Frederickson Industrial Park

The Frederickson Industrial Park site is located at 18001 Canyon Road East, in Puyallup. From 1935 to 1976, many different owners produced explosives on the site. Between 1976 and 1986, the site was used for timber cutting, a lumber mill, and log storage. Since 1990, the site has been used to make aircraft parts.

Site groundwater is contaminated with carbon tetrachloride (CTC). In the past, CTC was used as a cleaning solvent or in fire control. Cleanup is important because CTC can be harmful to human health and the environment.

In 1995, Ecology identified former property owners Mallinckrodt US, LLC (Mallinckrodt) and Olin Corporation (Olin) as the potentially liable persons (PLPs) responsible for cleaning up the site.

Past Cleanup:

The PLPs and other owners conducted many studies and partial cleanup actions during the past 25 years. These included:

• Studying soil, groundwater, and soil vapor.
• Removing soil, waste, and debris.
• Treating groundwater.
• Monitoring groundwater. In 1999, samples showed that CTC levels around the site were low enough that there was no risk to human health through vapor intrusion. Vapor intrusion is when chemicals move from soil and groundwater into air in buildings.

In 2000, more studies showed the contaminant plume reaching well water supplies for nearby homes and businesses. By 2007, public water service was brought into the area near the plume and properties with private wells were connected to the public supply.

As a result, there is very little risk of human exposure to the contamination.

Recent groundwater samples show:

• The area of contaminated groundwater (called a plume) getting smaller.
• The contamination level decreasing.

Because cleanup is now happening naturally, the Cleanup Action Plan (CAP) calls for cleaning up remaining CTC by natural processes (called natural attenuation). Under the cleanup plan:

• PLPs will conduct groundwater monitoring to make sure CTC keeps decreasing.
• Ecology and the PLPs will mail information to properties above the plume at least every five years. Ecology will also send a mailing 1.5 to 2 years prior to the first periodic review.
• The current property owner will record an environmental covenant that prohibits the use of contaminated groundwater on the property.

New off-property groundwater wells are prohibited unless approved by Tacoma Water (the site is in the Pierce County Urban Growth Area).

Ecology held a public comment period on proposed cleanup plans from January 23 - February 24, 2014. The following documents were available for review:

• An Agreed Order — a legal agreement that requires the Olin Corporation (Olin) and Mallinckrodt US, LLC (Mallinckrodt) to clean up the site. Exhibits to the Agreed Order include:
  • The Cleanup Action Plan (CAP)-- outlines the cleanup.
  • A Compliance Monitoring Work Plan -- tells how, where, and when groundwater sampling will be done.
• A Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) — describes the nature and extent of contamination and compares cleanup options.  
• A Public Participation Plan — describes the tools Ecology will use to inform the public and gather feedback.

Ecology received no comments during the comment period. The PLPs will now do the monitoring described in the CAP and work plan.

• Comment period fact sheet

Ecology held an open house on the Frederickson Industrial Park cleanup plans on February 5, 2014. The open house was held at the Frederickson Elementary School. Site Manager Guy Barrett provided a presentation on the site's cleanup and staff were available to answer questions.