<< Previous   of   Next >> Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) A large crane and boat sit at the end of the former Unocal pier as the pier is in the process of being removed, Wednesday, Jan. 7. (click to enlarge) Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW Dogs and dog owners enjoy the open space, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 at the Edmonds Dog Park. The oil pier (background), is in the process of being removed. (click to enlarge) Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW A sign warns visitors to stay away from an oil pier that is under the process of being removed, Wednesday, Jan. 7, at the Edmonds Dog Park. (click to enlarge) Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW Dogs enjoy the open space, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 at the Edmonds Dog Park. The oil pier (background), is in the process of being removed.

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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

Edmonds' disappearing 'shoreline'

• Divers lament loss of Unocal Pier

By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor

EDMONDS
One of the waterfront's most distinctive features is disappearing rapidly.

Plank by plank, piling by piling, crews are working to extract the former Unocal Pier, which will continue for a few more weeks to jut dramatically into Puget Sound from the city's Marina Beach Park.

But by March, the one-time oil dock will be completely gone.

The pier's loss has caused dismay among underwater divers, many of whom have lamented the loss of the pier's rich underwater sea life on Internet forums like the Northwest Dive Club and ScubaBoard.com.

Biologists have taken notice.

Tacoma's Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, for instance, has already collected for display some invertebrates -- colorful sea anemones, and aptly named feather duster tube worms -- that are losing their long-time home, officials said.

Even still, removal work continues.

The $2 million project is necessary, said Joy Goldenburg, with Washington State Ferries. The agency is paying for the work as part of early environmental mitigation for future improvements to Edmonds' ferry terminal.

The pier's creosote-treated timber pilings are rotting, and the pier is starting to fall apart.

That poses both environmental and safety hazards.

As work progresses, the pilings are broken down and transported to a landfill in Oregon, said Shawn Devine, a spokesman with WSF.

The progress of the long-sought Edmonds Crossing ferry relocation project is less certain. The project would create a multimodal transit facility to better manage car traffic associated with ferry, train, bus and commuter services.

City officials met Jan. 5 with state legislators to discuss priorities in Olympia, including the Edmonds Crossing project, Mayor Gary Haakenson said.

Gov. Christine Gregoire's proposed budget includes less funding for Edmonds Crossing than WSF's request, Haakenson said.

"If the ferries aren't giong to have (Edmonds Crossing) in our future, then we haev to go another direction. That's all there is to it," he said. "But (Edmonds Crossing) is important for the same reason it has always been."

The pier has never been a sanctioned city dive park like the pioneering Underwater Park just north of the current ferry dock.

Still, it has always been a popular destination for divers, parks director Brian McIntosh said in November.

Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com