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Department of Ecology News Release - Dec. 14, 2000
00-236
SPOKANE - If the public gives its approval, contractors will begin cleaning up the heavily contaminated Pasco Landfill in January 2001.
The cleanup "design documents" are available for public review and comment between Dec. 15, 2000, and Jan. 18, 2001. The documents contain detailed information about the cleanup activities planned for the Pasco Landfill. They also describe measures already taken to protect the public from exposure to the contamination.
"This is a major milestone in the saga at the Pasco Landfill," said Flora Goldstein, a toxics cleanup manager at the state Department of Ecology (Ecology). "It was a monumental task to get so many parties to accept responsibility and finally get going on measures that will further protect the public and the environment from harm."
More than 30,000 drums of waste and many tons of bulk chemical wastes were disposed at the site between 1972 and 1974. The chemicals include plywood resin wastes, wood treatment and preservative wastes, lime sludge, solvent wastes, herbicides and more. The site was listed as a federal Superfund cleanup site in 1990.
Forty-four companies and agencies have been held responsible for the cleanup because they either owned or operated the landfill or disposed toxic chemicals at the site. Eighteen of them signed agreements to help with the cleanup, while 26 were issued enforcement orders to do so.
The state's Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) obliges the companies and agencies to clean up the site in a timely manner and to comply with standards set by state law. MTCA is an initiative that was approved by voters in 1988 to require that cleanup costs be borne by those who are responsible for the pollution.
The responsible parties have been ordered to cap the contaminated areas to prevent additional leakage into underground water; remove herbicide drums from one area of the landfill; expand treatment of underground water and soil in one area to more-efficiently capture chemicals coming from containers; ensure that nearby residents are not being exposed to chemicals in the underground water; and monitor effectiveness of the actions for six years.
The designs for all the actions, except the herbicide drum removal, are presented in the design documents. Plans for removing the herbicide drums will be the subject of a separate review period, once preliminary studies are complete.
These actions will follow other steps that have been taken in recent years to protect the public from the contamination.
After the review and comment period, Ecology will issue a document that responds to any public questions and comments that are received, and will adjust the design of the cleanup systems, if necessary. Then work can begin, under Ecology's oversight.
Also available for review is the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) document that concludes that none of these actions will further harm the environment.
The documents are available at the Mid-Columbia Library, Pasco Branch, or in Ecology's Spokane office. Call 509-456-6360 for more information.
Contact: Jani Gilbert, Public Information Manager, 509-456-4464; pager, 509-226-5380
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
