This project is the second phase of a two phase beach restoration effort, and is directly south and adjacent to the Phase 1 project completed recently by WDFW and NOSC. Department of Ecology will be the lead in conducting the cleanup (remediation) and the restoration phase. Click here to be taken to their IRONDALE IRON & STEEL PLANT FORMER website for more information.


Estuarine and nearshore habitat loss is an identified factor for decline of summer chum, and ESA-threatened species. The project site is an industrial fill located in the Chimacum Creek estuary and adjacent intertidal nearshore area along approximately 1,500 feet of shoreline. Industrial activities have ceased, and the site is currently being studied for remediation by Jefferson County (the landowner) and Ecology.

The project will provide 1) restored conditions in the Chimacum estuary, one of 20 identified subestuaries in the summer chum ESU, and 2) approximately 5 acres of restored intertidal nearshore habitat along 1,500 feet of shoreline located on the migration corridor of all Hood Canal and many Puget Sound anadromous salmonid stocks.

Restoration will be accomplished by first remediating any identified toxics, removing all non-native fill, and then relocating clean native fill (sandy marine sediment) against the upper edge of intertidal zone where it will recruit into the marine drift cell. This will restore tidal inundation to the site and provide marine sediment to nourish nearby shoreline features, including the Chimacum Estuary spit. Thereafter, the natural processes of wave and tidal action, unconstrained fluvial discharge, and sediment movement will occur unimpeded upon the restored site, producing stable, productive habitat. Summer chum, coho, steelhead, and cutthroat inhabit Chimacum Creek. These fish, along with all anadromous salmonid stocks originating in Hood Canal and many Puget Sound stocks, will benefit from the project.


Talks between ECY, the Parks Department and the Chusmsortium to coordinate the remediation and restoration efforts.


The completion of cleanup and restoration work at the former Irondale Iron and Steel site was marked on January 24. Jefferson County officials as well as state agency representatives, members of environmental organizations and local volunteers gathered to celebrate the re-opening of the Irondale Beach County Park.

The event marked the end of cleanup and restoration activities coordinated by Ecology beginning in 2007. The final push began in summer 2012, with all work completed at the end of December. When the work was finished approximately 1.29 acres of new intertidal habitat and 1.65 acres of new backshore habitat had been created.

In addition, the cleanup honored the site as part of the Irondale Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and Washington Heritage Register. Ecology worked with state and federal agencies and tribes to identify and protect structures of historical significance. As much as possible, larger trees were preserved. Ecology also left in place historic elements such as building foundations and the charcoal-fired kilns that show the character of the iron-and-steel producing operations of a hundred years ago

The cleanup of the Irondale site has significance beyond the project's local impact. The Irondale cleanup and restoration was funded by the Puget Sound Initiative, a region-wide effort to restore the health of Sound by 2020.