  |
|
|
Department of Ecology News Release - September 6, 2001
01-155
BELLEVUE - Toxic contamination has been successfully cleaned up from a former transmission repair shop and a former manufacturing site, both located in King County.
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently removed the Cascade Transmission property, located at 2117 S.W. 114th St. in Seattle, and the Structural Instrumentation, Inc. property, located at 4611 S. 134th Place in Tukwila, from its contaminated-sites list.
Ecology has determined that both sites no longer pose a threat to human health and the environment, and no further cleanup action is required.
Cascade Transmission operated in Seattle from 1992 to 1998, when petroleum products of various types leaked or spilled, contaminating soil on the property. In 1999, the property owners began cleaning the site, removing about nine cubic yards of contaminated soil - enough dirt to fill about three pick-up trucks.
Sampling has shown that all the contamination has been removed.
Structural Instrumentation, Inc. manufactured industrial weighing and scaling systems at its Tukwila property from 1978 to 1999. In 1999, the company relocated its manufacturing operations and launched a site-specific risk assessment of its property.
Ecology officials agree with the company's conclusions that the site no longer poses a threat to human health and the environment, despite having levels of petroleum products, arsenic and lead in the soil that are slightly higher than soil cleanup standards call for.
"When the tradeoffs were considered between digging up the site or keeping structures intact, we determined that leaving contaminants behind was acceptable as long as steps were taken to protect the public," said Steve Bremer, an environmental specialist for Ecology's toxics cleanup program.
To diminish potential exposure, Bremer said Ecology has required that a deed restriction be placed on the property's title. This will limit the way the property can be used in the future to further protect people and the environment.
Media Contact: Curt Hart, Public Information Manager, 425-649-7009; pager, 206-663-1785
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
