Cleaning up: How a light rail project keeps a landfill site on track

How do you build light rail and widen a freeway along the edge of a well-managed former municipal waste landfill? Very carefully! 

And, with plenty of cooperation among public agencies.

We’re working to do exactly that with Sound Transit, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU).

A grassy meadow covers the Midway Landfill, next to the I-5 freeway southbound lanes between Seattle and Tacoma. White pipes behind the fence are part of the system to collect landfill gas, given off by decomposing municipal solid waste below.

The site: a former landfill

The City of Seattle’s 60-acre Midway Landfill site adjoins the west side of I-5 in Kent. The landfill closed in 1983. Under our oversight, and review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, SPU:

•  Covered the landfill with an engineered, multilayered waterproof cap and a top layer of grass.
• Installed a gas extraction system to control methane generated by material in the landfill.
• Controlled surface water.
• Fenced the landfill to limit access to the site.

These protective elements have been in place since 1992. SPU continues to monitor groundwater quality and landfill gas at the site, under a legal agreement with us, last updated in 2006.

Sound Transit will build light rail on the landfill's east side,
along I-5's southbound lanes. (Click or tap image to enlarge.)

Transportation projects

Two planned south King County transportation projects will run half a mile through the eastern edge of the landfill. Sound Transit plans to extend its Link light rail line from Angle Lake to Federal Way. WSDOT plans to widen a stretch of I-5 as part of its SR 509 Completion Project.  Preparation of the landfill for the two projects will be combined into a single project called FWLE/SR 509 Midway. FWLE stands for Federal Way Link Extension.

FWLE/SR 509 Midway will bring changes to the site. We’re developing legal agreements and engineering plans with all three parties – SPU, WSDOT and Sound Transit -- to ensure that the site’s environmental and public health and safety measures continue to function during and after construction.

The combined project will involve excavating some of the landfilled municipal waste, and will affect the landfill cap, the gas collection system, and surface water monitoring network. Because of this, we’re requiring:

• Transfer of excavated municipal waste to an authorized landfill.
• Restoration of disturbed portions of the landfill cap and other infrastructure.
• Documentation of all required work for our review and approval.

Some of the site’s land ownership will change. Sound Transit will acquire part of a strip – for the light rail tracks – that now belongs to WSDOT and will assume responsibility for maintaining that portion of the landfill cap. Seattle will continue to operate surface water controls, the gas extraction system, and the ongoing monitoring program.

Plans and agreements available

We’re asking the public to review and comment on four documents that will govern how the FWLE/SR 509 project will be built, and how the site will be reconfigured:

• Consent Decree Amendment:  update to our existing legal agreement with SPU.
• Prospective Purchaser Consent Decree:  new legal agreement between us and Sound Transit.
• Cleanup Action Plan Amendment:  describes actions we will require to maintain the integrity of the site’s protective elements during and after the proposed construction.
• Public Participation Plan: explains how people can participate in the cleanup process.

Looking south across the Midway Landfill where it adjoins I-5.

Comments invited; public meeting planned

The comment period begins on Jan. 27 and concludes on Feb. 25, 2020. Comment online or mail comments to: Mark Adams, Site Manager; Dept. of Ecology; 3190 160^th Ave. SE; Bellevue WA, 98008-5452.

We’re also inviting the public to a meeting and hearing. We, SPU, Sound Transit and WSDOT will give a short presentation and answer questions about the site and the projects. There will be time for giving oral comments.

•  Tue., Feb. 11, 2020; 7 - 9 p.m.
• Des Moines Elementary School, 23801 16^th Ave. S.
• Interpreter services will be available in Spanish, Korean, and Somali.

 We’ll review and respond to all comments received. We expect the new plans and agreements to be in place by mid-2020.

By Larry Altose, communications manager, Northwest Regional Office

More information

• Midway Landfill site
• Online comments
• Fact sheet in English, Korean, Somali and Spanish
• Sound Transit Federal Way Link Extension
• WSDOT SR-509 Completion Project

Cleaning up: An affordable housing milestone

A pair of street corners in southeast Seattle may not look like much right now, but they’re already a first-of-its-kind cleanup site for Ecology. Yet, it’s a contaminated site much like hundreds before it that have undergone cleanup and been put to new use. We’re opening a public comment period on a cleanup plan that marks an important an important step forward.  

The Maddux will provide affordable housing and street-level shops about a block from a Link light rail station.

Illustration courtesy of Mount Baker Housing Association.

A first

The Mount Baker Housing Association’s Maddux project is the inspiration for Washington’s Healthy Housing Remediation Program, which we developed in conjunction with the Washington State Department of Commerce. The program enables local governments and nonprofit organizations to obtain state funding to help offset environmental cleanup costs when redeveloping contaminated land for affordable housing.

