Update!!! All beaches on this site have been cleaned up! 2,000,000 pounds of toxic creosoted wood debris have been removed from these and other beaches and numerous critical areas in Puget Sound.

Welcome to the Puget Sound Creosote Awareness Project web site. It was created in 2002 as a visually educational site. We invite all interested persons to learn about the toxic creosoted wood debris problem on beaches throughout Puget Sound. Creosote is in the family of chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is used as a wood preservative and contains as many as 10,000 chemicals. Many are known carcinogens. It is most commonly seen on marine pilings and structures, power and telephone poles, and railroad ties. The following pages use numerous photos as a way of exposing the problem and teaching you about creosoted material. For more scientific information about the creosote problem, we invite you to go to the "Links to Learn More About Creosote" page.

We are very happy to announce that in the years since this site was first created, every location on this site has been cleaned of creosoted debris. Tony and his specialized crane and crew were hired as part of a small team of professionals to do the clean-ups. Using helicoptors where possible and Tony's rubber-tracked crane, the clean-ups were accomplished with as little impact to the surrounding environment as possible.

As a result of the hard work and dedication of Tony and numerous state agencies, more than 2,000,000 pounds of creosoted debris has been removed from these and other beaches, as well as state parks and other critical areas. Future clean-ups are planned for all areas in need. The photos of these original sites remain on this site as educational material. We have added new photos of the clean-ups as an update to the pages.

The photo on the left is of Tony with a 40 foot long creosoted piling at Lake Hancock on Whidbey Island. A channel broke through from the sound to the lake back in the 1930s. It remains open and has turned the lake into a rare saltwater marsh and estuary. Since the 1970s, Tony has been snorkel diving at and enjoying Lake Hancock. He feels a special bond with this rare marsh. What he has seen happen to this unique place is alarming. Countless creosoted pilings, timbers, railroad ties and arsenic pressure-treated wood have moved into the lake and estuary through the channel along with the natural driftwood. They have become trapped there doing untold damage to this fragile environment that birds, fish hatchlings and wildlife rely on.

Tony has made it his mission to rid Lake Hancock and the surrounding beaches of Whidbey Island and Puget Sound of this toxic garbage. PSCAP is the result of that commitment. In 2005, Tony was honored by the WA State Senate with Senate Resolution 8668, recognizing him for all he has done for the cause and naming him "Mr. Creosote".