November 16, 2006

Toxic Avengers
Duwamish watchdogs want Port to be diligent in clean up of PCBs

By ROSETTE ROYALE
Staff Reporter

First, start with the Earth.

There, within the soil of a plot of land in Seattle called Terminal 117, reside some of the highest levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) ever recorded in Puget Sound.

Second, move to the water: set next to Terminal 117, cradling its toxic-laden soil with an aqueous arm, the Duwamish Waterway flows.

Third, gaze at the fauna where land and river meet: Chinook and coho salmon, great blue herons, crayfish, shrimp, crabs, frogs, salamanders, microscopic invertebrates, all of them and more, walk, wade, and swim in a polluted riparian food web.

Lastly, listen to the people, as they speak of a proposed plan for an interim cleanup of Terminal 117:

“They would be burying enough toxic material on site,” says BJ Cummings, coordinator for the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, “that it would become a de facto industrial wasteland.”

The “they” Cummings speaks of is the Port of Seattle, which is administering the plan — called a Time Critical Removal Action — that will attempt to diminish the amount of PCBs that plague the area.

Wayne Grotheer, director of Seaport Finance and Asset Management for the port, says, “We don’t believe [the PCBs] pose any immediate threat” to the public, says Grotheer, “but we think it needs to get out of there.”

The former home of the Malarkey Asphalt Co., which ceased operations in 1993, the upland of Terminal 117 is covered with asphalt. The Port will attempt to excavate, dispose the soil from, backfill, and cover — with, ironically, asphalt — roughly 11,000 cubic yards of upland soil. (To offer a sense of the volume, consider that one long dump truck holds 10 cubic yards.) The spoils will be trucked to an approved facility in Eastern Washington.

Soil samplings conducted by the Port in January 2006 revealed a PCB concentration of 4,500 parts per million (ppm) at a point adjacent to Dallas Ave. S.; a second locale, near the northern gate, uncovered a PCB level of 9,200 ppm. Safe PCB levels for an industrial area, such as Terminal 117, top out at 25 ppm. The two upland locations, close to the minority-rich, economically depressed South Park neighborhood, are presently covered with asphalt.

In humans, PCB exposure has been linked to skin and liver ailments. Some studies indicate PCBs are carcinogenic.

Housed beneath the uncovered shoreline of the Duwamish, to depths of no more than two feet, are 10 locations where PCB levels range from 70-530 ppm. Concentrations of diesel, motor oil, and heavy fuel oil vary throughout the site, both in covered and uncovered locations. (The state Department of Ecology estimates that during the 1970s, Malarkey Asphalt Co. used close to 1,000 gallons of waste oil per month for fuel, supplied by Seattle City Light.) Being highly “attracted” to oils, PCBs are carried wherever oils travel, such as into sources of nearby water.

Scheduled to take place in September and October, the removal action has an estimated cost of almost $6 million.

But Cummings says she’s seen estimates stating that for more money — essentially, $12 million —PCB concentrations on site could be lowered to levels that align with safe residential use, which stands at one ppm. “We’re asking them to take out more [PCBs,]” says Cummings, “so that it becomes safe for people.”

Grotheer says that yes, if more money were spent, more soil could be removed. But with other issues to be addressed within and along the Duwamish, Grotheer says, “Money could be spent elsewhere.”

Back in 2001, the entire lower Duwamish Waterway was designated a Superfund site, a term the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses to identify hazardous sites throughout the country that pose risks to human health and the environment. Along the Duwamish, there were sites — “The hot spots, if you will,” says Grotheer — which were determined to be so hazardous, their clean up was fast tracked. Terminal 117 is one such hot spot.

The proposed removal action will be overseen by the EPA. Ravi Sanga, EPA project manager for the cleanup, says that once the work on the site is completed, remaining PCB levels will amount to 10 ppm within the top two feet of soil, with areas farther down closer to 25 ppm. Those levels are in alignment with the port’s projected use for the site, which they envision will remain industrial, not residential. “So with two feet of clean material, and with a layer of asphalt,” he says, “the EPA feels that is protective.”

But Sanga stresses the current Time Critical Removal Action is a proposal of an interim plan. (Another, potentially final, cleanup being considered for the summer of 2007 will address the shoreline.) The particulars of the interim proposal could change, Sanga says, as they did for another proposal, one that pertained specifically to dredging the areas where the Duwamish abuts Terminal 117. Public concerns at the time, he says, changed that earlier proposal, ultimately causing the Port to undertake the testing that provided currently identified PCB levels. “If [public] input warrants changes,” claims Sanga, “we would consider the input and act accordingly.”

Cummings is hoping such input is voiced, to protect not only people, but also the animals that call the land and waters near Terminal 117 home.

“When we say we’re doing a cleanup,” says Cummings, “we want it to be left clean.”

[Public Meeting]

The meeting, co-sponsored by the EPA and state Dept. of Ecology, will allow the public to voice concerns about the interim cleanup of Terminal 117. Citizens are called to meet on Thurs., May 25, at Concord Elementary, 723 S. Concord St. Open house starts at 6:30 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. meeting. Free food and childcare offered. Spanish interpretation provided.