How could our Brownfields program help your community?

Travel through a community of any size and you’re likely to see old gas stations, shuttered industrial facilities, or former farms – all of which may have environmental contamination. These abandoned or underutilized properties are known as brownfields. Our Brownfields Program helps put them back into use, allowing communities to bring their redevelopment visions to life.

Remediation realized

Ecology works with local governments, non-profits, tribes, and community stakeholders across Washington who are interested in cleaning up brownfields. We can help match your project to one or more of the wide range of federal and state funding and technical assistance opportunities.

Need inspiration to get your brownfield project going? Watch Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove share how his city partnered with Ecology and others to clean up the abandoned, contaminated Palouse Producers property on their main street:



Have a project of your own in mind? We invite you to join our Washington-Brownfields email list to receive updates about our efforts to support communities with redevelopment.

Learn more online

Following on the success of our 2019 Washington State Brownfields Conference, our updated brownfields website includes more information about funding opportunities, how to locate brownfield properties in your community, and access to print materials and presentations from the conference.

If you missed the conference, visit the Center for Creative Land Recycling blog, where they recapped the highlights in their “Brownfield Spotlight in Spokane” June 6 post. Big thanks to the Northwest Environmental Business Council and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as to our sponsors, session presenters, and attendees for bringing your knowledge and interest to this important topic! We’ll use feedback received on the follow-up survey to plan future conferences and workshops.

Upcoming events

• Infrastructure Assistance Coordinating Council Conference; October 22–24, 2019; Wenatchee, WA. Come see us; we’re presenting at a few sessions!
• Brownfields 2019: Sustainable Communities Start Here; December 11–13, 2019; Los Angeles, CA
• Stay tuned for information on the spring 2020 Oregon Brownfields Conference. 2018 conference materials are available.

Washington litter czars welcome viral #Trashtag Challenge – but advise safety first

Teens encouraged to join Ecology Youth Corps to clean up roadways

Do you remember the Harlem Shake? What about planking? Most social media phenomena are little more than silly time wasters, but a new viral challenge aims to leave the world a little cleaner than we found it: Thousands of people around the world are joining the #Trashtag Challenge on social media by posting photos of themselves ridding their roadsides, beaches, and parks of garbage.

Ecology Youth Crews is 2018 cleared more than 1 million
pounds of litter from Washington roadways. Here a crew
from the Puyallup area poses with a one-day haul of
picked litter last year.

The Washington Department of Ecology, which oversees litter prevention and pickup programs in our state, commends the efforts of #Trashtag volunteers. But everyone cleaning up litter should put safety first, particularly when working near traffic or dealing with potentially dangerous trash like needles, biomedical waste and weapons.

“Litterers annually dump more than 12 million pounds of junk in our beautiful state,” said Peter Christiansen, manager for Ecology’s roadside litter crews. “We’ll take all the help we can get picking up that trash – but make sure you take a few commonsense precautions. And consider helping out your community by picking up garbage at a park or a school.”

Christiansen advises Trashtaggers to stick to safe places like parks and beaches, and to wear high-visibility clothing and puncture-resistant boots and gloves, and stay away from roadways. If Trashtaggers choose to pick up litter from a roadway make sure it is legal, always face traffic, and be sure to have an escape route from out-of-control vehicles.

Social media fads fade over time, but litter never ends. If cleaning up your community means more to you than just a selfie for a few likes, sign up with the Washington Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway program by contacting a local coordinator.

And if you know a teenager inspired to clean up, let them know they can do more than volunteer. The Department of Ecology plans to hire 300 teenagers throughout Washington this summer as part of the Ecology Youth Corps. Teens chosen for the Ecology Youth Corps will earn $12 per hour and work up to 32 hours per week.

In 2018, Ecology Youth Corps crews picked up over 1 million pounds of litter and cleaned about 4,500 miles of roads statewide. Since 1975, the program has hired more than 12,000 Washington teens, offering them work experience, a summer job, and the chance to preserve Washington’s natural beauty and protect our state’s environment.

Applicants must be ages 14-17 as of July 1. The first deadline for applications in the Central and Eastern regions is April 1. Deadlines for applications in our Southwest and Northwest regions are April 12 and April 16, respectively.  Applications are available through area school counselors and at www.ecology.wa.gov/EYC.

Contact one of our EYC coordinators for more information:

Central Region
Ellensburg, Goldendale, Richland, Sunnyside, Toppenish, and Union Gap.

Rod Hankinson
rodney.hankinson@ecy.wa.gov
509-454-7209

Monica Martinez
monica.martinez@ecy.wa.gov
509-454-7873

Eastern Region
Chewelah, Colville, Moses Lake, Othello, Pasco, Spokane, Deer Park, Pasco

Laurie Dahmen
laurie.dahmen@ecy.wa.gov
509-329-3506

Lynette Kuehl
lynette.kuehl@ecy.wa.gov
509-329-3434

Northwest Region
South King County, North King County, South/Central Snohomish County, North Snohomish/Skagit Counties, Kitsap County, and Whatcom County.

