Cleaning up: It’s about turf in two Everett parks

We’re pulling up sod in two northeast Everett parks and will plant new turf when we’re done. The project started this month on three acres of Wiggums Hollow Park, and we’ll start tackling the slope below the Viola Oursler Overlook in April.

A field in Wiggums Hollow Park awaits new topsoil 

and turf. The sod and a layer of soil have been 

removed, as part of the Everett Smelter cleanup.

Both parks lie within the Everett Smelter plume, a 1.1 square mile area where contaminated particles from smokestacks settled out of the air and onto the ground. The Everett Smelter operated near today’s intersection of North Broadway and East Marine View Drive from 1894-1912, but the contamination wasn't discovered until 1990. 

A string of park cleanups

Our park work this year will complete a trio of projects that began with the cleanup of American Legion Park in 2015 and 2016. We removed contaminated soils while protecting the park’s trees.

At Wiggums Hollow Park we’re clearing large areas of lawn, removing 6 to 18 inches of contaminated soil, putting in new topsoil, then rolling out new sod. The work area and a nearby basketball court are fenced off. After we’re done, fencing will remain around the new sod for two months to allow the new lawn’s roots to establish. The park should be fully open by early July.

Soil and grass replacement at Wiggums
Hollow Park and Viola Oursler Overlook will
complete a series of cleanups at three parks
in the Everett Smelter plume area.

We’ll close the Viola Oursler Overlook, starting in late April, so that we can clear grass, shrubs and about a foot of contaminated soil from its slope. We’ll put in new topsoil and use hydro seeding to plant new grass. The overlook should re-open late in July, but the slope will remain fenced through the end of the summer.

A last bit of road work

Cleanup of most of the former smelter property itself took place in 2005-2007, and last year we removed contaminated soil from the rest of that area, now occupied by East Marine View Drive.

That project tied up traffic with lane closures, and we thank everyone affected for their patience and cooperation. Removing soil and rubble from demolished buildings – to a depth of about 18 feet – got rid of sources of lead and arsenic contamination in groundwater that flows to the Snohomish River.

We’re about to finish that work this week, on East Marine View Drive near SR 529 and Riverside Road, with the final paving and striping. Those had to wait until after freezing weather. We’ll have to slow, restrict and direct traffic, but there will be no closures! 

Yard cleanups continue

The park cleanups are like a large version of our ongoing cleanup of residential yards in the plume area. We’re offering soil sampling at any yard we haven’t previously sampled in the cleanup area.

We work with property owners 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.

By: Larry Altose, Communications Manager, Northwest Regional Office

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: Over half of Everett Smelter Site residential yard cleanups done!

We’re making progress cleaning up contamination left behind by the Asarco smelter in northeast Everett.

The smelter operated more than 100 years ago, but contamination discovered in 1990 may affect 170 acres with 720 properties. We’ve been working for several years with residential property owners to sample and clean up their yards as needed.

Cleanup is complete or not needed for 378 of those homes. We have now finished sampling soil for lead and arsenic on all the properties that requested it.  If you still wish to have your property sampled, call our hotline at 425-446-1024.

Construction for the 2017 cleanup group is under way!

Our contractor is getting ready to replace contaminated soil with clean soil in 11 more yards, most on the block between Pine, Maple, Ninth and Tenth streets.

You may notice crews surveying and conducting site assessments on many of the cleanup group properties. In addition, next week, the contractor will begin putting up fences, mobilizing equipment and begin preparation for digging work on the properties in yellow below.

To help keep safe, please remember to:

• Look out for heavy truck traffic in the area.
• Keep pets safe by keeping them on a leash near active cleanup areas.
• Pay attention to “no parking signs” and avoid being towed. Move your car before 7 a.m. You can return it after 5 p.m.

Lowlands cleanup postponed

Debris from the smelter facility lies under East Marine View Drive, just south of North Broadway. We’re coordinating with the city of Everett for a cleanup project in the intersection where the North Broadway northbound off-ramp and Riverside Road intersect with East Marine View Drive.

