WA DOC Washington State Penitentiary

The 540-acre Washington Department of Corrections (WA DOC) Washington State Penitentiary (Site) opened as a prison in 1887. Various manufacturing and facility support activities have taken place since then, including jute manufacturing, metal fabrication, license plate production, garment production, furniture refinishing and upholstery, welding, vehicle repair and maintenance, medical and dental laboratories, photo processing, dry cleaning, road sign production, and facility power production.

Many of these activities involved the use of petroleum products and chemicals. In some cases, hazardous substances were not disposed of properly, leading to environmental contamination. The penitentiary currently manages and disposes of all chemicals in a legally compliant manner.

In 1992, Ecology received an anonymous complaint that chemicals from penitentiary activities may have been disposed of in a now-closed, eight-acre landfill outside the penitentiary fences.

Based on this, Ecology began investigating whether chemicals that could be harmful to human health and the environment had moved into soil or groundwater in and near the landfill. The City of Walla Walla tests the public drinking water supply regularly and has not found these chemicals.

Volatile organic compounds and metals were found in soil and groundwater around the penitentiary landfill and a former dry cleaning facility.

In 2009, Ecology entered into an Agreed Order with WA DOC to conduct a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study at the site. The remedial investigation gathered information to determine where and how much contamination is in soil and groundwater. The feasibility study evaluated various methods to clean up contamination.

The remedial investigation found volatile organic compounds and metals in soil and groundwater around the landfill and a former dry cleaning facility. The feasibility study evaluated three alternatives for cleaning up these areas:

• Alternative 1: Monitoring contaminants as they degrade naturally, prohibiting disturbance of contaminated soil through land use controls, improving the existing permeable soil landfill cover, maintaining the gravel cover around the former dry cleaning facility, and decommissioning an unused irrigation well.
• Alternative 2: All elements of Alternative 1 with the addition of a low permeability landfill cap instead of a soil and gravel cover and an asphalt cap over contaminated soil around the former dry cleaning facility.
• Alternative 3: Take no action.

Learn more about the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study

• Fact Sheet (English version)
• Fact Sheet (Spanish version)
• Fact Sheet (Russian version)
• Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Report (RI/FS)
• RI/FS Report Appendix H

Cleanup Action Plan

Using information from the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study, Ecology developed a draft Cleanup Action Plan, which was available for public review and comment April 14 through May 16, 2016. We received two comments to which we responded before finalizing the document without making further changes.

WA DOC will take the following actions to complete the final cleanup remedy:

• Analyze groundwater samples four times a year until contamination is below levels of concern 
• Prohibit disturbance of contaminated soil at the closed landfill and former dry cleaning facility with land use controls 
• Improve the existing permeable soil landfill cover 
• Install an asphalt cap over soil around the former dry cleaning facility 
• Decommission an unused irrigation well