Steven Williams
steven.williams@ecy.wa.gov
425-649-7048

Sarah Elledge
sarah.elledge@ecy.wa.gov
425-649-7029

Southwest Region
Aberdeen/Montesano, Chehalis, Olympia, Puyallup, Tacoma, and Vancouver

Lexi Ehresmann
lexi.ehresmann@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6391

Ariona
Southwest Region Litter Administrator
ariona@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6351

Washington communities are invited to apply for federal assistance to increase local sustainability

Our Brownfields Program staff are encouraging Washington communities to take advantage of the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the program for communities that are relatively new to environmentally sustainable approaches but have a basic understanding of smart growth principles and how they apply locally.

EPA enacts this program by providing technical assistance workshops in selected communities. Their workshops are focusing on two tools this year.

1. Communities with Superfund and/or brownfield properties are invited to apply for the Strategies for Neighborhood Reinvestment tool. A brownfield is a formerly abandoned property whose redevelopment may be complicated by actual or perceived environmental contamination. The tool will help them enact policies to increase the redevelopment potential of contaminated properties by creating better conditions for real estate investment in the neighborhoods surrounding them.
2. Communities digging up and reconstructing streets are invited to apply for the Green and Complete Streets tool. The tool will help them capitalize on water infrastructure upgrades as an opportunity to rebuild more pedestrian and bike-friendly streets that better manage stormwater on-site.

How to Apply

Submit a letter of interest no longer than two pages. The applicant can be a local, county, or tribal government, or a nonprofit organization that has the support of the local government on whose behalf they are applying. Communities can submit multiple letters of interest, but the nature of the challenge should correspond with each tool requested. Each letter should:

1. Select one of the tools described above.
2. Describe the nature of the smart growth or sustainable communities-related challenge(s) facing your community, including any relevant data to demonstrate the challenge. If applicable, describe how this challenge affects low-income, minority, tribal, and/or other communities facing disproportionate environmental or health risks.
3. Explain the relevance of the selected tool to the challenge(s), being as specific as possible. Applicants must describe how the community’s issues can be addressed through the technical assistance workshop, focusing on why the requested tool will help with a specific challenge. Specifically:
• For Strategies for Neighborhood Reinvestment, indicate what, if any, economic development is occurring in your community and steps your community has already taken to encourage infill development, including policies, code changes, partnerships, or other strategies.
• For Green and Complete Streets, preference will be given to communities that already have a Complete Streets policy in place and want to add the “green” element, so indicate how familiar your community is with Complete Streets practices as well as green infrastructure for stormwater management. Include local examples, if any.
4. Describe your plan for engaging underrepresented communities, including low-income, minority, tribal, and/or overburdened communities, in the technical assistance workshop.
5. Identify your preferred timing for the workshop. The proposed timeframe for these workshops is between March and September 2019. Please provide a preliminary idea of the best dates for your community.
6. Describe the community’s expected capacity for implementation, for example, local policy change, additional consideration for physical improvements, new incentives, etc. EPA generally looks to assist communities that are ready to implement once the Building Blocks workshop and next steps memo are complete.
7. If applicable, describe how this assistance would complement work being done in the community using other federal funding (EPA brownfields grants, U.S. HUD Community Development Block Grants, U.S. DOT TIGER/BUILD grants) and/or how this workshop would align with a local or regional planning process.
8. Affirm that the community can provide the information or materials listed in the “What the Community Provides” section of each tool description.
9. List the primary point of contact and other key stakeholders who would be involved in the technical assistance work, including title, address, email, and phone number of the primary contact.

The letter must be signed by a mayor, city manager, elected official, or other representative of the community. This signature represents the community’s support and commitment to this program and assistance.

The letter of interest must be submitted in an attachment (Microsoft Word or PDF file) by email to BuildingBlocks@epa.gov no later than November 16, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Please save your file using the following format: Name of Jurisdiction Name of State and corresponding tool number (#x) based on the following list. For example: Catonsville Maryland #1.

• Tool #1: Neighborhood Reinvestment
• Tool #2: Green and Complete Streets

If you have questions about this request for letters of interest, please see EPA’s Frequently Asked Questions webpage. If your question is not answered there, please contact Chip Gurkin at Gurkin.Charles@epa.gov or 202-564-2778.

Cleaning up: Taking it to the streets in Everett

Contractors install new curbs and gutters on Everett's East
Marine View Drive, near State Route 529. Clean fill now
replaces contaminated soil that was under the street.

UPDATE (Dec. 3, 2018):

We’re almost done on East Marine View Drive! All lanes should be open the week before Christmas at the latest.