Mount Baker acquired a cluster of lots where S. McClellan Street intersects with Martin Luther King Way S. The association plans 166 affordable units with street level retail a block from Sound Transit’s Mount Baker Link light rail station and near a variety of shopping and services.

Overcoming a common obstacle

These plans overlap with a costly problem that’s common to urban redevelopment. Previous use of the property – in this case a gas station and a dry cleaner – left contamination behind. The remediation program, building on earlier funding we’ve provided for the project’s cleanup, has enabled Mount Baker to proceed with more than $6 million in state assistance to hire consultants who evaluated the contamination, sifted through cleanup options and worked with us to propose a cleanup plan.

The former gas station at Martin Luther King and McClellan. The former dry cleaner is across McClellan at far left. Ecology photo.

We’re asking the public, as part of the state Model Toxic Control Act cleanup process, to review those studies, the plan, proposed updates to our legal agreement with Mount Baker, and environmental review documents we’ve prepared.

That comment period runs through November 26, 2019.

Historic releases from gas stations and dry cleaners are the most common types of cleanup sites in Washington. Current laws on handling cleaning chemicals and managing underground storage tanks prevent these problems at today’s cleaners and fill-up stations.

A cleanup plan that fits the project

The gas station cleanup will primarily involve excavation of soil in and around areas where underground tanks and system piping once were.

The dry cleaner’s contamination requires a more complex approach. The solvents that were used mix readily into water. Even a small spill or leak into the ground can spread over a wide area if it enters the flow of groundwater. That’s what happened here (see the map below), and the Maddux development will incorporate features that factor in a cleanup process that may continue for several years.

The cleanup plan will protect people from contaminated
groundwater, shown in blue. Processes to break down
the plume’s solvents will proceed over several years.
Illustration courtesy of Mount Baker Housing Association.

Excavation of the contaminated soil under the dry cleaner and adjacent parcels will remove the source of the groundwater contamination. This will help slow or stop the expansion of the plume of solvent-contaminated groundwater that extends under S. McClellan Street, part of the former gas station and under an adjoining stretch of Martin Luther King Way S.

The rest of the plan allows the project to proceed and cleanup to continue without disrupting traffic on the two streets:

• Because the solvent compounds can release vapor that can rise through the soil, the project will be engineered with capping, vapor barriers and sub-slab ventilation. The property deed will prohibit future modifications that change these protections without notifying us and obtaining our approval.
• Long term monitoring will provide information on how well the cleanup treatments are working and track the breakdown of the solvents.
• After 5 years of monitoring, the time to reach cleanup in the groundwater will be recalculated. If it is determined to be too slow, Mount Baker will inject a chemical (such as zero valent iron) into the groundwater that aids in the breakdown the contaminants. Bacteria that’s naturally present in soil also helps by feeding on the solvent chemicals, breaking them down biologically.

We will review the monitoring data and the condition of the site every five years to determine how well the plan is working and whether any changes are needed. We’ll issue a report on these periodic reviews and ask for public comment each time.

Technicians for a consulting firm drill below the floor 

of a former dry cleaner to gather environmental samples.

Photo courtesy of Mount Baker Housing Association.

Public meeting

Along with the comment period, we’re hosting a public meeting and open house. Our cleanup experts will be there, along with representatives from Mount Baker and their environmental consultants. 

• Wed., Nov. 6, 2019; 6-8 p.m.
• Mt Baker Village Meeting Room
• 2580 29th Ave. S.

We’ll have displays about the project and the cleanup plan and will be glad to discuss the cleanup and answer questions. We’ll also give a presentation and take audience questions. Translation and interpreter services will be available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Khmer.

By: Larry Altose, Northwest regional communications manager

More information:

The documents out for comment:

• Remedial Investigation / Feasibility study
• Draft Cleanup Action Plan
• State Environmental Protection Act checklist and Determination of Non-significance 

A fact sheet about the project's cleanup process is available in Chinese, English, Khmer, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Other links:

•  Maddux project cleanup information
• Comment on the cleanup plan and related documents
•  Focus on: Healthy Housing Remediation Program (pdf)
•  How we help with affordable housing-related cleanups
•  Cleaning up: Investing in communities to turn blighted properties into affordable housing, March 14, 2019

Cleaning up: Bellingham community active in Waterfront cleanup outreach

Cleaning up Central Waterfront site is transforming Bellingham Bay

Stroll along the Bellingham waterfront today and you’ll see changes – a new public park with an award-winning restored beach, a restored Granary Building, and a new downtown city block complete with new roads, sidewalks, and bike paths.

All of these changes were made possible by first addressing contamination from a history of industrial activity. 

