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Department of Ecology News Release - October 1, 2002
02-181
OLYMPIA - Washington's Department of Ecology (Ecology) has added 32 properties to its list of contaminated sites that are targeted for cleanup and removed 12 that have been cleaned up and no longer pose a threat.
The 32 newly identified sites are located in 13 counties: Benton, Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Franklin, Island, King, Kitsap, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Walla Walla and Whatcom.
The 12 sites removed from the list are located in Adams, Benton, Clark, Douglas, Jefferson, Kittitas, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane counties.
Of 9,069 sites identified over the past 13 years as potentially contaminated, more than half (4,861) have been cleaned up. Of the remaining 4,208 sites, 933 have been confirmed as contaminated and ranked for cleanup.
About 3,088 contaminated sites currently have cleanups in progress. Some of them are on the state's ranked list, while the others are being cleaned up independently.
"The good news is that our cleanup record continues to grow. The better news is that even in uncertain economic times we aren't seeing that environmental commitment slow down," said Jim Pendowski, the toxics-cleanup manager for Ecology.
It is clear that people understand the long-term value to their communities and to their own businesses of cleaning up the soil and water, Pendowski said.
Cleanup is required at sites where levels of toxic substances are above limits set in the state's Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), a 1989 citizen initiative that established a broad-based program for cleaning up and preventing toxic contamination.
The properties on Ecology's ranked, hazardous-sites list are graded on a scale of one to five, with a score of one representing the highest level of concern and five the lowest.
The scores are based on analyses of the potential paths through which humans and sensitive environments could be exposed to hazardous substances. Thus, a site with a number one ranking may have less contamination or less-hazardous contaminants than lower-ranked sites, but the risk of exposure is higher and cleanup needs to happen quicker.
MTCA specifies that those responsible for polluting a site must pay for its cleanup. The state pays for cleanup only when a liable person cannot be found or when identified liable parties lack the financial resources to pay for the work.
Nearly every county in Washington has one or more properties on the hazardous-sites list. Most are in Western Washington, where historically there have been more industrial and manufacturing practices.
The hazardous-sites list is updated twice a year, in February and August. The sites added at the end of August 2002 include:
The sites taken off the list at the end of August 2002 are:
Contact: Caitlin Cormier, public information officer, 360-407-6149; pager, 360-971-5536
For more information:
Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program - http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/cleanup.html
Hazardous-Sites List - http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/mtca_gen/hazsites.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