Final checks of restored connections to temporarily relocated utilities are under way. Then we’ll add the top layer of pavement, traffic signals and other finishing touches.

The paving layer and markings may be temporary, due to cool weather. If needed, we’ll return in the spring to install permanent paving and markings. 

By late January 2019 we’ll start cleanup work at Wiggums Hollow Park, closing part of it. We expect that project to wrap up late this spring. We’ll begin the cleanup – and temporary closure – of Viola Oursler Overlook as soon as March 2019.

We appreciate everyone’s patience with these projects! 

We’re about to tie up a major intersection in Everett. We hope you’ll use the posted detours while we dig out contaminated soil that’s under East Marine View Drive at the intersection with Riverside Road – and part of the interchange with SR529/North Broadway.

  

We're working where part of the Everett Smelter once stood.

It’s a spot where part of a smelter that produced lead and arsenic once stood. Removing soil and rubble from demolished buildings – to a depth of about 18 feet – will clean out sources of lead and arsenic contamination in groundwater that flows to the Snohomish River.

The Everett Smelter operated from 1894-1912, but the contamination wasn't discovered until 1990. Smelter operations left high levels of arsenic and lead on the former smelter property. Contaminated particles from the smokestacks settled over a 1.1 square mile area.

Cleanup of other parts of the smelter property took place in 2005-2007, but the part under the street has been left in place. Until now, that is.

Later this month our contractors will start about three to four months of work. They’ll dig out an expected 4,300 cubic yards of soil and rubble, haul it to a licensed disposal site, and replace it with clean soil. Dust control is a high priority on this project, and crews will use water sprays during the excavation.

Before you go: An alternate route may be your best bet.
Arrows show where traffic can go in each work phase.

Do a good turn: plan before your trip

To do all this we’ll need to close off parts of East Marine View Drive, one side at a time. It will take six to eight weeks for each of the project’s two phases.

We’ve tried to allow as much traffic flow as possible, but we’ll have to block some lanes and turn directions. We’re maintaining access to and from Riverside Road throughout the project.

The pictures to the right paint the thousand words it might take to explain it all. See the latest details in an update to information we mailed in June to addresses within a mile of the project.

Posted detour routes may add a few blocks to your travels, but let you avoid our temporary bottleneck.

Our contractor will have flaggers to direct traffic past the work area. As with any other road construction project, please slow down as you approach and pass through the site.

Yard cleanups continue

Meanwhile, we’re still cleaning residential yards contaminated by smelter operations. We completed 11 yard cleanups over the winter – bringing the total to 395 – and are preparing to start working with 20 more this summer.

A recent yard cleanup in progress: Clean topsoil is 

shaped into place, prior to re-landscaping.

We’re offering soil sampling at any yard we haven’t previously sampled in the 170-acre Everett Smelter plume cleanup site in northeastern Everett.

We work with property owners in this area on a voluntary basis. We start with soil testing and when needed, we offer to remove contaminated dirt and bring in clean soil to restore the yard.

If you live within the cleanup site and your yard has not had its cleanup, please continue to follow healthy actions that include washing hands with soap, leaving shoes at the door, regular floor and carpet cleaning, and frequent washing of children’s toys and pacifiers.

Park cleanups coming

Like yards, parks in the cleanup area can need cleanup, too. In 2016, we completed the cleanup of American Legion Memorial Park, the first of three parks where we're replacing soil in the cleanup area.

We’re planning such work after Labor Day at Wiggums Hollow Park and Viola Oursler Overlook. Both parks will close during these cleanups. We should be done, including establishing new lawns, in early 2019.

 By: Larry Altose, communications manager, Northwest Regional Office

Links:

• Everett Smelter cleanup
• Residential yard sampling and cleanup
• Healthy actions in areas with soil contamination

Cleaning up: Give input on Marshall Landfill

The Marshall Landfill overlooks Queen Lucas Lake.

In late May, cleanup site manager Huckleberry Palmer led Carmen Nezat’s Eastern Washington University environmental geology class on a field trip to the nearby Marshall Landfill. Although the scene may look picturesque, contamination such as volatile organic compounds, methane, metals, herbicides, and nitrates are below.

Now we’re asking these students – and the public at large – to give us input on cleanup options through August 1. The draft Remedial Investigation Report documents the extent and location of contamination in groundwater and landfill gases at the site. The draft Feasibility Study evaluates cleanup options.

The seven cleanup options range from installing fencing and warning signs to excavating all the waste and moving it to a newer landfill that complies with environmental laws. The Marshall Landfill has no bottom liner. Today’s landfills are required to have double liners with a space between to collect leaks.

The landfill stopped accepting waste in 1990, but the owners didn’t complete all the steps to safely close it. Ecology is now leading and funding cleanup.

