Rainier Mall

Información del Sitio | Thông Tin Địa Điểm | 清理工作站信息

Ecology hosted a public comment period from March 18 – April 16, 2022 to get input on the following cleanup documents for the site.

• Prospective Purchaser Consent Decree (PPCD) –  legal agreement that directs the purchaser to implement cleanup at the Site, and provides the purchaser a settlement of liability. This Site has two PPCDs, one with Community Roots Housing and the other with Rainier & Genesee Property LLC.
• Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study Report (RI/FS) –The RI describes the nature and extent of contamination at the Site, and the FS evaluates cleanup alternatives and recommends a preferred cleanup alternative.
• Draft Cleanup Action Plan (dCAP) – Ecology’s plan that describes the cleanup work to address contamination at the Site.
• State Environmental Policy Act – Determination of Non-Significance (SEPA) – Ecology’s determination that the cleanup work is not likely to harm the environment.
• Public Participation Plan – document explaining how the public can participate in the cleanup
  process

The Rainier Mall Site is in the Mt. Baker neighborhood of Seattle, mostly on a 2.3-acre King County parcel at 4208 Rainier Avenue South.

Rainier & Genesee Property LLC is in a purchase agreement to redevelop this area. Community Roots Housing has signed a Letter of Intent as a partner in building a mix of affordable and market rate apartments.  The completed development will include approximately 380 units with over 50% of the units affordable. The space will include 32,000 sq ft of retail at the ground level as well. 

Operations from the former drycleaners and the use of creosote treated timber piles led to contaminated soil and groundwater at the Site. During the remedial investigation, the following contaminants of concern (COCs) were identified at the Site above the state cleanup levels:             

• trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (trans-1,2-DCE)
• Vinyl chloride (VC)
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Perchloroethylene (PCE)
• Trichloroethene (TCE)
• cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DC)

These contaminants were found at levels that exceed allowable standards under the state’s cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA Chapter 70.015D RCW), and therefore must be addressed during the cleanup action.  

Ecology’s purpose in conducting a Site Hazard Assessment (SHA) is to identify the hazardous substance(s) and environmental characteristics associated with the site. In addition, Ecology evaluates the potential threat to human health and the environment, assigning a rank from 1 to 5, with 1 being most hazardous and 5 being the least. The rank is relative to other assessed sites in Washington. An SHA was conducted at this site on July 15, 2019 and it was assigned the rank of 2.