c Printed on Recycled Paper

Grants Dollars at Work:

Protecting the environment

Achieving results

Report on Model Toxics Control Act

1997-99 Capital Appropriation

Washington State Department of Ecology

Solid Waste and Financial Assistance Program

April 1999

Publication No. 99-501

c Printed on Recycled Paper

For additional copies of this report, contact:

Department of Ecology

Solid Waste and Financial Assistance Program

P.O. Box 47600

Olympia, WA 98504-7600

Telephone: (360) 407-6129

For more information or if you have special accommodation needs, please contact Michelle Davis at (360) 407-6129 or (360) 407-6006 TDD.

Friends:

I am delighted to provide this report on the 1997-99 Model Toxics Control Act Capital Appropriation. This biennium, the Department of Ecology has been able to provide over $44,000,000 in grants to help protect, preserve, and clean up the state's environment. Of that amount, over $26 million is being used to cleanup contaminated sites, nearly $17 million for local government programs, and nearly $900,000 for public participation and awareness. These funds are critical to advancing our agency mission and the direction set forth by the legislature.

This report lists all the grants we have given this biennium, highlights but a few of the many accomplishments and projects underway, and provides a brief description of the methods Ecology uses to provide these grants. We appreciate the efforts of our partners who help to put these monies to good use.

Enjoy the report. I am sure you will see the benefits provided through these funds.

Sincerely,

Cullen D. Stephenson

Manager

Solid Waste and Financial Assistance Program

Overview *

Remedial Action Grants *

Coordinated Prevention Grants *

Public Participation Grants *

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) was established through a referendum by a vote of the public. The Act generates funds through a tax on hazardous substances sold in the state. Of that tax, 53% is deposited into the Local Toxics Control Account (LTCA) and 47% into the State Toxics Control Account (STCA). This report discusses our grant programs using the LTCA.

The Model Toxics Control Act directs the Department of Ecology to provide grants or loans to local government from funds in the LTCA for the following purposes in this priority order:

• Cleanup of hazardous waste sites;
• Implementation of local hazardous waste plans and programs; and
• Implementation of local solid waste plans and programs.

In addition, MTCA directs Ecology to provide grants to citizens to assure public participation in waste management matters that affect them. These grants are funded through 1% of the total of each of the accounts.

Ecology has created grant programs through which these funds are provided to local governments and citizens. Remedial Action Grants provide funds for cleanup of hazardous waste sites. The department has traditionally set aside 60% of available LTCA appropriation for this top priority. These grants may be used for site cleanups, site assessments, drug lab cleanups, drinking water grants and underground storage tank removal.

Forty percent of the LTCA appropriation funds Coordinated Prevention Grants (CPG). The CPG grants provide for implementation of local hazardous waste and solid waste plans and programs. These grants focus on funding activities that achieve the top two waste management priorities: waste reduction and recycling.

Public Participation Grants provide funds for nonprofit groups to be represented in the deliberations associated with remedial action cleanups of hazardous waste sites. Groups may also apply for grants to provide information to the public on pollution prevention and proper waste management.

This report provides details on how the 1997-99 biennium appropriation has been obligated, lists projects that have been funded, and highlights accomplishments through December 1998.

$25,226,400 plus $1,000,000 proviso for brownfield cleanup.

The Remedial Action Grants Program provides funding for local governments facing hazardous site cleanups. Local governments include counties, cities and towns, school districts, ports, and public utility districts. The grants are designed to lessen the impact of the cost of cleanup to the taxpayers and ratepayers. The grants are also an incentive to encourage and expedite cleanup activity by local governments. While the grants listed on the following pages are not broken down by category, there are three major categories of Remedial Action Grants. They are:

Site Study and Remediation—These grants provide funding for study and cleanup of hazardous waste sites where the local government is liable under the Model Toxics Control Act. During the current biennium, a change was made to allow grants for removal of underground storage tanks, even when no contamination was present. This dramatically increased our ability to get funds to needed local projects, without necessarily raising the amount of funds committed, as compared to previous budget periods.