After the comment period, we’ll respond to the comments we receive. Then, we will write a draft cleanup action plan that selects one, or a combination, of the cleanup options from the Feasibility Study. The draft plan will be available for public review and comment before becoming final.

If you have questions, please contact Huckleberry at 509-329-3433 or huckleberry.palmer@ecy.wa.gov.

Input wanted: Cleanup options for BNSF Railway Black Tank Property

From May 22 through June 22, we are gathering public comments on the cleanup methods we’re considering for the BNSF Railway Black Tank Property in the Hillyard neighborhood. BNSF and Marathon Oil Company are responsible for cleanup because of their past activities at the site.

The site housed an above-ground black tank that stored petroleum products, primarily the thick, heavy oil known as bunker C for fueling trains. The site also had an above-ground red tank that was used to store and transfer diesel. Areas of soil are contaminated, and a 7-acre plume of petroleum rests on groundwater 170 feet underground.

Cross-section showing petroleum contamination in soil and groundwater
(Courtesy of  ERM)

Excavation with offsite disposal or capping are proposed for contaminated shallow soil. Five groundwater cleanup options are under consideration: biodegradation, bioventing/biosparging, bioventing/biosparging and manual petroleum removal, bioventing/biosparging and steam-enhanced extraction, and smoldering combustion. Bioventing/biosparging is BNSF and Marathon's preferred cleanup option.

These cleanup methods are summarized in the fact sheet and fully described in the remedial investigation and feasibility study report.

When contamination intersects with a freeway

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is building the North Spokane Corridor (NSC) to connect US Highway 395 with Interstate 90 in Spokane. The Hillyard portion of the NSC is within the Black Tank cleanup site. Ecology, BNSF, Marathon, and WSDOT are working together to keep both projects running smoothly.

BNSF and Marathon have committed to a cleanup timeframe of less than 20 years, and WSDOT is planning freeway construction work to accommodate multi-purpose cleanup infrastructure so cleanup options will not be limited by the presence of the NSC.

Educating the public about the Black Tank site and soliciting your input are important steps in the cleanup process. We have been impressed by the outpouring of public interest, which gave us the opportunity to meet with the community about this cleanup site 17 times since late 2015! The cleanup and the freeway design have and will continue to benefit from meaningful public engagement.

It’s all about the life-giving aquifer

Our business is protecting people and the environment. The Spokane-Valley Rathdrum-Prairie Aquifer provides drinking water to nearly 500,000 residents in the Spokane area. Protecting this vital, sole source of drinking water is our top priority for this site. Not only do we care about your health and the environment, but we drink that water, too!

Because the contamination is a heavy oil, it is staying on top of groundwater with very little mixing occurring (imagine oil and vinegar dressing that isn’t shaken up). Because water wells are not located close to the site, drinking water is not affected by the contamination at this time, and we monitor it regularly.

Next steps

Please submit comments to Jeremy Schmidt online, by email, or mail (4601 N. Monroe, Spokane, 99205) by June 22. We will respond to the comments we receive.

Then we’ll use the data gathered thus far and your feedback to draft a cleanup plan. We will hold a public meeting during the comment period for that cleanup plan.

There is no easy answer, but working together, understanding one another’s values and constraints with a willingness to compromise, we will protect people and the environment, preserve our precious drinking water, and successfully build a freeway.

Cleaning Up: Welcome to ‘the Neighborhood’ – Part 2

Last week, we shared the new What’s In My Neighborhood mapping tool that allows users to search for polluted properties across Washington state.

We received a variety of responses via Facebook, some applauding Ecology’s efforts. Others were understandably alarmed to see dots sprinkling the map around their homes and workplaces.

Don't forget to check the legend!

So let’s talk about what those dots mean and how Ecology goes about enacting Washington’s cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA). While those 12,300 dots may seem overwhelming, don’t forget that almost half – the green ones – are already cleaned up!

Most sites pose little immediate risk to people living near them. In many cases, sites in neighborhoods are old gas stations, home heating-oil tanks, and not big industrial facilities.

MTCA basics

In 1988, voters passed a citizens’ initiative that created MTCA. Part of the act is a tax on hazardous substances such as petroleum products, pesticides, and other chemicals.

Money generated by the hazardous substance tax not only helps fund cleanup of contaminated sites, it also funds state and local government programs that protect the environment and people from threats posed by toxic chemicals. Those programs include controlling sources of toxics, such as polluted stormwater runoff. Prevention is more efficient than cleanup, so focusing some funding there is a proactive way to curb future cleanup costs.

