Stewart House

The Stewart House cleanup site is in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood at 1727, 1733, and 1737 Belmont Ave, Seattle WA (collectively known as the Stewart House cleanup site). Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), with Ecology, aims to redevelop its properties at the site into a single building known as the DESC Belmont. DESC Belmont will be a type of multifamily rental housing known as Permanent Supportive Housing, which includes on-site support services for tenants and staff. DESC is cleaning up the site under a legal agreement, called an Agreed Order, with Ecology.

This site cleanup is made possible in part by funding from Ecology’s Affordable Housing Cleanup Grants. Washington is in dire need of affordable housing across the state. Contamination, or even the suspicion of contamination, drives up the costs of housing development. The large cost leaves little incentive for developers to build affordable housing.

In addition to the usual risks of redevelopment, cleaning up contaminated sites can be a complex process with considerable risk. The cost and time associated with cleaning up a site is often poorly understood; as a result, many sites are left vacant or underused for years, even decades. Supporting cleanups for affordable housing helps make sure the cleanup gets done, protecting the community’s health and the environment. Ecology developed the Affordable Housing Cleanup Grant Program (AHCGP) to help advance environmental cleanups for affordable housing developments. These grants can cover remedial action costs, including planning, investigative, and technical work needed to clean up contaminated sites. The purpose of the AHCGP is to expedite the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites into affordable housing use and lessen the impact of cleanup costs.

Ecology will consider all comments received and may amend the documents based on your comments. After that, the Agreed Order and Public Participation Plan will be finalized, and the formal cleanup will begin.  A Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study will then be completed. Results from the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study will lead to a Cleanup Action Plan. Drafts of the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study as well as the Cleanup Action Plan will be available for public review and comment.

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.

When Ecology receives information that a property may pose a threat to human health or the environment, an Initial Investigation is conducted. This information may come to Ecology from the owner of the property making a required notification, or may come in the form of a complaint, through the Environmental Report Tracking System. The goal of this investigation is to determine if there was a release that requires further action.
 
During the course of an Initial Investigation, Ecology oversees an environmental review of the conditions at the property and any available data. The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) mandates that Ecology track any site that is suspected or confirmed to be contaminated with hazardous materials.