Contamination cleanup work continues at multiple sites along the Bellingham waterfront, which will foster more changes over the coming years. One of those sites is the Central Waterfront site.

An aerial view of Central Waterfront site

Center of it all

The Central Waterfront site is located on the waterfront between two waterways. Four other Ecology cleanup sites are in the area: two in-water sediment sites (Whatcom Waterway and I & J Waterway) and two upland sites (Georgia-Pacific West and the Holly Street Landfill).

“Win-Win” outreach partnerships

RE Sources for Sustainable Communities hosted a walking tour of the Central Waterfront site on July 10. They shared information about cleanup activities and connected the community with agency staff managing the cleanup efforts. On this rainy, overcast July weekday, about 40 curious folks joined RE Sources, Ecology, the Port of Bellingham, and City of Bellingham as we all toured the site. We saw the working waterfront in action, learned of previous cleanup work, and discussed planned cleanup work.

We award Public Participation Grants to individuals and nonprofit organizations like RE Sources who do outreach about contaminated sites. They received a grant starting July 1 and hit the ground running just days later with a Central Waterfront site tour. Opportunities like this enable the community to see a cleanup site in person while having conversations with the people managing a cleanup. It’s a “win-win” – for us, other agencies and organizations, and most importantly for the community.

Our Public Participation Grants allow communities groups to do outreach,
like providing tours of cleanup sites on Bellingham Bay.

Future generations

We were lucky to have many youth join in the tour conversation. It served as a perfect reminder of why we do such cleanups, for current AND future generations.

Our youngest tour members innocently asked how they could help clean up the site while we walked. A great reminder to keep an eye out for litter while we work to address the chemical contamination.

A middle school group studying environmental and social justice in their summer program also attended the tour and learned how cleanups involve an entire community.

Public participation

Washington’s environmental cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Action (MTCA), began as a public-initiated law and it turns 30 this year. Many steps of the MTCA cleanup process involve public participation. Your comments help inform Ecology’s management decisions.

Ecology invites you to review and comment on a draft Cleanup Action Plan and associated documents for the Central Waterfront site. The plan calls for a combination of removing and capping contaminated soil, monitoring conditions, and restricting uses.

During our first 30-day comment period, we received several requests for a public meeting, so we’ve scheduled a meeting for 6-8 p.m. on September 18 at  Bellingham Technology Development Center, 1000 F St., Bellingham. See this map for directions. 

You can submit comments online during our second 30-day comment period from September 16 – October 15, 2019.

Cleanup site information

• Fact sheet (pdf)
• Website
• Cleanup Action Plan

By Ian Fawley, Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist, Toxics Cleanup Program

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.

Cleaning up: In the footprint of an old corner gas station

One of the largest categories of cleanup sites, statewide, is former gas stations. Old-school underground storage tanks were prone to leaking into the surrounding soil. Tank owners today must follow laws and regulations to prevent leaks and spills. Many of the places once occupied by a corner gas station have since become desirable redevelopment locations. We're taking public comment and inviting you to a community meeting about one example that’s unfolding now in Seattle.

A row of convenience shops at the station, toward the end
of its heyday.

First, some history

There was a gas station operating under the Texaco brand at Queen Anne Avenue North and Roy Street from 1927 to 1993. After the pumps closed, a deli operated on the property to 2018.

In 1986 Ecology responded to complaints of gasoline odors at the adjacent Monterey Apartments. An investigation we conducted from 1986 to 1990 revealed the gas station as the source. We installed two wells to remove petroleum from groundwater.

When the pumps closed and the underground tanks were removed in 1993, we found soil and groundwater contamination. We installed and operated a system from 1993 to 1997 to extract vapor and recover groundwater.

Texaco’s successor, Chevron Environmental Management Company (CEMC), upgraded and operated the system from 2003 to 2008 under Ecology’s Voluntary Cleanup Program. CEMC also mapped areas where low levels of contaminated groundwater extend into part of the surrounding neighborhood. Buildings over this plume and adjacent to the former gas station -- the Del Roy and Monterey apartments -- received vapor tests in 2009 that found indoor air quality within health thresholds. 

Roystone on Queen Anne, LLC plans to clean up contamination at the former Texaco station. Chevron Environmental Management Co. will take steps needed for final cleanup of the entire site.

This corner’s about to change

Fast forward to 2019, and a developer named Roystone on Queen Anne, LLC has acquired the old gas station lot. The company plans to re-develop the vacant property into a multistory mixed-use building.

We’ve negotiated an agreement with both companies. Roystone will clean up contaminated soil and groundwater on its property to meet state cleanup standards in conjunction with excavation for its project. That cleanup is called an interim action.

Meanwhile, CEMC will proceed with the steps needed for final cleanup of the entire site. These include a site assessment, called a remedial investigation, a feasibility study of cleanup options, and a draft cleanup action plan.

