Yellow Pages
ANACORTES — It’s unclear whether the burning of the Tommy Thompson trail railroad trestle has harmed the environment, but scientists are on the watch.
As the investigation into the suspicious fire’s cause proceeds, so do inquires into whether the fire caused damage to Fidalgo Bay, either through debris or toxic compounds released from the creosote by the flames.
Some 300 feet of the trestle burned in the Oct. 15 fire, closing off a beloved feature of the popular trail that spans the bay.
Crews from the Department of Ecology and National Response Corp. Environmental Services, a toxic cleanup contractor hired by the state, have spent the past several days combing the bay’s shoreline.
Scientists and natural-resource technicians from the Samish tribe have been walking the beach each day since the flames were extinguished looking for impacts to wildlife and fish, said Christine Woodward, Samish director of natural resources.
Woodward and Doug Thompson, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said they haven’t seen any visual impact from the debris. And no fish or animal deaths have been observed.
But both he and Woodward cautioned that time will tell whether the fire harmed the bay’s ecosystem.
Test results from water samples taken the day of the fire should be available in about a month. Those findings will be compared to samples taken by state officials over the summer to establish a baseline in the event of an oil spill.
Read more local news in the Skagit Valley Herald and the Anacortes American, or read it online in the E-edition