Safe Drinking Water Actions—These grants help water system purveyors provide safe drinking water to areas where a hazardous waste site has contaminated the drinking water. Two such grants were issued during the most recent budget period.

Site Hazard Assessment—These grants help local health departments and health districts investigate suspected hazardous waste sites, including methamphetamine labs, within their jurisdictions. During the reporting period, eight such grants were written.

These funds should complete the cleanup of this 70-acre site where over one million tires burned in 1984. The major measures included an earth cover over the tire fire ash and a leachate collection system for the protection of the Snohomish River.

The City of Centralia had previously closed drinking water wells because of solvent contamination. This project will remove the contamination from the water and enable the wells to be used again. In the meantime, city water will be extended to private well owners affected by the solvent contamination. A new ground water treatment plant will be built in conjunction with a relocated wastewater treatment facility.

This old coal gas production facility on Lake Union was turned into a park in 1976, before anyone realized that contamination problems existed. The grant covers the investigation and cleanup planning phases.

This is the design phase of a project that will eventually result in the cleanup of sediments in the three-mile long Hylebos Waterway, which is a portion of the Commencement Bay Superfund site. The Port is working with several other liable parties on this cleanup.

This project involves the removal of 15,400 cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediments, and its partial replacement with clean fill. The effort will create a 1.9-acre estuarine marsh and remove a current source of waterway contamination. This is a cooperative effort with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Puyallup and Muckleshoot Indian Tribes.

Pacific Wood Treating was in operation at the Port of Ridgefield for many years. Its heyday was during the Viet Nam War when it was a contractor to the U. S. government for treated wood products for the war effort. This wood treating operation left a huge amount of contaminated soil and ground water adjacent to a waterway and national wildlife refuge. The company went bankrupt leaving the Port as the major liable party. The Port, adjacent to the tiny town of Ridgefield in Clark County, has very limited resources of its own to apply to the project.

A unique approach to cleanup, steam-injection is being employed here. This is the first site in the state were this technology is being used. The technology will result in a high cleanup level, leaving very few residuals. What little remains will be highly stable, not likely to migrate.

Ryegrass Landfill is a bale fill owned and operated by Kittitas County. It is an unlined landfill of recent design but was a large generator of leachate runoff. A closure with a cap was necessary. The project will be completed in 1999.

This manufacturing plant left behind a huge amount of soil and groundwater contaminated with solvents. An extensive investigation is being conducted in conjunction with the stockpiling of soil for remediation or disposal.

Forty-four grants totaling $2,485,066 have been provided to local governments for underground storage tank removal. Many recipients were school districts. These grants paid for tank removals and cleanup of surrounding soils as required by law to be accomplished by December 22, 1998. Some work will continue into 1999.

Eight new or renewed grants totaling $1,282,472 were written to health districts throughout the state. These grants paid for initial investigations and site hazard assessments performed by local health districts. Several grants also had components for the investigation and minor cleanup of methamphetamine labs.

New/LTCA 97-99 Biennium

$16,817,600

Ecology helps local governments fulfill their role as waste managers by providing financial assistance in the form of Coordinated Prevention Grants (CPG). The aim of these grants is to develop, implement and enforce their local solid and moderate risk waste management plans. Since Ecology launched CPG in 1992, local governments have received over $83 million in grants to fund solid and moderate risk waste activities.

The coordinated structure encourages local governments to work together to examine their waste management needs and decide the activities they will propose for grant funding. Ecology allocates the available funds for countywide areas, using a formula based on the previous grant cycle award level, minus an amount set aside for solid waste enforcement. This formula funding is not an entitlement program; local governments must submit satisfactory applications that meet eligibility requirements.

Grant recipients provide a cash match equaling 25 to 40 percent of the total eligible costs of their projects. The lower match amount is available to economically disadvantaged counties.

Under the current grant cycle that runs from January 1, 1998, through December 31, 1999, Ecology has awarded $16,266,054 in grants for waste management activities. The grants leverage local matching funds to support an estimated $25,819,133 worth of solid and moderate risk waste projects. Additionally, a supplemental amount of $509,000 has recently been offered to local governments to expand their programs.

