Bruce Titus Nissan Dealers

The Bruce Titus Nissan facility is located at 4030 South Tacoma Way in Tacoma. The Bruce Titus Nissan dealership was constructed in 1989 and continues to operate as an automobile dealership and service center.

The site is bordered to the north by a veterinary clinic and additional parking for the Titus Nissan operation, followed by a vacant used car lot; to the west by railroad tracks followed by undeveloped land; to the south by a machine design and manufacturing facility; to the southeast by a used car lot; and to the east by South Tacoma Way followed by a new and used car dealership.

Site History

Since 1989, a car dealership and service center has operated on the property.  An investigation conducted in 2001 showed a number of potential environmental impacts at the site. As a result, another investigation was conducted in 2002, using soil borings and monitoring wells. Results of the investigation showed no soil contamination, but the groundwater was contaminated with Trichloroethylene, Chloroform, 1,2 Dichloropropane, and Bromodichloromethane.

Because soil on the site was not contaminated, we believe that the groundwater contamination was coming from the adjacent South Tacoma Field (a Superfund site) property to the south.

How was the site cleaned up?

Since soils on the site were not contaminated, and the groundwater contamination was coming from off-site sources, no cleanup actions occurred at the Titus Nissan site. Instead, a determination of No Further Action (NFA) for groundwater was issued on the condition that an environmental covenant was put in place. The environmental covenant was recorded in December 2002.

What does the environmental covenant do?

The covenant prohibits activities that could result in the release of or human exposure to, contaminants that remain at the site. In the case of the Titus Nissan site, it primarily prohibits any use or release of groundwater at the site. It requires that current and future property owners maintain these protective measures and inform anyone leasing the property about the possible presence of contamination.

An interim NFA for soils was issued in September 2002. A final NFA determination for soil will be issued once it is shown that groundwater beneath the site is no longer contaminated.

Ecology reviews cleanups at least every five years to make sure they still protect human health and the environment. We completed the second periodic review in summer, 2017. Based on the most recent review, the requirements of the environmental covenant remain protective. 

Ecology will do another periodic review after five years.