Important cleanup principles

• When the threat is immediate, Ecology takes action before going through the MTCA process (see the cleanup process flowchart below)
• The polluters pay for cleanup, unless they are financially unable or cannot be located – this is where the hazardous substance tax kicks in
• MTCA requires that the public be informed about contaminated sites and given the opportunity to participate in cleanup decisions – the What’s In My Neighborhood tool, though not required by law, is another way Ecology is sharing information and encouraging input
• Because Ecology staff and funds are limited, cleanup sites are prioritized by the risk they pose to people and the environment

The cleanup process

Some flowchart highlights:

• A lengthy part of the process (#5) involves investigating a site to discover how much contamination is there and everywhere it is located. Then we explore cleanup options. On average, this process takes 3 to 4 years, which can vary depending on how complex the site is. This sounds like a long time, but we can’t come up with a cleanup solution without understanding the problem.
• If all seven steps are done sequentially, it can take a site 11–12 years to be cleaned up. However, not all sites go through all the steps, and steps can overlap.

We’re here to help and want your feedback

The Help menu provides quick assistance with navigating the Neighborhood, and if you have questions, suggestions, or find the tool not working, please contact Ecology at TCPWebmail@ecy.wa.gov.

By Erika Bronson, public involvement, Toxics Cleanup Program

Cleaning Up: Work along Centennial Trail and Spokane River

The Holcim Inc cleanup site is owned by Neighborhood Inc., the City
of Spokane Valley, and Holcim (US) Inc.

Through November 2016, cleanup work is happening in the Spokane Valley at 12207 E. Empire Avenue, known as the Holcim Inc site.

The cleanup site is near the well-used Centennial Trail and a public boat launch on the Spokane River, so we wanted to let people know what's going on and answer potential questions.

Why is the site being cleaned up?

Cement was manufactured at the site from 1910 to 1967. During that time, cement kiln dust (CKD) was deposited on the ground. Soil sample results confirmed one CKD deposit about 109,100 cubic yards in volume and another about 12,300 cubic yards in volume. 

The bare ground is a CKD deposit.

The CKD contains various contaminants that exceed state standards, including arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Some of the CKD at the site is very corrosive with a pH greater than 12.5. Other contaminants near the cement-manufacturing area in surface soil include benzene, carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons.

Is it safe to use the trail and river near the site?

Yes, the trail and river are safe to use. The public should not enter the fenced cleanup area.

How will the site be cleaned up?

CKD deposits will be stockpiled and covered with an engineered cap on the Holcim Inc property. Native grasses will be planted on the 2 feet of topsoil covering the cap.

All contamination will be removed from the City of Spokane Valley property, and this land will be restored and available for public use.

What happens when cleanup is finished?

Long-term monitoring will occur, and Ecology will visit the site at least every 5 years to verify the cleanup still protects people and the environment.

How can I get more information?

• Visit Ecology's Holcim Inc website.
• Contact Jeremy Schmidt, site manager, at jeremy.schmidt@ecy.wa.gov or (509) 329-3484; or Erika Bronson, public involvement, at erika.bronson@ecy.wa.gov or (509) 329-3546.

By Erika Bronson, public involvement, Eastern Region, Toxics Cleanup Program

Cleaning Up: Welcome to 'the Neighborhood'!

Polluted properties dot Washington's landscape. Literally.

Each dot represents a contaminated site in the state.

More than 12,300 toxic sites have been identified in the state -- and those are just the ones we know about right now. More are reported to us each year, even as others are cleaned up. At this point, just over half of them are considered to be “cleaned up.” But there is still a long way to go.

Search for cleanup sites near you

So do you ever wonder if one -- or more -- of those sites could be next door to your residence or workplace? Or maybe close to the local school or places where you do business?

If such thoughts have crossed your mind, search our new What's In My Neighborhood mapping tool to find contaminated sites around you. Instructions are found by clicking the "help" button on the left side of the web page.

Let's use Ecology's headquarters as an example. The building is located at 300 Desmond Drive SE in Lacey. So we type in that address to search for cleanup sites within 1 mile of the building and we get 13 sites.

Scrolling down the left side shows that many of those sites are "cleaned up." More information may be available on individual sites by clicking on the site name.

You can do the same thing with your home, your workplace, local schools, and other locations. You just need a device with internet access and a few minutes.

The "What's In My Neighborhood" mapping tool shows 13 cleanup sites within 1 mile of Ecology's Lacey building.

Tell us what you think

The "Neighborhood" tool is easy to use, though it's still a work in progress -- information on some of the smaller, less-contaminated sites is not as plentiful as information on more complex sites. We intend to develop and add more information, and we welcome your feedback.

If you have questions, suggestions for improvement, or run into technical issues, please email TCPWebmail@ecy.wa.gov.

By Erika Bronson, public involvement, Toxics Cleanup Program

Cleaning Up: Snohomish spill site now preserved for farmland

The former RiverBend property is preserved for farming. (Forterra photo)

For years, the site of a past fuel spill carried the stigma of contamination.