Solid waste enforcement grants are a part of the CPG program. These are used by local health agencies for inspection, enforcement, and investigation of solid waste sites and facilities, and also for investigation of illegal dump complaints. The funds are separate and are not available for other uses under the grants. Allocations for enforcement activities are $100,000 per single county health department and $150,000 per multi-county health district.

The waste management activities that the CPG Program funded for the current 1998/99 cycle are broken down in the following categories:

Household Hazardous Waste Collection & Disposal $5,248,653

Waste Reduction and Recycling – Activities $4,523,628

Solid Waste Enforcement $2,758,471

Waste Reduction and Recycling – Capital $1,071,070

Small Quantity Generator Implementation $1,021,849

Household Hazardous Waste Implementation $ 741,709

Solid Waste Planning $ 337,512

Hazardous Waste Planning $ 87,175

Groundwater Monitoring Wells $ 25,800

This jurisdictional health authority has ensured the public health by overseeing solid waste operations and by investigating complaints of illegal dumping or solid waste mismanagement. The bi-county health department conducted 230 inspection of permitted solid waste facilities in 1996-7 and responded to 264 complaints in that time period. By providing thorough reviews of permit applications, solid waste permits promote the safe operation of facilities.

The Bremerton-Kitsap County Health Department is utilizing all its Solid Waste Enforcement monies on regulatory activities and is also using County CPG monies for prevention programs.

On the regulatory side, the grant has allowed the Health Department to actively explore accepting delegation of Ecology’s Biosolids Program, and it is currently negotiating an MOU agreement. The Health Department has also used the grant money to draft guidance documents for street waste and contaminated soils, and to initiate a revision process for updating solid waste regulations. These guidance documents were developed with an eye towards making the regulatory requirements easier to understand and to assist potential users in meeting all pertinent regulations. The County has also used Ecology’s grant monies to hire staff to conduct field investigations and to enforce solid waste regulations.

On the prevention side, the Health Department used CPG funding to hire two staff to continue its very successful Small Quantity Generator (SQG) Program addressing hazardous waste. Staff are providing on-site consultations to help businesses reach compliance without the threat of penalty. The County has also recognized successful businesses through the EnviroStars program, produced the Hazardous Waste Guide for Businesses in Kitsap County, and presented workshops on topical subjects for businesses.

Chelan County is currently developing a small composting facility. It will make use of the wood wastes the PUD accumulates in operating the local dams, divert organic materials from the Greater Wenatchee Regional Landfill, and save residents money by providing a cheaper alternative to disposal. The best result will be that reusable material will be diverted from disposal. Additionally, a back yard composting program distributed over 100 composting bins at a reduced cost. A follow-up survey indicated that 89% of the bins were in use, providing residents with their own soil enhancement.

The County has a long list of environmental education and information accomplishments, including planning for and recruiting teachers and presenters for the Salmon Creek Water Festival, and using the Clark County Solid Waste Program display and booth at the Clark County Fair. The Environmental Information Center helps the public connect to an impressive network of community resources, including waste reduction and recycling resources. Also among the County programs are a song-writing program to help integrate arts in environmental education at the Vancouver Audubon Society Junior Naturalist Day Camp and workshops for teachers at the Environmental Studies Institute in Salem. Forty-one WSU-Vancouver Masters in Teaching students learned about where our garbage goes, where our drinking water comes from, and how our air can become polluted during A-Way with Waste training, and demolition contractors will learn from a "Deconstruction Project" how to incorporate material recovery and recycling into bids for demolition projects.

Using funds from the CPG program, Douglas County completed the last of its four community recycling centers in 1998. These centers provide convenient locations for citizens to drop off their recyclables, including auto batteries, used oil, and white goods. The centers have been staffed by volunteers and may use inmate labor in the future.