This project is part of the state’s capital budget, for which adoption is pending. We’ll work with the city to schedule and announce the work when funding is available.

We’re also planning a new groundwater study to aid in planning further cleanup work in the Lowlands.

Thank you, Everett!

We know cleanup, like other construction, can disrupt a community’s routine. We greatly appreciate the cooperation and patience of northeast Everett residents, drivers, and businesses as we pursue cleanup of the smelter site.

As always, our website provides updates on our cleanup work, plus a wealth of information about the history of the site and the former smelter.

Sandra Matthews, Project Manager

Everett Smelter’s Lowlands area moves two steps closer to cleanup

By Marieke Rack, Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist, Toxics Cleanup Program

By completing two recent reports, Ecology has taken key steps towards identifying possible cleanup methods in the Lowlands Area (industrial east side of the Everett Smelter Site).

The Supplemental Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study are environmental reports that describe the contamination and the possible strategies for cleanup. These reports are available for your review and comment from October 5 through November 3. Visit the Lowlands area website to view the documents and find out how to provide comments.

What’s in the Reports?

The Supplemental Remedial Investigation describes:

• The nature and extent of contamination in the Lowlands.
• Locations of Lowlands contamination and where cleanup is needed.

The Feasibility Study:

• Evaluates possible cleanup alternatives and technologies for each contaminated area in the Lowlands.
• Proposes preferred cleanup actions to address each contaminated area.

What Happens After the Comment Period and Public Meeting?

After the public comment period, Ecology will review and consider all comments that have been received. Changes may be made to the documents, then the Supplemental Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study will be finalized.

Ecology will develop a draft Cleanup Action Plan and hold a public comment period for the draft plan. The Cleanup Action Plan will be finalized and cleanup actions will begin when funding is available.

A Brief History of the Lowlands Area:

The industrial Lowlands Area of the Everett Smelter Cleanup site sits along the Snohomish River’s west bank in north Everett. The Lowlands was contaminated by the historic operations of Asarco’s Everett Smelter. The smelter was located at the current day intersection of State Route 529 and East Marine View Drive.

During smelter operations the Lowlands was an undeveloped flood plain and tide flats area. Slag and debris (smelting waste material) was dumped onto and down the bank to the Lowlands. These materials, along with air deposition from smelter smokestacks, contaminated the Lowlands.

The smelter operated from 1894 to 1912. In 1914, Weyerhaeuser acquired most of the Lowlands.

As Weyerhaeuser decommissioned its operations decades later, the company’s environmental investigations found elevated levels of arsenic and lead in the soil and groundwater.

Further investigations determined that historic smelter operations had contaminated a large area of north Everett. Cleanup was prioritized in the residential Uplands portion of the site. Ecology completed a Cleanup Action Plan for the Uplands in 1999. 

More Everett Smelter cleanup work underway this summer, fall

By Meg Bommarito, Everett Smelter Project Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

We're continuing to remove arsenic contaminated soil from north Everett. This year, we're cleaning up two areas -- residential yards north of Broadway and at the American Legion Memorial Park.

Soil in much of northern Everett contains arsenic and lead left behind from air emissions from a smelter that operated in the neighborhood more than 100 years ago. Ecology received $33.9 million in 2009 for cleanup work in Everett as part of a much-larger bankruptcy settlement with ASARCO Inc., the smelter’s last owner.

We're at the park!

Our cleanup at Legion Park starts this summer. Similar to residential cleanup work, we are removing contaminated soil and will replace it with clean soil and new sod. This is the first of three Everett parks slated for cleanup. We’ll do similar work at Wiggums Hollow Park and Viola Oursler Overlook over the next couple of years. Park cleanup is funded by a state legislative appropriation from the 2013-15 biennium budget.

Legion Park’s Arboretum is already closed for cleanup. The entire park will close on Sept. 8.  They will re-open in spring 2016. Meanwhile, dog-walkers and view seekers can still use the overlook throughout construction.

Houses too!

This year our contractor will work at 22 homes north of Broadway along 5^th, 6^th and 7^th streets between Wayne and Waverly. This work is expected to begin in late September and wrap up early in 2016.

