Drifting Dock Highlights Growing Microplastic Risk

By Asifa Pasin, Nancy Schafer, Bill Symes

What began as a drifting section of dock in our inland waters has become a stark reminder of how quickly plastic pollution can spiral beyond control – and how unprepared we remain to respond.

On February 15, Nancy Schafer, a West Sound resident, board member of Orcas Recycling Services/The Exchange, and one of the organizers of the Great Islands Cleanup, was out rowing and noticed a problem. A section of a wooden dock, attached to deteriorating styrofoam floats partially wrapped in plastic bags, had washed high up into the rocks in West Sound – most likely on the last king tides of January 3, 4, or 5. The floats were already breaking apart with one of the three large sections and smaller pieces found in the next cove. 

Styrofoam does not biodegrade – it fragments. Wind and waves grind it into smaller and smaller beads that scatter into rocks, beaches and shoreline vegetation. These microplastics are impossible to fully recover.

“This wasn’t just unsightly,” says Schafer. “With every high tide and even light winds, the lightweight foam was breaking up and spreading farther into the water and onto land, creating an environmental hazard.”

Schafer contacted multiple agencies throughout the week including the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, the San Juan County Emergency Management, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and the Washington Department of Ecology. The earliest potential response date offered was March 9, more than three weeks away.     

Bill Symes, vice president of the Islands’ Oil Spill Association (IOSA) Board of Directors, explains that while Styrofoam is petroleum-based, it is not classified as oil. Oil spills trigger coordinated emergency systems. Solid waste events, like this, do not.

Symes also noted that the local rapid-response side of oil spill cleanup is largely volunteer-based. IOSA only has two paid staff members. The organization formed 40 years ago after an oiled beach incident, when islanders realized that in the crucial early hours of a spill, outside agencies and contractors could not arrive quickly enough. IOSA serves as a bridge until professional crews can respond.

With plastic pollution, however, the problem is not only the first hours, it is often the first weeks. By the time formal assistance might arrive, tides and wind would likely have spread thousands more plastic fragments.

So neighbors stepped in.

The cleanup happened in two phases. On February 21, Schafer, Steve McKenna, and Pete Moe, Executive Director of ORS/The Exchange, levered the dock enough to bag and remove the two remaining disintegrating floats and collected sizable debris scattered among the rocks. Two battery vacuums were used to effectively remove large volumes of small beads. On February 24, Schafer returned with locals Robin Hirsch, Roz Montgomery, Bill Symes and Ross Newport. Equipped with five vacuums and many batteries, the group tackled the tedious job of cleaning the remaining debris field prying out and hand-picking fragments embedded in rock crevices, barnacle, clam and mussel beds. But even with this effort, complete recovery is unlikely.

“Quick response is everything,” says Schafer. “Once this material spreads, it becomes exponentially harder to remove.”

Microplastics pose serious risks to marine ecosystems. Birds, forage fish and shellfish ingest the particles, which persist indefinitely and accumulate in the food web. What begins as a single float can become a long-term pollution event.

The incident underscores a broader concern: unencased Styrofoam floats remain in use beneath docks and water recreation equipment. When exposed, they are highly vulnerable to damage. Encapsulation regulations exist to prevent fragmentation, yet older or compromised installations remain throughout local waters. Once breached, unencased Styrofoam essentially becomes a microplastic factory.

Schafer notified the property owner and offered volunteer assistance. But relying on neighbors to manage pollution events is not a sustainable system. And while a formal, streamlined reporting system for rapid-deployment does not currently exist for this type of solid waste emergency, there are few ways you can help. 

If you see plastic waste in the water or along the shore, please pick it up. If the item is too large or is dispersed over a large area, you can report it using one of the following methods, although the process for response may not be prompt.

Act early. Small efforts taken quickly prevent much larger harm. Styrofoam does not disappear. It only becomes smaller and spreads farther.This will not be the last incident of its kind. 

Moving forward, ORS/The Exchange will be working towards partnering with relevant agencies to create a more streamlined local rapid response to future events. Until then, prevention, responsible dock maintenance, and community vigilance can help reduce the damage. Our shorelines and marine ecosystems are too precious to treat plastic fragmentation as a minor nuisance. It is not. It is a slow-moving environmental crisis that demands a faster response.