Ecology’s grant funding continues to be an integral part of protecting the air, land, and water in Island County. Grant funding provides a major portion of the operational costs for the County's moderate risk waste fixed facility and satellite collection facilities. These facilities represent one of the most successful and innovative programs in the state. The County has a very aggressive redistribution program that models the concept of swapping useful products among county residents instead of paying high disposal costs. Used oil and antifreeze are currently being collected for recycling. Products not collected for reuse or recycling are disposed of off-island in an environmentally safe landfill.

Ecology funding has also helped increase public awareness of recycling, pollution prevention, and waste reduction/minimization. The County recently updated and reprinted its Island County Home Waste Guide, and helps support the Waste Warriors, a group of WSU-trained volunteers who promote waste reduction, recycling, and proper waste disposal.

Through this project the County has identified and logged an inventory of 280 illegal solid waste dump sites throughout the county. The Community Litter Cleanup Program has removed the wastes from a number of these sites. Another benefit of recording these illegal sites is active pursuit of, and enforcement against, the responsible party. A fine is imposed with the proceeds going to the solid waste division for use in cleanup activities.

In these times of increasing costs of disposing of waste and the availability of rural lands to illegally dump waste, jurisdictions need to find innovative ways of reducing threats to our environment. This project is a step closer to reducing the problem of illegal dump sites.

Snohomish County and the City of Everett recently cooperated on the development and construction of a moderate risk waste facility located in the City of Everett. Ecology contributed nearly half a million dollars to see this facility constructed. The facility will help all residents in Snohomish County protect the air land and water of the community by providing a convenient location for them to bring their dangerous household products.

Ecology grant dollars also went towards helping facilitate the partnership between the City of Everett and Snohomish County in the handling of MRW. The City of Everett was unable to come up with match money for its share of grant funds for the project. The City relinquished its rights to Ecology grant money and offered those funds to Snohomish County for use in constructing this facility. The County subsequently came up with the match money. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility was held on February 2, 1999.

CPG funds to date have been used to research dry-cell battery collection and disposal options and to provide a mobile collection event targeting senior citizens. Also using CPG funds, the County continues to educate the public and businesses on recycling and proper disposal options. Efforts in this area include a recycling hotline, a web page, presentations, waste audits, demonstrations, tours, and local media spots. Recycling RAP is distributed to 3000 teachers each month; at the same time, their students are receiving kids' enviro page in the kids' newspaper.

The Health Department uses CPG funds to conduct annual inspections of at least 26 facilities permitted under WAC 304 and WAC 351. Fifty inspections have been completed so far. CPG funds have also been used to review 11 permit applications, issue 4 permits, investigate and resolve 436 illegal dumping complaints, and review 20 solid waste plans. This funding has enabled staff to provide technical assistance on 90 occasions.

The County has developed a project that may divert as much as 10,000 tons of material (10% of the total waste) from the landfill each year. The project is the Hawks Prairie Construction/ Demolition (CD) Recovery Project. Stemming the tide of construction and demolition waste is essential to reducing the long-term potential environmental impacts associated with a rapidly expanding population. Close to 20% of the waste landfilled in the county is construction and demolition material that could be recovered and diverted from disposal at less cost. In addition, hazardous compounds found in these materials accumulate in the landfill’s leachate, which could pose a potential risk of contamination to ground or surface water. This project will recover construction and demolition wastes and after sorting will make the useful and reusable materials available to the public at a convenient location in Olympia.

Since hiring new staff last summer, the once dormant waste management program in Whitman County has been on the rebound. The County started a "shredded paper" program and a phone book recycling program in all county offices resulting in a dramatic increase in office recycling volumes. A brochure has been developed and distributed to all county schools and educators announcing the availability of environmental education resources for grades K - 6. Promotion of recycling, hazardous waste management, waste reduction, and composting through the airing of educational videos continues on Pullman Government Access TV. The County has established "Rural Roundup" centers in the towns of Tekoa, Uniontown, and Colton; these centers have collected 1,720 gallons of used oil, 1,445 gallons of other hazardous material, and 151 auto batteries.

