The public is invited to comment on a Department of Ecology proposal to deem cleanup of the Hardel Mutual Plywood site complete.
People can comment on this proposal to remove the Hardel site from Ecology’s Hazardous Sites List until July 6, 2012. The site is located at 1210 West Bay Drive N.W. Olympia, on the shore of Budd Inlet.
The Hazardous Sites List consists of sites Ecology has assessed for their risk to human health and the environment. Sites must go through cleanup and meet state standards before Ecology can remove them from the list.
Rebecca Lawson, Ecology’s regional manager for the Toxics Cleanup Program , said: “Removing a site from the Hazardous Sites List is always a big accomplishment. In this case, the completion of this cleanup also would mark a milestone in the cleanup of Puget Sound. Hardel’s cleanup efforts helped reduce pollution threatening Budd Inlet and contributed to improving the overall health of the Sound.”
If cleanup is deemed finished at this time, Ecology also will officially notify Hardel in writing and then remove the site from the Hazardous Sites List.
The Hardel site was used for logging and lumber businesses from 1924 to 1996. After a fire severely damaged buildings, Hardel ceased operations at the site.
Ecology and Hardel signed a legal agreement called an Agreed Order in 2007 that required Hardel to investigate and look at alternatives to clean up the site. As the company investigated the site, it found that some contamination was moving toward Budd Inlet
Due to the immediate threat to the environment, Hardel proposed an interim action (partial cleanup), which was approved by Ecology in 2010 following a public comment period. This plan included:
– Removing and crushing concrete building foundations. Hardel kept clean concrete to use as fill material.
– Removing contaminated soil and filling the areas with clean soil. Hardel then covered the property with one foot of clean recycled crushed concrete.
– Pumping and treating groundwater from areas where soil was removed.
– Removing free-floating contaminants.
– Sampling soil to make sure all contaminated soil was removed.
Hardel continued to sample groundwater for one year after completing the interim action. The company found no contaminants above cleanup levels.
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Dredging Today Staff, June 5, 2012;