Draft River Cleanup Alternatives (Feasibility Study)
Read the February 25, 2011 comment letter from EPA and Ecology to the Responsible Parties (Port of Seattle, King County, City of Seattle, and the Boeing Company), noting the revisions requested by EPA/Ecology and the stakeholders (DRCC, NOAA, Muckleshoot and Suquamish Tribes). Your comments were part of this process!
Read DRCC/TAG's Comment Letter to EPA: January 14, 2011
DRCC/TAG created an ASSESSMENT of the cleanup alternatives, with an environmental justice review and fact sheet for the public.
Click here to visit the EPA's web site for an overview of the whole Feasibility Study process and how this will lead to the eventual cleanup design plan. View or download the EPA Fact Sheet about the Draft Cleanup Alternatives (Feasibility Study). If you'd like to peruse the entire cleanup plan, please start with the Executive Summary!
Public Meetings:
DRCC, EPA, and other local governments hosted two public meetings for the Superfund Feasibility Study on December 7th and 9th. DRCC and EPA worked with Concord International School for the December 7th meeting, and provided information in Spanish and English, with hands-on, small-group activities using Legos to illustrate the different cleanup alternatives. December 9th was a more "traditional" Public meeting, but also included a video produced by local youth from the International District Housing Alliance's Project WILD, about their experiences interviewing Duwamish River fishermen.
View the Project WILD video here.
Click here to see a photo album of the two meetings.
Community workshops on Cleanup Alternatives
DRCC organized three community workshops in November to help develop alternatives that protect human health and the environment. A summary from the three workshops will be available soon, and will be incorporated into the DRCC Comment letter for the Feasibility Study.
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What
is "Superfund?"
“Superfund” is the common name
for the federal Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Cleanup and Liability Act (CERCLA),
passed by Congress in 1980. The law requires
that the nation’s most toxic hazardous
waste sites be identified and cleaned up. The
lower Duwamish River was added to the national
Superfund list – also known as the National
Priority List – in 2001. The river has
also been listed for cleanup by Washington
State under the “state superfund” or
Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA).
More general information about Superfund and MTCA
can be found below:
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Fact
Sheets and DRCC/TAG Newsletters
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Documents & Reports
DRCC/TAG reports:
TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS:
PHASE 1 (EARLY ACTION)
REMEDIAL INVESTIGATION
& RISK ASSESSMENTS
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Superfund
Phases
The following documents are part of the Superfund
planning and decision-making process. To get
involved in helping to review Superfund documents,
send us an email.
The Superfund cleanup is divided into two
phases:
- PHASE I (Early Action Phase) is in process.
Phase I has identified seven candidates for "Early
Action" cleanup sites; planning and implementation
is underway. Ongoing sources of pollution coming from historic and current industrial sites, as well as our homes, streets, parking lots, and other stormwater runoff are slowing the cleanup process.
- Planning for PHASE II, the complete river
cleanup, is continuing. EPA and the PRPs (those responsible for the pollution) will be deciding how and where the river's pollution will be removed. DRCC/TAG and the public will be commented on the plans in 2010. DRCC/TAG seeks to make sure the cleanup plans are protective of human health and the environment, and ultimately benefit the communities most impacted by the pollution.
PHASE 2 (RIVERWIDE) CLEANUP
PLAN
A complete list of all technical
documents is available at http://www.ldwg.org/rifs_docs9.htm.
Key documents and DRCC/TAG's comments are listed
below:
PHASE 1: EARLY ACTION CLEANUP
SITE LIST
Early action site: Jorgensen Forge
The Jorgensen Forge facility is scheduled for cleanup as part of the Lower Duwamish River Superfund cleanup. The site is located at 8531 East Marginal Way South in Tukwila, Washington. Originally developed in 1942 by the Navy to produce naval equipment, the property has had a variety of owners over the last seven decades. Currently the facility is owned and operated by the Jorgensen Forge Corporation and is still in use as a steel and aluminum forge for various industrial clients. Jorgensen Forge Corporation will conduct the cleanup with EPA oversight.
DRCC/TAG Recommendations
DRCC/TAG supports EPA’s selection of Alternative 4 which proposes complete removal of all contaminated sediments below the Washington State Sediment standards followed by a clean layer of backfill.
EPA will accept written public comments on their cleanup plans for Boeing plant 2 until June 30, 2011. This is the only opportunity for the public to weigh in on plans for the cleanup at the Jorgensen Forge site.
Comments can be sent to EPA via email to: blocker.shawn@epa.gov. Please 'cc' DRCC/TAG on your letters at: contact@duwamishcleanup.org.
Standard postal mail comments can be sent to: U.S. EPA, Region 10
ATTN: Shawn Blocker 1200 6th Avenue, Suite 900, AWT-121
Seattle WA, 98101
EARLY ACTION Site: Boeing Plant 2
Boeing's Plant 2 site is being cleaned up under EPA's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and is also an "early action area" within the Lower Duwamish River Superfund Site.
EPA will accept written public comments on their cleanup plans for Boeing plant 2 until May 28, 2011. This is the only opportunity for the public to weigh in on plans for the cleanup at the Boeing Plant 2 site.
Comments can be sent to EPA via email to: blocker.shawn@epa.gov. Please 'cc' DRCC/TAG on your letters at: contact@duwamishcleanup.org.
Standard postal mail comments can be sent to: U.S. EPA, Region 10
ATTN: Shawn Blocker 1200 6th Avenue, Suite 900, AWT-121
Seattle WA, 98101
EARLY ACTION SITE: TERMINAL
117/MALARKEY ASPHALT (SITE 5)
EARLY ACTION SITE: SLIP 4 (SITE
3)
EARLY ACTION SITE: DUWAMISH/DIAGONAL
CSO (SITE 1)
Washington
State
Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA)
Recent Agreed Orders at Duwamish Sites:
DUWAMISH RIVER SOURCE CONTROL
STRATEGY
PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT
Harbor Island (not part of Lower Duwamish Superfund site)
Harbor Island will have a 5 year review in 2010. Five-year reviews provide an opportunity to
evaluate the implementation and performance of a cleanup remedy to determine whether it remains protective of human health and the environment. The 5 year review for Harbor Island will be released after September 30, 2010. It will be posted at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/sites/hi
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