Yakima County's moderate risk waste facility was completed in 1997, using largely CPG funding. In 1998, the facility received over 1,000,000 pounds of hazardous materials, diverting them from the municipal solid waste landfill. Most of these materials, such as paints and used oil, were reused rather than disposed of as hazardous waste. The facility, which replaced costly collection events, provides daily service at a much lower unit cost.

Curbside recycling is being piloted for a three-month period to help the City of Yakima and Yakima County assess the feasibility of residential curbside recycling. Although the recycling participation rate may be higher than in previous test projects, it may not be high enough to justify the costs of collection. Given the exceptionally low local tipping fees, this project will provide the hard data needed to determine if, and how, curbside recycling can become the norm as it has in most other urban areas.

New/LTCA 97-99 Biennium

Reappropriations/LTCA 97-99 Biennium

$985,360

The people of Washington created the Public Participation Grant (PPG) program to involve the public in solving waste management issues. These issues arise from the waste we all produce, both ordinary garbage and more dangerous substances. Ecology funds projects that enable people to influence the decisions made about waste sites and projects that show how to prevent pollution by reducing and/or eliminating waste at the source. The two categories of grants funded are the Hazardous Substance Release Site grants and Waste Management Priorities Implementation grants. The grant monies are provided by one-percent of the revenues in the State and Local Toxics Control Accounts. For the 97–99 biennium, $860,608 will be awarded for 35 grant projects. Of the 35 projects, 17 will use Hazardous Substance Release Site grants ($550,497) and 18 will use Waste Management Priorities Implementation grants ($310,111).

This group is developing an interactive environmental education center that will include displays and resource materials pertaining to waste reduction and wise buying decisions for consumers and businesses.

The Conservancy initiated a comprehensive solid and hazardous waste education program that promoted environmental stewardship through waste reduction, recycling, and reuse. This group also held a one-time metals recycling event for the Methow Valley.

This group is now able to introduce the EnviroStars program in Whatcom County. This program's focus is to educate small businesses on how to reduce hazardous waste in their day-to-day work activities. Businesses that make successful use of the methods learned are given public recognition for how they have helped the environment.

REBAR's grant allows it to develop a "train the trainer" program. This includes training seminars and a follow-up mentoring program to educate the building/construction industry on the benefits derived from reuse and recycling of construction materials.

From Trash to Treasure. Two Tri-City museums forged a partnership offering waste reduction and recycling education to children and their families.

The Association intends to develop an educational outreach program aimed at those individuals who use or apply pesticides that come in plastic containers. This project will also include recycling opportunities for the empty plastic containers.

Its grant enabled the Toxics Coalition to initiate an educational outreach program to bring greater awareness to and increase the number of school districts with integrated pest management policies and plans.

This group became concerned with the salvage operations conducted at an old lumber mill sitting astride a waterway leading through the town of Klickitat and into the Klickitat River. Contamination from asbestos and other hazardous waste is feared, and the group has used grant funds to hire a consultant .

This grant continued to help an Everett neighborhood group monitor the time-consuming process of getting an area-wide cleanup of soils. The soils were contaminated in the early part of this century by a smelter that emitted wastes into the air. Arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals continue to present a health risk to residents. The process of negotiating a cleanup action plan between Ecology and the liable party, ASARCO, consumed the attention of the technical consultant hired by the group to represent its interests at the negotiating table.

This group is concerned with environmental problems associated with the previous operation of the ITT Rayonier paper mill. The mill has been demolished but further cleanup is necessary. Also, the group perceives the landfills that received waste from the mill as a threat to human health and the environment. Ecology and EPA are both investigating. The group has hired a consultant to represent its interests.

This group assembled to solve a problem of contamination of drinking water by old leaking gasoline tanks. Ecology and the potentially liable parties are negotiating a cleanup action plan. The group is representing neighborhood homeowners and business operators.

New/LTCA and STCA 97-99 Biennium

Reappropriations/LTCA 97-99 Biennium

LTCA 97-99 Biennium