BREMERTON IS NO STRANGER to smokestacks. And I don’t just mean the one you are holding in your hands. Historically, everything from sawmills to factories to schools had smokestacks. Even ships had smokestacks. The smokestack was synonymous with industry. The foundations for our first smokestack were laid down in 1908, so we’ve had smokestacks in our skyline for more than 100 years.
The environmental movement of the 70’s began to change this, though.
In 1970, The EPA was founded and passed the Clean Air and Water acts. As industry became cleaner, smokestacks dwindled across the country. Bremerton’s lone survivor is the PSNS smokestack. You know the one I’m talking about, you can’t miss it. It looms up over you as you drive into town, right where Charleston Boulevard narrows. At night you can see the red lights blinking like the Eye of Sauron atop the great tower.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic but that’s how I’ve always thought of it. The smokestack is the tallest structure in town, clocking in at 304 feet. It’s even taller than Crane 28, beating it by 54 feet!
Heading into the 1980’s, PSNS determined they needed to replace their turn-of -the-century, oil fired steam plant, which provided heat and steam to buildings and equipment on base. With the oil crises of the 1970’s still fresh in everyone’s memory, they decided to replace the oil with coal. This would reduce their reliance on foreign oil and make the base more self-sufficient. But residents of Charleston were not into this plan. In fact, people all over the country were not into this sort of plan.
In 1982, Members of Greenpeace protested “Acid Rain” in Indiana and Ohio by climbing smokestacks 600 and 800 feet tall. The “Acid Rain” is a man-made byproduct of coal burning, which occurs when chemicals rise up in the smoke and hit the moisture in the air, creating acidic compounds. The Navy made a statement that yes, our new smokestack would create these compounds but not at sufficient volume to lower the air quality or cause any kind of corrosion. The proper environmental impact studies had been performed and approved. The construction would not be stopped and the base gate would prevent any would-be protesters from making the climb. Local protesters turned their sights to Bangor instead, where the first trident missile submarine was due to arrive the same year.
The smokestack rose from nothing at a rate of 10ft every three days. It was completed in August of 1986, ahead of schedule. A small flag raising ceremony was conducted to mark the occasion. Coal was chuted in via railroad cars and the new steam plant produced 280,000 lbs of steam per hour, earning it the nickname “Cloudmaker.” The smokestack billowed away for ten years before the plant was converted to natural gas. This eliminated 286 tons of air pollutants and 7400 tons of coal ash. The last chunk of coal was burned in June of 1996. Our iconic smokestack has been producing water vapor ever since.
CHECK OUT DEENA’s Bremerton History Podcast Bremelore. Find it wherever you podcast. And at bremelore.wtf. And for historical reference on this story, check out: “Steam Plant to be part of the Skyline” By Jim Rothgeb in the Bremerton Sun Archives, March 4th 1982, page 17.
