago and they are just staying there, or there is a source continually releasing that material."
Wingard said there is the potential for an ongoing source because of the time lapse from the previous testing, as newer sediment would have deposited over the old.
He, along with many others, questioned what the next steps are going to be.
"We are hearing a lot of terms like 'soon' and 'plans' but we don't have any kind of definitive timeline," said Wingard.
There are no immediate plans for more testing in the area and no plans for cleanup at this point. State Sen. David Frockt addressed all the representatives from the departments of Ecology and Health, telling them to be in contact so that those from the 46th District can help to address financial constraints in Olympia.
"We will be writing a letter to Sen. Frockt," said O'Brien.
Along with Frockt, Rep. Gary Pollet, County Councilman Rod Dembowski and several Kenmore City Council members and candidates were in attendance.
Pollet was concerned with why the study did not consider the fish population in the lake. Department of Health representative Lenford O'Garro said the main focus of the study was swimming and boating in the test areas.
"The Department of Health actually puts out a fish advisory," O'Garro noted.
That advisory takes into account what is a healthy limit for residents to eat, despite the fact that the state does not have testing results for dioxins in Lake Washington fish.
Pollet also questioned why the levels in the test results were not compared to state standards for contaminants and O'Garro explained that the state levels are for residential exposure and not recreational exposure. The difference is that there is an expectation that residential exposure, or a person coming into contact with soil in their yard, is more frequent than recreational exposure, or how many times a person goes swimming in Lake Washington, during the same time frame.
Others took issue with the scope of the process and the amount of public input.
"What we asked for at the onset of any testing was that it would be a collaboration of both the public and scientists that we could determine were independent of the various agencies," said Kenmore resident Patrick O'Brien.
O'Brien also listed other issues that the public asked for but that the departments of Ecology and Health did not address.
"What was done was that the public ? was barred from participating," said O'Brien. "There are scenarios that are going to test the limits of the testing you have done. We want people in the various concerned citizen groups to be part of the evidence that is gathered so we can say ? to our constituents that this is a real enterprise and it has really been tested."
Maura O'Brien with Ecology said that a draft of the plan was released to the public and then the department held a two-week public comment period.
"We received 15 comments during that time period, which changed the draft plan," Maura O'Brien said.
Patrick O'Brien and Mooney took issue with not testing some of the capped wells at the Kenmore Industrial Park.
Ann Hurst with PERK was concerned with the depth at which some of the sediment testing was done. Some contend that some areas may need to be dredged and dredging would exceed the depth tested.
But officials stressed that the testing was for those using the waters for recreational purposes and that more testing is also needed before work can be done on the navigation channels.
"We have always said that this is a screening level evaluation and, yes, more testing needs to be done," said Nancy Ousley, Kenmore assistant city manager. "Certainly some of those areas could be candidates for open water disposal but we won't have a read on that until further testing is done."
Maura O'Brien said the Army Corps of Engineers would have to test down below the depth before any dredging took place.
Depending on the condition of the sediment, the process could be expensive as contaminated sediment has to be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.
Contact Bothell Reporter Assistant Regional Editor Matt Phelps at editor@bothell-reporter.com or 1-425-483-3732 (ext 5050).Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/northkingnews/~3/mYTrOcKECao/215710831.html
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