Independent Metals Plant 2

Last Updated:  March 2023

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ព័ត៌មានជាភាសាខ្មែររួមបញ្ចូល

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ព័ត៌មានជាភាសាខ្មែររួមបញ្ចូល

 

Blog	"Cleaning up:  Two Lower Duwamish sites move forward with cleanup"

 

Comments

Response Summary

Cleanup moves forward with Remedial Investigation
Ecology held a 30-day public comment period (October 24 – November 22, 2022) on a Public Participation Plan and a legal agreement called an Agreed Order with Silver Bay Logging, Inc. and RJ and BA LLC, the Potentially Liable Persons (PLPs), for the 816 S. Kenyon St Cleanup Site located in Seattle’s South Park Neighborhood. 

Ecology has reviewed and considered the public comments received on the documents and will finalize both documents. 

Based on Ecology’s evaluation of the comments, updates were made to the Agreed Order “Finding of Facts” section. 

Ecology has also reviewed and considered the comments on the Public Participation Plan (PPP) and adjusted our outreach plan for the first 2023 Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW) cleanup site. 

Ecology will finalize the PPP. We will continue to evaluate the community’s use of this adjusted LDW site outreach plan for the next comment period and will amend the PPP, as needed, based on community engagement. 

The Independent Metals Plant 2 is continuing the cleanup process. Ecology will make the future Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, and Cleanup Action Plan available for public review and comment.

Ecology is finalizing the following documents:

• Agreed Order:  legal document that requires the PLPs to investigate environmental conditions, complete a Remedial Investigation (RI), Feasibility Study (FS), and a draft Cleanup Action Plan (dCAP).
• Public Participation Plan: describes how Ecology will inform the community about site activities and ways to become involved. 

Language Information
Para ver una copia de este boletín informativo en español visite: https://bit.ly/Ecology-IndependentMetals, llame (360) 407-6097, o envié un correo electrónico a preguntas@ecy.wa.gov

如需瀏覽中文版的概況介紹，請訪問網址https://bit.ly/Ecology-IndependentMetals，致電 
(425) 457-3842，或發送電子郵件到sunny.becker@ecy.wa.gov

Để xem bản sao của tờ thông tin này bằng tiếng Việt, hãy truy cập: https://bit.ly/Ecology-IndependentMetals, gọi (360) 790-4730, hoặc gửi email đến Lngu461@ecy.wa.gov

ដើម្បីមើលឯកសារថតចម្លងនៃអង្គហេតុនេះជាភាសាខ្មែរ សូមចូលមើល៖ https://bit.ly/Ecology-IndependentMetals, ហៅទូរស័ព្ទលេខ (425) 324-5901, ឬអ៊ីម៉ែល ian.fawley@ecy.wa.gov

The Independent Metals Plant 2 site is adjacent to the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW) Superfund Site, which includes a 5-mile stretch of the Duwamish River. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the LDW Superfund Site to the Superfund National Priorities List in 2001. Ecology is working to stop or reduce sources of contamination to the LDW Superfund Site, an effort known as “source control,” so that the EPA can proceed with the cleanup of the river sediment. 

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) is Washington’s environmental cleanup law. It provides requirements for contaminated site cleanup and sets standards that protect human health and the environment. Ecology enacts the MTCA and oversees cleanups. The MTCA site cleanup process is completed in steps (see graphic below) over a variable timeline.

Ecology considered all comments received during this public comment period (October 24 - November 22, 2022) on the Agreed Order and Public Participation Plan. 

Ecology is finalizing the documents and the PLPs will proceed with the Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, and create a Draft Cleanup Action Plan for public review.

Each of those steps will require a public comment period. The graphic above shows these different stages of cleanup. Sometimes multiple stages occur in one public comment period.

Current Independent Metals Plant 2 cleanup site Public Participation Plan

This plan includes information for the public regarding opportunities to get involved in the Site cleanup process. The outreach activities and mechanisms presented reflect Ecology’s current plans for keeping the public informed and for receiving information and comments from the public. 

Site Background
The site is generally located in the area of 816 and 836 S. Kenyon Street, 803 and 811 S. Chicago St., 7760 and 7808 8th Ave. S, in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. It is approximately 3.06 acres and is adjacent to the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW). It includes six King County tax parcels and a 0.23 acre portion of the South Chicago Street right-of-way which the PLP’s lease from the City of Seattle. 

Currently, there are two light-industrial buildings on the site, as well as an office building and a marine dock located on the south bank of the Duwamish Waterway. 

Past uses of the site include

• 1929 – approx. 1961: A former gasoline station occupied the northern portion of the site. 
• 1976 – 1995: Workboats Northwest, a work boat manufacturer, had operations on the site.
• 2006 – 2014: Independent Metals had a scrap and recycled metal handling facility on the site.
• 1996 – 2015: Silver Bay Logging used the area as transfer site for processed logs.

Site investigation and contamination
In 2009 the Site was placed on our Confirmed and Suspected Contaminated Sites list.  A Site Hazard Assessment concluded PCB’s and metals were released from the site and added them to existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System monitoring.  A 2015 Site Hazard Assessment assigned the site a ranking of 4 (using a rank from 1 to 5, with 1 being most hazardous and 5 being the least).

In 2017, five underground storage tanks for petroleum products, and associated piping, were identified and removed from the site. This process included initial soil and groundwater investigations.  In 2015 Ecology completed an Initial Site Assessment.  Reports and documents from these investigations can be found on in the Document section.  

Investigations at the site show the following hazardous substances in the soil:
Diesel and oil-range total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)

• Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs)
• Tetrachloroethene (PCE)
• Trichloroethene (TCE)
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• Metals, including arsenic, cadmium, and lead

These contaminants are present at levels that exceed allowable standards under the state’s cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA), and must be addressed.