Now, thanks to the Forterra conservation group and our Toxics Cleanup Program's Bellevue-based staff, the Snohomish County property is considered cleaned up and classified as preserved for farming.

An accident, then contamination

The 140-acre RiverBend Investment Co. site is located at 4304 State Route 530 NE in the Arlington area. In July 1992, a truck towing a tractor had an accident while traveling on Highway 530 near the property. The tractor ended up on its side near a driveway at the property.

The tractor spilled about 100 gallons of diesel fuel within about 30 feet of the Stillaguamish River. The responsible party cleaned up about 20 cubic yards of contaminated soil -- but the soil was stockpiled at the property.

Then in 2004, some leaking underground storage tanks were found on the property. They were dug and removed, along with 40 cubic yards of contaminated soil. But that soil was stockpiled too.

Digging into the past

The property changed owners a few times, and there was no clear record of what happened to the stockpiled soils. Eventually, a new owner contacted the Toxics Cleanup Program to find out if the site needed further cleanup before the property could be sold.

Dale Myers, a site manager in our Bellevue office, worked with the owner to determine the site's condition. A couple of dozen soil samples and samples from two groundwater wells showed no detectable levels of contamination. We issued a "no further action" (NFA) finding, meaning the site is now considered to be cleaned up.

The owner then sold the property to Forterra so the organization could maintain the land for farming instead of developing it for housing or other uses.

A 'community win'

Media reports focused on the successful preservation effort, including this TV news broadcast and this newspaper story. 

Michelle Connor, Forterra executive vice president, wrote to thank our staff for their part: "I wanted to extend deep appreciation from the entire team at Forterra for Department of Ecology’s efforts to assist us in working through the cleanup and technical work needed to receive an NFA letter related to an historic 140-acre farm near Arlington. ... Department of Ecology played a critical role in this community win."

This is just one example of how a site that's thought to be contaminated can find new life through the cleanup process.


By Seth Preston, Toxics Cleanup Program communications manager

Cleaning Up: Small sites, big impacts in Eastern WA

Large-scale environmental cleanups with big cranes -- and even bigger price tags -- capture a lot of public attention, especially in Washington's urban centers.

Used oil sometimes bubbled up inside Roby's Service.

But relatively small projects in sparsely populated rural areas can have significant positive impacts in smaller communities too.

That's why our Toxics Cleanup Program created the Eastern Washington Clean Sites Initiative. The effort involves communities and other partners in shaping cleanup projects that will make a difference in local residents’ quality of life.

We use initiative funds to help clean up properties where the responsible party (land user, facility operator or property owner) can't be found or simply can’t afford to pay for cleanup.

The Eastern Washington Clean Sites Initiative includes about two dozen cleanup sites in 11 counties. Among those sites are an old mill property and some former gas stations.

An eyesore in Buena

One of those old gas stations is the old Roby's Service property in Buena, a small Yakima County community north of Toppenish. The location operated as a gas station and auto repair facility from the 1950s until about 2003.

Roby's was bordered by homes and a U.S. Post Office. 

Over the years, petroleum contamination was found in soil and groundwater coming from leaking underground storage tanks. Ecology dug up and removed the tanks and pipes in 2001.

But the abandoned structures languished. Used oil sometimes seeped up from underground through holes in the flooring. It was a general eyesore, located next to homes and the local U.S. Post Office, and the community wanted it gone.

Our cleanup staff in Ecology's Central Regional Office went to work with Yakima County's code enforcement personnel. In 2011, Ecology removed many site structures and concrete and pumped out a waste oil tank.

In 2012, crews dug up and removed the empty waste oil tank and the surrounding contaminated soil, and backfilled the pit.

Crews tear down the old Roby's Service structures in Buena.

About 2,500 tons of soil and 122 tons of concrete debris were taken from the site and disposed of properly. A compound that helps enhance breakdown of the remaining petroleum contamination was added to leftover soil.

Testing shows any residual soil contamination is not impacting groundwater beneath the site.

A new chapter

With the blighted structures gone, there's new hope for the former Roby's site. It's being removed from our Hazardous Sites List, which means we consider it to be cleaned up.

And a young entrepreneur who bought the property is talking about using it to develop a park or a youth center.

It's just one more example of how environmental cleanup can spark development and improve a community's quality of life.


By Seth Preston, Toxics Cleanup Program communications manager

Cleaning Up: From RAGs to (environmental) riches

Ecology passes nearly 70 percent of the agency's $1.4 billion budget directly to local communities and governments.

The Port of Everett is using a Remedial Action Grant for a dredging project.

That money pays for a variety of other environmental work -- cleaning up contaminated sites, managing polluted stormwater runoff, preventing floods, managing garbage and wastewater, and more.

Remedial Action Grants, or RAGs, are significant tools for cleanups. Local governments -- port districts, cities, counties, and others -- use the grants to help reimburse some of their costs for cleaning up publicly owned properties.

