Facility Site ID: 4377754 Cleanup Site ID: 14495

  • Site Status

  • Cleanup Started

Current Status

Seattle Times Site
Seattle Times Site
Last updated: July 5, 2022

站點信息
Información del sitio.

Ecology held a 30-day public comment period in June 2022. We received no comments during this time. The current owner, Onni John Street (Land) LLC (Onni), will move forward with conducting this cleanup work under a legal agreement, called an Agreed Order. 

The following documents describe the remaining contamination at the Site and Onni's plans to clean it up: 

Interim Action Work Plan (IAWP): describes how Onni will conduct a cleanup of contaminated soil on the site. 
Revised Remedial Investigation (RRI) report: describes the contamination at the site.

View a copy of the community mailer sent to addresses surrounding the cleanup site for the June 2022 public comment period. 

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Site Background

Historical photo of Seattle Times Building in Seattle
Historical photo of Seattle Times Building in Seattle
Seattle Times site is located at 1120 John Street in Seattle. Seattle Times first began operations at the facility in 1931. While in operation, the facility included at least 11 underground storage tanks (USTs), which contained a range of compounds including waste oils and liquids, heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, and petroleum- and solvent-based inks. Seattle Times ceased operations at its 1120 John Street facility in 2011. In 2013, Onni John Street (Land) LLC (Onni) purchased the former Seattle Times facility from Seattle Times.

In 2012 and 2013, Environmental Partners, Inc. (EPI), on behalf of the Onni Group, performed a limited subsurface investigation at the Seattle Times property. In 2018, EPI collected additional data to assess the vertical and horizontal limits of contamination previously identified in 2012 and 2013.

In 2020, Onni submitted a draft Remedial Investigation Report to Ecology, which Ecology reviewed and then provided comments. Onni collected additional data in 2020 independently without Ecology’s oversight. These investigations documented the following hazardous substances in soil and/or groundwater in amounts that exceed minimum allowed levels under the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA):

• total petroleum hydrocarbons
• polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• tetrachloroethe (PCE)
• trichloroethene (TCE)
• vinyl chloride (VC)

Legal 9
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Final Agreed Order with Ex A and Ex B 11/10/2021 Agreed Order
Seattle Times - Agreed Order - August 2021 8/23/2021 Agreed Order
Final PLP Status Letter_SeattleTimes 9_22_20 9/22/2020 Administrative Order on Consent
Seattle TImes ML Letter to Ecology 2020-09-11 9/11/2020 Early Notice Letter
Preliminary PLP notice letter for Seattle Times at Seattle Times Site 7/9/2020 Early Notice Letter
Final PLP letter for Onni at Seattle TImes site 7/9/2020 Early Notice Letter
Seattle TImes JDL to Becker RE Onni 1/29/2020 Early Notice Letter
Early Notice Letter to Onni 12/18/2019 Early Notice Letter
SeattleTimesLUST2876 2/10/2012 NFA Letter – non-VCP
Public Information 7
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Seattle Times June 2022 Fact Sheet - Chinese 5/31/2022 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Seattle Times June 2022 Fact Sheet - Spanish 5/31/2022 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Seattle Times June 2022 Fact Sheet 5/31/2022 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Seattle Times - Public Participation Plan - August 2021 8/23/2021 Public Participation Plan
Seattle Times - Factsheet (Spanish) - August 2021 8/23/2021 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Seattle Times - Factsheet (Chinese) - August 2021 8/23/2021 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Seattle Times - Factsheet - August 2021 8/23/2021 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
State Environmental Policy Act 3
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Seattle Times June 2022 SEPA Cover Letter and Checklist 6/6/2022 SEPA Documents
SEPA Determination of Non Significance 5/17/2022 SEPA Documents
SEPA Checklist for Interim Action 2022 3/29/2022 SEPA Documents
Technical Reports 14
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Quarterly Progress Report No5 4/10/2023 Progress Report
Seattle Times Site Quarterly Progress Report No4 12/12/2022 Progress Report
SoilGasAssessment 11/21/2022 Interim Action Documents
ContainedInD Approval Letter Oct 14-2022 10/14/2022 Interim Action Documents
2022 Quarterly Progress Report No. 3 9/12/2022 Progress Report
Seattle Times - Revised Remedial Investigation Report 5/5/2022 Remedial Investigation Report
Seattle Times - Interim Action Work Plan 5/5/2022 Interim Action Documents
Comments on the Remedial Investigation Report 7/14/2020 Remedial Investigation Report
Seattle Times draft RI report Figures - Pgs 50 - 59 1/21/2020 Remedial Investigation Report
Seattle TImes draft RI Report Tables - Pgs 38 - 49 1/21/2020 Remedial Investigation Report
Seattle Times draft RI Report - Pgs 1 - 37 1/21/2020 Remedial Investigation Report
Seattle Times - Supplemental Investigation Report 5/30/2018 Site Specific Technical Document - other
South Lake Union, Seattle, WA - Cleanup Site Summary - June 2017 6/30/2017 Site Specific Technical Document - other
Seattle Times - Limited Subsurface Investigation Report 8/16/2013 Site Specific Technical Document - other
There may be more documents related to this site. To obtain documents not available electronically, you will need to make a public records request.

Places to see print documents

  • Northwest Regional Office
    15700 Dayton Ave N
    Shoreline, 98133
    Please schedule an appointment to view print documents at this location.
  • Seattle Public Library - Central
    1000 Fourth Ave
    Seattle, 98104
    This location may only have print documents available during open comment periods.

Contaminants 1

Contaminant Type
Soil
Groundwater
Surface Water
Air
Sediment
Bedrock
Halogenated Organics - Halogenated Solvents S S
S
Suspected
C
Confirmed Above Cleanup Levels
B
Below Cleanup Levels
RA
Remediated-Above
RB
Remediated-Below
R
Remediated
This contaminant list was based on our best information at the time it was entered. It may not reflect current conditions at the site.