PORT TOWNSEND — Workers with a Port Gamble-based company on Tuesday began to dismantle an old transfer span, towers and wingwall near the Boat Haven Marina jetty, part of an old railroad trestle, using a 147-foot crane barge.
At the same time, state officials checked out a concern raised about the work disturbing bald eagles.
Caicos Corp. was contracted by the state Department of Natural Resources to remove the span and about 200 pilings as part of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s Puget Sound Initiative to remove 3,300 tons of material treated with creosote, which is toxic to marine life, by June 30.
The $190,000 Port Townsend portion of the Puget Sound-area project focuses on pilings in Resources shorelands between the Port of Port Townsend’s Hudson Point and Boat Haven marinas.
The city of Port Townsend recently designated the transfer span, towers and wing wall as surplus so that Caicos could reuse them for a dredging project in Port Gamble Bay.
At least one expression of concern has been raised, by an unidentified Port Townsend resident in an e-mail to Resources, that removing the pilings could disturb bald eagles who use the pilings as perches for spotting fish.
David Roberts, state Department of Natural Resources assistant regional manager in the Aquatic Lands division, said on Tuesday that he plans to consult with Sequim-based Fish and Wildlife biologist Shelly Ament regarding potential impact on eagles in the vicinity of the project.
Roberts, who is overseeing the pilings removal project in Port Townsend, said it was unlikely the project would be shut down, although he did say he was worried about a slight delay in it.
Work on the project was continuing on Tuesday.
