DEQ Proposes No Further Action for the former Hoy’s Marine site in Newport, Aug. 9

News release from Oregon DEQ. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is seeking comments on a proposal to issue a No Further Action determination for a former shipbuilding site on the Yaquina River where extensive cleanup has taken place. The Hoy’s Marine site is at 4592 Yaquina River Road near river mile 4.8 on the river’s east bank. Shipbuilding, repair and maintenance activities were conducted at the site from 1974 to 1999. In the late 1990s, testing of river sediments adjacent to the site showed elevated levels of metals such as chromium, copper, nickel and zinc, as well as tri-n-butyltin, a chemical in paint that prevents organisms from growing on a ship’s hull. Under a Deferral Agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed in 2000, DEQ removed about 700 gallons of liquids containing petroleum and 150 gallons of paint waste. About 2,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment was removed and disposed of in an upland repository on Port of Newport property. The sediment repository is capped and maintained by the port. In 2014 DEQ started additional work at the site, including testing sediment, water and shellfish tissue. While sediment testing showed persistent levels of tri-n-butyl tin and metals in sediment, contaminants were not detected in shellfish samples. Other tests showed that the sediment did not adversely affect sediment-dwelling organisms. Based on these results DEQ concludes the site is protective of human health and the environment and proposes to issue a No Further Action determination for the site signaling the end of cleanup activities. DEQ has obtained EPA’s preliminary concurrence that the site has met Deferral Agreement requirements and is protective of human health and the environment.