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Duwamish Shipyard

SITE DESCRIPTION

The Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. property was purchased from King County in May 1941 for use as a shipyard. Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. specialized in repair and maintenance of floating vessels and equipment. Services included machine and electrical work, carpentry, steel fabrication, pipe-fitting, sandblasting, pressure washing, and painting. Shipyard operations included the use of two dry-docks and a graving dock formerly leased from General Construction Company (former owner of the Alaska Marine Lines property) and Alaska Marine Lines. Alaska Marine Lines filled in the graving dock to expand their freight terminal operations. In early 2007 Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. sold the dry-docks and ceased active shipyard operations.  Although shipyard operations ended in 2007, the site is currently owned by Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. The site is currently leased by Alaska Marine Lines for storage of shipping containers and truck access. 

Lower Duwamish Waterway Site

The Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. site is located within the source control study area for the Lower Duwamish Waterway site in south Seattle. The cleanup of the Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. site may have importance not only for the immediate area, but may also be important for source control for the Lower Duwamish area.

The Lower Duwamish Waterway site is approximately 5.5 miles long and flows into Elliott Bay.  This part of the waterway is designated as a contaminated site under both state and federal law.  Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are working to clean up contaminated sediments and control sources of recontamination in the Lower Duwamish Waterway.  The Lower Duwamish Waterway was added to the National Priorities List (Superfund) by EPA on September 13, 2001.  Ecology added the site to the Washington State Hazardous Sites List on February 26, 2002.  
 
There are several sites located within in the Lower Duwamish Waterway study area that are being cleaned up by EPA and Ecology under the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). 

Click here for more information on the Lower Duwamish Waterway site

Contamination at Duwamish Shipyard

Contamination at this site is likely a result of shipyard operations.  Soil, groundwater, stormwater, and sediments are contaminated.   The contaminants of concern in the soil and groundwater are:

• Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs)
• Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)Metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and zinc)

• Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)
• Tributyltin (TBT)
• Metals (copper, mercury, and zinc)

• Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs)
• Dixons and Furans
• Metals (arsenic, copper, lead, and zinc)

Agreed Order

The proposed draft Agreed Order is a legal document between Ecology and the owners of the site, Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. The site owner is known as the Potentially Liable Person or PLP. The Agreed Order describes the work that the PLP agrees to perform on the site. The purpose of the Agreed Order is to protect human health and the environment. It ensures that the cleanup happens in a timely manner and according to Washington State’s cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act.

• Remedial Investigation (RI). The RI will collect data necessary to adequately characterize the contamination in soil, groundwater, stormwater, and sediments.
• Feasibility Study (FS). The FS will use the results of the RI to propose cleanup alternatives for the site.

SITE DOCUMENTS

• Please note the Public Comment Period has been extended to September 14, 2009.
• Fact Sheet
• Public Comment on Site Investigation and Agreed Order in the following languages:
  Spanish |  Español
  Vietnamese |  Tiếng Việt 
  Chinese |  中文
• Draft Agreed Order
• Exhibit A - Site Diagram
• Exhibit B - Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Workplan
• Appendix A
• Photo of the site in 1936
• Photo of the site in 1946
• Photo of the site in 1956
• Photo of the site in 1960
• Photo of the site in 1969
• Photo of the site in 1974
• Appendix B - Summary of Available Lower Duwamish Waterway Sediment Concentrations
• Figures
• Figure 1 – Vicinity Map
• Figure 2 – Current Boundary & Upland Features
• Figure 3 – Historic Property Boundaries
• Figure 4 – Existing Stormwater System
• Figure 5 – Existing Top of Bank with Structures
• Figure 6 – 1994- Aerial Photograph Showing Shoreline Structures
• Figure 7 – Independent Remedial Action Areas
• Figure 8 – Upland & In-Water Sampling Stations
• Figure 9 – Surface Sediment Arsenic Sampling Stations & Concentrations
• Figure 10 – Surface Sediment Copper Sampling Stations & Concentrations
• Figure 11 – Surface Sediment Tributyltin Sampling Stations & Concentrations
• Figure 12 – Subsurface Sediment Arsenic Copper & TBT Concentrations
• Tables
• Exhibit C - Schedule
• Public Participation Plan

Related Information

• Watershed Information for WRIA 9

Additional Resources

• Acronyms used by the Toxic Cleanup Program
• Cleanup Process: Major Steps & Definitions
• Data Submittal Requirements for All Cleanup Sites
• Facility/Site Atlas
• Toxics Cleanup publications