Tsunami dock gets scrubbing to protect beach

FORKS, Wash. – A crew has scrubbed a dock that washed ashore on a wilderness beach near Forks, Wash., and scraped off more than 400 pounds of organic material, including species native to Japan but not found in the United States.

Ecology Department spokesman Curt Hart said a six-member team from Olympic National Park and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife decontaminated the outer dock surface Friday. The team put the organic material in an upland area outside the surf zone where the marine species won’t survive.

Hart says initial lab results identified as many as 50 plant and animal species on the dock that are native to Japan.

The Coast Guard spotted the dock Dec. 18.