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Department of Ecology News Release - July 02, 2009
09-159
BELLEVUE – A legal agreement between the Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the Port of Seattle (Port) lays out an Ecology-supervised process to study and clean up contamination at the unoccupied former Lora Lake apartment complex in Burien.
The agreement will be available for public comment through Aug. 10, 2009. Ecology invites community members to a public meeting about the site and the cleanup at 7 p.m. on July 23, 2009, at the Highline School District’s Educational Resource and Administration Center, 15675 Ambaum Blvd., S.W., in Burien.
The Port-owned property at 15001 Des Moines Memorial Drive housed a barrel-cleaning company in the 1940s and 50s and an auto-wrecking facility from roughly 1960 to 1981. A 22-building apartment complex was built in 1987. The Port, which owns Sea-Tac Airport nearby, bought the property in 1998 and demolished six buildings within the airport’s Third Runway protection zone in 2007.
Environmental samples taken in preparation for that demolition showed higher than expected levels of contaminants from the pre-apartment complex activities at the site. The legal agreement, known as an Agreed Order, lays out a process under which the Port will evaluate the nature and extent of contamination at the site and assess cleanup options.
Pollutants associated with the site’s former activities include petroleum products, dioxin, solvents and other contaminants.
The Port, meanwhile, plans to demolish the remaining 16 structures on the property because vacant buildings pose public safety hazards from arson, accidental fires and vandalism. Only above-ground portions will be demolished, and the Port will take measures — under Ecology oversight — to not disturb potentially contaminated soil.
The Agreed Order is available for public review at:
For technical questions or to comment on the plan, please contact David South, Ecology Site Manager, 425-649-7200; e-mail
dsou461@ecy.wa.gov.
A fact sheet on Lora Lake Apartments site is available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0909175.pdf.
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Media Contacts:
Larry Altose, Ecology media relations, 425-649-7009
Perry Cooper, Port of Seattle Media Officer, 206-431-4923
For more information
Web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/loraLakesAps/loraLakesAps_hp.html
Fact sheet: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0909175.pdf
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
