The Port of Seattle would remove or contain contaminated soil and sediment on port property at the former Lora Lake Apartments in Burien and nearby at Sea-Tac Airport in SeaTac under a proposed legal agreement with the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology).
The port plans to begin cleanup work in 2016, divided into three projects that include these actions:
– Former apartment complex : Remove highly contaminated soil for disposal, place a cap (such as pavement) over less-contaminated areas and place a deed restriction to protect the cap and limit future use of the property to commercial activities;
– Lora Lake : Fill a man-made lake left from a former peat mine with clean soil to contain contaminated sediment, while re-establishing a former wetland that will protect water quality in Des Moines Creek;
– Dredged material containment area : Use pavement or gravel to cover contaminated sediment deposited from a past dredging of Lora Lake, with a deed restriction to maintain this cover.
Ecology seeks public comment through Nov. 25, 2013 on the proposal and related documents:
– The agreement, called a consent decree, to be filed in King County Superior Court;
– A cleanup action plan, to be filed as part of the consent decree;
– A report, called a remedial investigation/feasibility study, on the port’s study of the contamination and potential cleanup strategies;
– An updated public participation plan for the cleanup actions;
– An environmental review, called a mitigated determination of non-significance, conducted by Ecology under the State Environmental Policy Act.
[mappress]
Press Release, October 22, 2013