Comment period scheduled for this fall

We’re preparing for another cleanup phase that will involve the cleanup site’s eastern industrial area along the Snohomish River. Before developing a cleanup plan for this area, we will ask the public to review and comment on our investigation of the contamination, and study of cleanup alternatives.

Both documents, called the supplemental remedial investigation report and the feasibility study, will be available this fall for a public comment period. Ecology will develop a cleanup action plan after the public comment period.

Want more information?

If you're curious about what happens during cleanup, check out our website.  You can also sign up to receive regular email and mail updates on our website

Everett Smelter Plume: Soil removal starts at more homes

By Seth Preston, communications manager, Toxics Cleanup Program


A worker digs up soil from an Everett home's yard.

We're moving dirt again in Everett.

Our cleanup contractor has started work at 19 homes in northeast Everett to remove soil from yards contaminated by fallout from the old Everett Smelter. Clean soil will be brought in, and new sod will be laid.

More to come

That work is expected to carry into early 2015. We're also going to be doing soil testing at about 50 other homes next year, to get ready for cleanup work in coming years.


Contamination from arsenic, lead and other metals was detected in 1990 at the former Everett Smelter property near North Broadway and East Marine View Drive.
Studies also showed that arsenic and lead from smokestack emissions settled onto the ground in the northeastern part of the city. About 500 private residences, three city parks, and commercial and industrial areas were impacted.

See for yourself

Workers lay new sod at an Everett home.

If you're a resident of northeast Everett or you're just curious about how these cleanups work, be sure to check out our photo galleries of past work. The images with this post also provide a glimpse.


We also have plenty of information on how to protect yourself and your family from low-level contaminated soil, and how to work in your garden safely.

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Everett park cleanup delayed; meeting canceled

By Seth Preston, communications manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

An Aug. 26 meeting in Everett to talk about a planned park cleanup has been canceled because the city has decided to delay the project.

City officials expect the cleanup at American Legion Memorial Park and Everett Arboretum to take place in the second half of 2015.

Ecology and parks staff will reevaluate the project and identify the park areas that are most in need of cleanup, such as high-traffic areas and locations with higher levels of arsenic contamination.

Delaying the park project doesn't affect this season's separate soil-removal work at residential properties in Everett. That work will begin in the next couple of weeks at properties along 6th, 7th and 8th streets between Wayne and Winton Avenues north of Broadway.

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Cleanup Settlement Account holds nearly $100 million for cleaning up contaminated sites

By Hannah Aoyagi, Environmental Planner, Toxics Cleanup Program

 

Over the past few years, the state of Washington has received $154.6 million in legal settlements from companies that polluted our environment.  So where has this money gone?

 

Fearing settlement funds would be siphoned off for unrelated programs, the Legislature took action.  A 2008 law created the Cleanup Settlement Account in the state treasury.  This account earns interest; and every two years, the Legislature provides Ecology with funding for cleanup and restoration projects.

A new legislative report details what Ecology is accomplishing with Cleanup Settlement Account funds.

The Asarco Settlement

In 2009, Asarco settled with the state $188 million for environmental damage from two smelters, four mines, and a landfill site.  A $19 million piece of the settlement paid taxpayers back for past cleanup costs.  The rest went into the Cleanup Settlement Account.  This funding has enabled Ecology to make major progress in cleaning up the following sites:
 

• Everett Smelter
• Tacoma Smelter Plume
• Monte Cristo, Golden King (Lovitt), and Van Stone mines
• B&L Woodwaste Landfill

 


Drilling crew working on the Lilyblad site in Tacoma

Other Settlements and Payments

Lilyblad Petroleum Insurance Settlement – This Port of Tacoma area cleanup site was contaminated with petroleum and other chemicals.  Ecology received $800,000 from the owner’s insurance company to clean up soil and groundwater.

BNSF Skykomish Natural Resource Damage Settlement – BNSF Railway operations contaminated the town of Skykomish with petroleum and other chemicals, damaging nearby waterways.  A $5 million settlement is paying for habitat restoration and water quality projects.

Read more in the 2013 Cleanup Settlement AccountLegislative Report.