Grants encourage cleanup

Cleanups aren't cheap -- they can cost tens of millions of dollars. By providing Remedial Action Grants, our Toxics Cleanup Program encourages environmental cleanup and supports local governments that want to redevelop contaminated properties they own. Funding for the grants comes from a voter-approved tax on hazardous substances as provided in the state's cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act.

Skagit County is using an old truck stop site for a new jail.

Without such aid, local governments might put off cleanup projects because of the expense. The grants give public entities confidence that they won't take on the entire project cost alone. (Local governments can also receive payments from former property owners or others who contributed to the pollution at a site, and from insurance policies.)

Typically, the grants reimburse 50 percent of a public entity's eligible costs. But reimbursement could go as high as 90 percent, if the local government is located in an area that's designated as "economically distressed."

Skagit County is one of the local governments using a 90 percent RAG. The county searched for a site for a new jail and eventually settled on the former Truck City truck stop site in south Mount Vernon.

Work is continuing on the new Skagit County jail.

The county bought the site in 2015. Truck City had operated for more than 30 years, with an on-site gas station, underground fuel storage tanks, truck weigh station, washing facilities, and more.

Activities at the site left pollution behind, so the county received a Remedial Action Grant to help pay for cleanup. The county's new jail is on track to open in spring 2017.

Clearing the way

Skagit County is just one example of a Remedial Action Grant in action. Dozens of the grants support projects in motion throughout the state, and helped fund completed projects.

Dredging will remove contamination around Pacific Terminal.

In Snohomish County, the Port of Everett is getting ready to start a dredging project at the former Weyerhaeuser Mill A site on Port Gardner Bay.

The dredging will remove tons of contaminated sediments from the water, plus improve navigational access to the port's Pacific Terminal. The port uses the site for handling cargo for construction and manufacturing industries, including parts for The Boeing Co.’s jetliners.

Work is expected to start in August and continue into the fall.

By Seth Preston, Toxics Cleanup Program communications manager

Around the Sound: Port Gamble Bay cleanup restarting

Cleanup, including pulling out old pilings, is restarting at Port Gamble Bay in Kitsap County.

The second round of Port Gamble Bay cleanup is gearing up.

Contractors are already setting up and starting some preliminary work, like stockpiling capping materials and pulling out pilings, as they prepare for the second year of cleanup work. This phase of cleanup will run through January 2017. It  follows the work that occurred from fall 2015 through January 2016.

The cleanup is focusing on chemical contamination and wood waste left by more than a century of industrial activities. From 1853 to 1995, the Pope & Talbot sawmill operated on the shores of the bay. After the mill closed, the company's resources were acquired by current site owner Pope Resources. The site was used for handling, sorting and storing logs and materials.

Port Gamble Bay is identified as one of several priority areas under the Puget Sound Initiative, which is an effort to improve and restore the Sound's health and habitat.

Pope Resources is responsible for the cleanup, under the oversight of Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program.

What's happening

The summer months of the construction season will be focused on pile pulling, demolishing old structures and using about 33,000 cubic yards of clean material to cap a 61‐acre area in the central bay south of the former mill site. Bank excavation and debris removal are also planned.

Piling and dock removal at the former log transfer facility is scheduled to start July 18. A small area within the Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park -- the park access point  and parking adjacent to the shoreline (south and east of the trail access parking) -- will close for about three weeks. A sign is posted. The upland trails will remain open.

In the fall and winter months, dredging and follow‐up capping will move into high gear. Work will move from south of the mill site to north of the mill site as the season progresses.

Watch for heavy truck traffic if you're visiting or passing through Port Gamble. And the mill site will be closed to the public because of construction hazards.

What's been done

Within the first year, cleanup crews:

• Removed 3,312 pilings.
• Excavated 19,098 cubic yards of intertidal sediments.
• Dredged 22,360 cubic yards.
• Removed and recycled 3,063 tons of steel, concrete and other debris.
• Delivered 69,051 tons of clean capping and habitat materials.

Once finished, cleanup will have removed about 6,000 creosote pilings and overwater structures, excavated roughly 70,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and wood waste, and sand capped other wood waste areas.

Stay informed

Weekly construction updates and more information can be found online.

By Seth Preston, Toxics Cleanup Program communications manager

Cleaning Up: Cleanup transforms communities

Visitors enjoy the sunshine at a former Anacortes cleanup site.

Cleaning up pollution remakes our environment and reshapes communities in Washington.

Cleanup improves quality of life. It restores the environment, protects human health, puts people to work, and boosts the economy.

Want a good example? Take a look at the cleanup at the former Scott Paper mill in Anacortes.

The former Scott Paper mill location was identified as a key cleanup site under the Puget Sound Initiative in and around Fidalgo and Padilla bays. The bays have been damaged by historical industrial activities -- cleaning up and protecting these waterways and others is vital to restoring and protecting the Puget Sound ecosystem.

