Pullen Creek, located in Skagway, Alaska, has been on the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list
(10303-004) since 1990 for non-attainment of the Toxic and Other Deleterious Organic and Inorganic
Substances standard for metals. The lower mile of Pullen Creek was previously Section 303(d) listed
with the Skagway Harbor listing but was segmented out into its own listing in Alaska’s Final 2004
Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report (April 2006). Pullen Creek remains
303(d) listed at the current time. Under the ACWA Program administered through the Alaska
Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), Pullen Creek was scheduled for a Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) in 2007 that would lead eventual attainment of standards for metals.
However, there was a lack of baseline data for an appropriate evaluation to begin this process.
In July of 2003, the Skagway Traditional Council (STC) applied for and received funding through the
ACWA program to begin gathering baseline contaminant data on Pullen Creek. The purpose of the
Pullen Creek Assessment project (ACWA 04-08) was to complete an environmental assessment of
Pullen Creek and prepare a final report that would be used to in evaluating possible alternatives to a
TMDL. The final report document also included: historical and background information available on
the creek, information on fish and fish habitat, an overview of other Pullen Creek projects, and
recommendations for future work. The data gathered provided enough information to ADEC to decide
that a Waterbody Recovery Plan for Pullen Creek was the appropriate next step.
The purpose of this document is to summarize all of the information collected during regarding Pullen
Creek that is related to heavy metal contamination and any factors that may contribute to overall water
quality and fish habitat issues. Furthermore, this document contains recommended Best Management
Practices (BMP’s) to reduce or lower the potential of any further degradation of water quality and fish
habitat. These BMP’s were developed in cooperation with stakeholders to apply to any current or
future construction projects implemented on or near Pullen Creek. However, it is available to all
interested parties. Furthermore, additional information is included that isn’t related to construction
projects but for the better interest of Pullen Creek.