 

 

Everett a hotbed for cleanup this year

By Seth Preston, communications manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

We recently told you about all of the Everett Smelter cleanup activity coming up in 2014. 

Everett Smelter yard work

You can find out more about Everett Smelter work at a public meeting Tuesday, March 11, at the Snohomish County PUD Auditorium. You can also read this Everett Herald article and our news release on the activities.

Want to see what the Everett Smelter cleanup work looks like? Check out some photos in our Flickr sets.

The photo at top right shows an example of workers replacing turf at a residential yard.


Port Gardner Bay sites

That isn't the only work our Toxics Cleanup Program plans for Everett this year. Everett's Port Gardner Bay is one of our high-priority areas for cleanup under the Puget Sound Initiative. We're working with the owners and others to help clean up 11 different sites along the bay. These are places where historical industrial activities contaminated land, groundwater and sediments at and near the shoreline.

This year, we will ask people to weigh in on various cleanup plans. For example, right now we're asking for public comments on proposed plans for the North Marina Ameron/Hulbert site.

We also expect comment periods for other sites (Jeld-Wen, ExxonMobil ADC, Bay Wood Products, TC Systems Inc., and another for North Marina Ameron/Hulbert).

Digging up contamination at a Puget Sound Initiative site

Can you dig it?

In the summer and fall, you will see equipment and workers, too, at some sites. (The photo at right shows an example of some work done in 2011 at North Marina Ameron/Hulbert.)

On the schedule this year: sampling at the Weyerhaeuser Mill A site, in-water dredging at the Everett Shipyard site, and continuing upland cleanups focused on pockets of contamination at the Kimberly-Clark Worldwide site.

Stay tuned for updates!

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A big year for Everett Smelter cleanup

By Meg Bommarito, Everett Smelter Project Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program 



First, we take soil samples

Ecology has a lot of work planned for 2014 in the Everett Smelter cleanup. If you are in the cleanup area, you will definitely see us and construction crews doing a wide variety of work. Read below for details of our work. You can also meet us in person during a public meeting starting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, at Snohomish County PUD Auditorium to learn more about what is going on with the cleanup.


Lowlands interim cleanup

We have been putting together a clear picture of where contamination is impacting the lowland site. Arsenic is contaminating deep groundwater, and to find the source of contamination, we are planning to dig up a small area in the Lowlands along East Marine View Drive. Before we do any digging, we are seeking your input on the scope of work for this interim cleanup. A public comment period will run from February 20 to March 24. To learn more, see Lowlands Interim Cleanup. If you have any comments, please send them to Sandra Matthews at Sandra.Matthews.@ecy.wa.gov. 


2014 residential cleanup

The photos at right show examples of the kind work we are doing at residential properties. This year, we will be cleaning up 20 properties on 6th, 7th and 8th streets between Winton and Wayne avenues. We expect cleanup construction will start mid- to late summer. We will keep you posted as more details on the construction schedule become available, at the Residential property cleanup website. 


Then, we dig out the contaminated soil

Residential and park mapping and Sampling

To prepare for future years of cleanup, we are undertaking a large soil sampling effort this summer. We plan to sample over 100 properties, which will allow us to determine which residential properties are cleaned up over the next few years. If your property has been selected to participate in this year’s sampling effort you should have received an access agreement request in the mail in January. We are also sampling the overlook area of American Legion Memorial Park. The rest of the park was sampled in 2012. 

Then, we add good soil and rebuild the area

American Legion Memorial Park cleanup

In November, we will begin removing contaminated soil at the American Legion Memorial Park. This effort will likely continue through April 2015. We will share more information as we move forward with this work. If you have any questions or want more information about the cleanup, please give us a call at 425-446-1024.

Learn more about the work planned for this year at a community meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at the Snohomish County PUD Auditorium at 2320 California St. in Everett.

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Cleaning Up: Another season of Everett Smelter cleanup work under way

By Meg Bommarito, Everett Smelter Cleanup Project Manager

The first phase of the Everett Smelter cleanup work, which removed contaminated soil from 24 properties, finished up this May. Work is already under way for the second phase.