What’s your take?

These empty shops will give way to cleanup work as part of re-developing
the site into a multi-story mixed-use building.

We’re inviting you to learn about these plans and tell us your thoughts about them. We’re taking comments through July 23, 2019 on the interim action plan, a legal agreement called an agreed order with the two companies, environmental reviews we’ve conducted, and a proposed public participation plan, which describes how we’ll work to inform people about the cleanup.

Our website has links to all of these documents, to our online public comment app for this site, and contacts for answers to questions. We’ve also placed copies of the documents at Seattle Public Library’s Queen Anne Branch, 400 W. Garfield St.

Pleased to see you

We’re hosting a public meeting to provide information, answer questions about the site and the cleanup process, and to take comments. The meeting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m., Thu., June 27, 2019 at the Maxwell Hotel, 300 Roy St. in Seattle.

Cleanup site information

• Fact sheet (pdf)
• Website
• Cleanup process
• Underground storage tanks

By: Larry Altose, communications manager, Northwest Region

Legal victory holds Canadian company accountable for polluting the upper Columbia River

The town of Northport on the Columbia River is near the

Canadian border and has been contaminated by toxic releases

from the Teck Metals smelter in Trail, British Columbia. 

In a big win for the Colville Tribes and Washington State, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a landmark environmental case this week.

The Supreme Court's denial leaves a September 2018 Ninth Circuit ruling in place, awarding more than $8 million in costs to the Colville Tribes and holding Teck  Metals, a Canadian mining company, liable for nearly 10 million tons of toxic wastes that the company discharged into the upper Columbia River.

This decision marks a major step forward for recovering upper Columbia River valley cleanup costs and natural resource damages.

“This is great news for the Tribes and Washington State,” said Jim Pendowski, program manager for Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program. “Teck Metals disposed of millions of tons of wastes into the Upper Columbia River. It’s time that the company is held accountable. This decision will ensure that will happen.”

The company operates the world’s largest lead and zinc smelter just ten miles upstream of the U.S. border in Trail, British Columbia. For nearly a century, it discharged about 400 tons of slag a day directly into the river, as well as liquid wastes. These wastes included metals such as arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, and zinc.

The litigation began back in 2004 after the company refused to abide by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order requiring Teck to assess the pollution and identify cleanup options. Teck argued that the EPA didn’t have jurisdiction over a Canadian company. Individual members of the Colville Tribes sued with Washington State as co-litigants. The Colville Tribes later joined the litigation.

The case affirms that U.S. federal environmental law applies to a Canadian company when it disposes of hazardous substances in the United States. Teck had claimed that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction over the company, but the Ninth Circuit found it “inconceivable” that Teck didn’t know its toxic waste was aimed at Washington when it discharged it directly to the Columbia River a few miles upstream from the U.S.

“This is a great example of what can be accomplished when two sovereigns—the Colville Tribes and the State of Washington—join forces to protect the environment and hold polluters accountable,” said Rodney Cawston, chairman of the Colville Business Council.

The State and Tribes look forward to cleanup and restoration of the upper Columbia River. Currently, the EPA is overseeing Teck’s investigation of Upper Columbia River contamination. In addition, the State, the Tribes, the Department of Interior, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians are working to recover natural resource damages resulting from Teck’s contamination of the river.

By Cheryl Ann Bishop, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

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

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

2019 Washington State Brownfields Conference

Join us for the Washington State Brownfields Conference in Spokane this coming May. Brownfields are abandoned or underused properties where there may be environmental contamination. Cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields is key to local economic development efforts, turning perceived problems into community assets, such as affordable housing.

The goal of this conference is to bring together public and private sector stakeholders in Washington and the Inland Northwest to share information on brownfields redevelopment successes and future opportunities.

Conference dates and location

Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 12 – 5 p.m.
Thursday, May 30, 2019, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Doubletree by Hilton Spokane City Center
322 North Spokane Falls Court, Spokane

Registration information and the agenda will be available February 2019 on our Brownfields Conference web page.

What the conference will include:

• Sessions on current technical issues, funding sources, and affordable housing opportunities
• Case studies
• Field trips to tour successful brownfield redevelopment projects in Spokane
• Lunch and light refreshments on Day 1
• Breakfast, lunch, and light refreshments on Day 2

Who should attend?

• Local and regional government officials
• Housing agencies
• Nonprofit economic and community development organizations
• Environmental consultants
• Anyone interested in learning about brownfields or financial resources for local redevelopment

For more information, please contact:

Ali Furmall, Small and Rural Communities Brownfields Specialist
ali.furmall@ecy.wa.gov
509-329-3436, cell: 509-655-0538

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.