Commencement Bay: Resource-Use Conflicts at a Marine Superfund Site

Commencement Bay is located at the southern end of the main basin of Puget Sound, a mostly pristine inland sea located in northwestern Washington. Considerable industrial development and modifications of the bay have occurred since the late 1800\´s. As a result, parts of the bay have become contaminated with numerous heavy metals, synthetic organic compounds, and aromatic hydrocarbons. Many measures of adverse biological effects have accompanied the identification of contaminant "hotspots."Resource-use conflicts have arisen as a result of either actual or perceived consequences of the pollution situation in the bay. These include continued use of the bay for disposal of municipal and industrial wastes; maintenance and extension of navigation channels; expansion of port facilities; maintenance of the health and productivity of marine biota; and utilization (edibility) of seafood. Recent (1980) "Superfund" legislation has made available funds for cleaning up hazardous waste sites throughout the country. Commencement Bay is among the top 10 priority sites designated thus far by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for this remedial action, the only marine site so ranked. Remedial action for the "site" will be very difficult. It includes deep water dump sites, highly contaminated shallow waterways and tideflats, landfills, and contaminated groundwater. Additional complications will arise due to a poor understanding of the sources of contaminants; their distribution and dynamics; and the relationships, if any, between contaminants and biological disorders in the site.