In early June, Ecology contractors began work on 55 additional properties. Work will continue through the summer and fall and will wrap up in early November.

Ecology is also finishing sampling properties that will be included in the cleanup schedule for 2013 and 2014 this summer. This fall, Ecology will share the results of summer sampling with property owners and meet with those included in the 2013 cleanup group.

We want to keep you in the loop. Several methods will be used during the construction season to keep the property owners in the cleanup area and the general community updated on our work. These include:

• Ecology’s website: Visit our Everett Smelter site to get the latest schedule for work and check out the photo gallery.
• Watch the video: Everett Smelter Cleanup — What does cleanup look like?
• Site signs: Three signs have been established in the cleanup area where people can get the latest information. We will be posting flyers at the end of each week that will detail work to occur in the following week. Signs are located at
• 518 Winton
• 5th Street
• 906 East Marine View Drive
• Written material: We have fact sheets, posters, kids activity sheets and brochures available. These can be found online or you can call or email us for copies. Fact sheets will be mailed out a couple times a year with project updates.
• Presentations: If you’d like Ecology staff to come and speak to your community or neighborhood group, let us know.
• Local information line: This is a local Everett line. Our staff will return your calls within 24 hours. Call (425) 530-5169 with questions or concerns.
• Public meetings: We will hold public meetings each year to share information about our progress and what’s next on the schedule. The latest meeting was held June 21, 2012.

We’d also love to hear your ideas on how we can better share information with the community.

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Cleaning Up: Everett Smelter Plume progress report

By Meg Bommarito, Everett Smelter Cleanup Project Manager

Since November 2011, we have been hard at work removing contaminated soil and restoring landscaping for our first group of properties.

We’re right on schedule and should wrap up work on the 24 properties this spring. As cleanup for this group winds down, work on the next group of properties is already under way.

With so much work to be done there’s no time to waste. We have two areas of work planned for the next year:

• Cleanup work is scheduled to begin in April or May for about 60 properties located along 5th and 6th streets and East Marine View Drive (near 8th and 9th streets). Ecology is currently working with these property owners to finalize cleanup plans for their individual properties.
  
  
• We will also clean up property in the Everett Housing Authority’s Grandview Community. Work will take place in the fall of 2012 and will continue through May 2013.

That’s not all. We’ve also starting work with the property owners who are scheduled for cleanup in 2013. These properties will be mapped out and sampled this spring.

Want to track our progress? There are several ways to find out what’s happening:

• Ecology’s website: Check out the latest information page to get the most recent information.
  
• You can also check out our new photo gallery to see our progress first hand. Photos are updated regularly.
  
• Office hours at the Baker Community Center on Tuesday morning (9 a.m. to noon) and Thursday afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.).
  
• Look for our updates in the mail. If you are not on our mailing list, please email me at Meg.Bommarito@ecy.wa.gov, and I will add you to the list.

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Cleaning Up: Work in full swing for Everett Smelter cleanup

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

The (Everett) Herald has a good rundown on the work under way to clean up arsenic and lead contamination from the Everett Smelter at properties in North Everett.

This phase of work will wrap up in spring 2012. More properties will be cleaned up in 2012 and subsequent years.

Check out our Everett Smelter web pages to learn more about the history behind this project, and to see photo galleries of the cleanup effort.

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Everett Smelter cleanup work is under way

By Meg Bommarito, Project Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

Ecology has started cleanup work in an area of the Everett Smelter cleanup site.

Ecology’s contractor, Clearcreek, is removing contaminated soil from residential properties on Balsam Lane and Hawthorne Street. Cleanup this year will include 24 properties north and south of Broadway. Construction work will continue through the winter and should wrap up in early March.

In addition to moving forward with this year’s cleanups, Ecology staff continues to plan for next year’s work. This month, Ecology staff will start meeting with property owners whose yards are scheduled for cleanup in 2012.

We are also sampling two city parks this winter: Wiggums Hollow and American Legion Memorial Parks are scheduled for sampling in December 2011 and January 2012.

