PORT ANGELES CITY officials issued the following statement late Tuesday in response to the state Department of Ecology’s preliminary report:
Earlier today, the Washington State Department of Ecology released preliminary results of the Rayonier off-site soil dioxin study.
Nathan West, director of community and economic development for the city, stated, “The results of the study are good news for Port Angeles. Only minor levels of dioxin were found.
“Department of Ecology will not require property owners to take clean up action on the basis of this report.”
The dioxin study results ranged from 0.8 parts per trillion to 76.3 parts per trillion, which are relatively low levels.
In contrast, the Environmental Protection Agency sets a national threshold of 1,000 parts per trillion as their residential cleanup threshold.
West further stated: “The results for Port Angeles are encouraging because the study was intended to find the highest concentrations of dioxins, and the results were low.”
Evidence of dioxin can result from wood burning, trash burning, vehicle emissions and other natural sources.
These results are expected for any area with a long history of human activities.
It is important to note that the Department of Ecology provided no information on the source of the dioxins in these preliminary findings.