Production meant pollution

The Scott Paper pulp-and-paper mill in Anacortes in full operation.

The mill was a dominant part of manufacturing operations along the Fidalgo Bay shoreline for roughly a century. The mill began as a sawmill, then started operating as a pulp mill to produce paper goods.

Operations shut down in 1978. After that, parts of the site were used for various industrial purposes, including as a log yard, a staging area for oil-field equipment, and an assembly area for modular homes. 

Old lumber littered the shoreline.

All of those activities took their toll on the local environment.

Wood waste suffocated in-water creatures in sediments and littered the shoreline. Industrial chemicals, wood and various pollutants contaminated the soil and sediments.

Over the years, portions of the site were cleaned up. The northern portion of the site, owned by the Port of Anacortes, became a home to commercial and educational buildings.

The site is now a hub for recreational, commercial and educational activities.

They include the Northwest Educational Service District 189 center, the Northwest Center of Excellence for Marine Manufacturing and Technology, and a Northwest Career and Technical Academy campus.

From cleanup to community gem

Wood waste and contaminants were unearthed during cleanup.

The Port of Anacortes, working with Ecology, took on the final cleanup stage in 2009. The work targeted wood waste and contamination along the shoreline and the adjacent uplands.

The project lasted about two years. It was no small task to remove the mill's legacy of pollution -- the Scott Paper cleanup remains the largest such effort (in terms of size and cost) tackled under the Puget Sound Initiative.

Kayakers and a family use the restored beach on a recent day.

This ECOconnect post in May 2011 describes the celebration held at the expanded and upgraded Seafarers' Memorial Park at the mill site.

Now, five years later after cleanup work finished, the former Scott Paper site is in constant use for community gatherings, live music performances, kayaking, boating, and other activities. Residents and visitors stroll the esplanade where old wood lay abandoned.

It's a living, thriving example of how cleanup benefits our communities as well as our environment.



By Seth Preston, Toxics Cleanup Program communications manager

Around the Sound: Gearing up for cleanup in Everett's East Waterway

Ecology natural resource scientist John Evered digs for shellfish along Everett's East Waterway.

Cleaning up a large-scale contaminated site can be a complex, expensive process.

Sometimes, though, the work starts on a very small scale.

So that's why a group Ecology staff members, consultants and others recently grabbed some shovels and buckets to start digging along East Waterway, part of Everett's Port Gardner Bay.

Littleneck clams are common in and around East Waterway.

They looked for the types and abundance of shellfish -- clams, oysters, mussels -- at some of the waterway's isolated beaches where someone could harvest the bivalves. They dug up and replaced about 275 shellfish in total.

Andy Kallus, who oversees Ecology's cleanup sites around Port Gardner Bay, said the recent dig turned up wood waste in the waterway's sediments. Wood waste smothers organisms in the sediments.

"A lot of the sediment was very black, which is indicative of a lack of oxygen," he said.

The work is just a preliminary step on a long path that will eventually lead to the environmental cleanup of East Waterway.

An industrial history

An aerial view in the 1930s.

Decades of industrial activities have contaminated land and in-water sediments in and around the waterway. It's one of 11 Port Gardner Bay sites targeted for cleanup under the Puget Sound Initiative.

Since the early 1900s, East Waterway has been used for industrial activities -- primarily for shipping and processing timber, pulp and alumina; deep-water shipping operations by the Port of Everett; and U.S. Navy activities. 

A number of environmental investigations beginning in the 1980s found marine sediments contaminated with metals, various chemicals and organic compounds, and high levels of wood waste.

Working with partners

Ecology signed a legal agreement called an agreed order with the Port of Everett, Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to study and identify hazardous substances in the waterway. This includes upland sources that could potentially release contaminants into the water.

The Navy's Everett shipyard is shown in the 1940s.

The port has owned and operated industrial sites along the waterway for decades. DNR manages and leases state-owned aquatic lands. Kimberly-Clark and its predecessors operated a large pulp-and-paper mill along the waterway for decades, before closing the mill in 2012. 

Ecology is talking with the Navy about a separate legal agreement for potential cleanup. During and after World War II, the Navy used the waterway as a shipyard. An active Navy homeport now operates in East Waterway.

What's next

Kallus said he is working with the port, Kimberly-Clark and DNR to put together a plan for collecting environmental data. That investigation will show the type and extent of contamination in the waterway, as well as potential contamination that could reach the water from nearby upland sources.

Ecology will ask the public to comment on the investigation and collected data, plus possible options for cleaning up the waterway and controlling upland sources.

A harbor seal enjoys the sunshine while resting on the rafting logs near a Navy vessel in East Waterway.

 By Seth Preston, communications manager, Toxics Cleanup Program