Ecology will work hard to keep the community up to date on the latest cleanup information. To find out what’s happening with the project, you can:

• Check out the “latest information” link on the Everett Smelter website.
  
  
• Stop by one of the site signs to see where we’re working and pick up a flyer with the latest information. Signs are located at 2901 Butler, 2709 5th St. and the 700 block of Hawthorne.
  
  
• Visit with staff during office hours at the Baker Community Center, 1401 Poplar, from 9 to noon on Tuesdays and 1 to 4 p.m. on Thursdays.
  
  
• Call the information line at (425) 530-5169 (local number) to speak to a staff member.
  
  
• Check in with your neighborhood association president. Ecology will send regular information to the Delta Neighborhood and Northwest Neighborhood Association presidents.
  
  
• Look for a door hanger on you front door – this means we will be working on or near your street.
  
  
• Read these blog entries. We will update you on project status and more on the cleanup work planned for next year every couple of weeks.

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Everett Smelter Cleanup: Local office hours start this month

By Meg Bommarito, Everett Smelter Project Manager

Starting in a few weeks, Ecology staff will now be more available to the Everett community to provide information on Everett Smelter cleanup work.

Twice a week from June 28 until the end October, either I or Frank Reinart (upland site manager) will be at the Baker Heights Community Center, 1401 Poplar St., to answer questions and share information about the cleanup.

Stop by Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon and Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. to ask questions, pick up the latest fact sheet or other materials and find out the latest information about the cleanup.

Once construction starts in mid-July, you can also stop by to find out more about the cleanup schedule, traffic routes and our progress.

We’d also love to hear your ideas on how we can better share information with the community.

Need more information about the cleanup? We have several other resources to offer!

• Ecology’s website: We recently updated our Everett Smelter website with the latest information to help you find more resources.




• Written material: We have fact sheets, posters, kid’s activity sheets, and brochures available. These can be found online, or you can call or email us to ask for copies. Fact sheets will be mailed out a couple times a year.




• Presentations: If you’d like Ecology staff to come and speak to your community or neighborhood group, let us know.




• Local information line: Call (425) 530-5169. Our staff will return your calls within 24 hours.




• Public meetings: We will hold public meetings each year to share information about our progress and what’s next on the schedule.

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New round of Everett smelter cleanup work starts soon

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

We're gearing up for a new round of work to clean up the legacy contamination left in Everett by the old Asarco smelter.

The Asarco smelter, which operated in Everett in the early 1900s, caused widespread arsenic and lead contamination in northeast Everett. In addition to contamination left behind on the old smelter property, particles emitted from the smelter’s stacks settled on the surrounding areas, contaminating soil.

The historic photo shows what the smelter looked like while operating. You can read more about the old smelter.

Ecology managed the cleanup of the most highly contaminated properties from 1999 through 2007.

In December 2009, the state won a bankruptcy settlement from Asarco. Settlement money – not taxpayer dollars — will pay for continued cleanup efforts in Everett and other locations contaminated by past Asarco operations.

In 2011, Ecology plans to:

• Clean up about 40 properties that have already been sampled. We expect that work to start in early July and end in early November.
  
  
• Map and sample another 71 properties, which will be cleaned up in 2012.
  

Sampling and cleanups for remaining properties are scheduled every year until 2019. The accompanying map shows where and when work will be done. Ecology will share information about future cleanup work as it becomes available.

Everett-area residents can hear more about this at 4:30 p.m. April 29 on KSER Radio (90.7 FM) in Everett.

Ecology’s Dave South, a veteran of Everett smelter cleanup work, will talk about our efforts and plans during the “Sound Living” show hosted by Ed Bremer. Dave will be joined by Jim White from the Washington Department of Health.

Watch our EcoConnect blog for updates on the Everett smelter work. If you have questions or comments, let us know! You can contact:

• Everett Information line (425) 530-5169
  
• Meg Bommarito, Project Coordinator, (425) 649-7256 or Meg.Bommarito@ecy.wa.gov
  
• Frank Reinart, Upland Site Manager, (425) 649 – 7287 or Frank.Reinart@ecy.wa.gov

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