CREOSOTE PILINGS
Photo by Ron Giss, Copyright 2005
Used with permission from the photographer
For decades I've been drawn to the sight of old wooden pilings in the Sound's nearshore waters. Old decaying remnants of another time -- a time when river channels were marked for the vessels that plied them. And, yes, a time when our region's fishes were hauled in to places marked by these pilings -- places where they were canned, sold, and shipped off. A time when our islands' stands of trees were sawed, boomed or corralled, milled at these piling-marked sites and sent to ports around the world.
So there is the energy -- the romance -- the commerce of that time, but also the sadness of our waters being overfished -- our forests being denuded.
And something I really hadn't thought about when looking admiringly and nostalgically at these old pilings, is that many of them were treated -- were preserved -- with a substance called creosote, a product originally obtained by the distillation of wood and coal-tar -- oily and rather strong smelling stuff.
Up close, heavily treated pilings, railroad ties and telephone poles literally oozing the substance are more than suspect. Surely, if one thought about it, the goo would not appear to be environmentally friendly. But I frankly hadn't given creosote and wood preservatives much thought, although I'd taken many hours of natural-world related classes and read many related articles.
However, from an article written by Mary Anderson in the Padilla Bay Newsletter, I learned that creosote is actually a pesticide. That such agents are a "combination of 432 chemicals, with about 20 of those chemicals being poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)". She further noted that same are toxic to both humans and marine life, although not outlawed -- pointing out that creosote and other preservatives leach from treated wood along our shorelines into the soil, and, of course, can be taken up by marine animals and plants.
Mary was involved in a project at the Skagit's Swinomish Spit as 266 of such treated logs were placed in hazardous containers and taken to a hazardous waste dump.
This article and the information imparted was especially meaningful to me, as I was such an admirer of treated pilings and their pieces that I assembled several groups of them in my front yard, draped them with rusty marine chains and floats, and heralded same as quite attractive outdoor decor. I now also further realize that the treatment materials probably leached down into my septic drainfield directly below and no doubt have not enhanced its efficiency.
Well, I've maintained these past years that quite often we inhabitants of this planet do things, most not intentionally, that harm the incredible natural beauty and harmony out there. We do them often out of ignorance and simply not thinking.
So to those who manufacture and distribute such products and to all of us who make our homes here:
"In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next generation."
From: The Great Law of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy
Pat Nash
Beach Watcher
Class of '94