8801 E Marginal Way S

Updated February 2021


Ecology hosted a public comment period from January 25 – February 9, 2021 to get input on the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist and Determination of Non-Significance (DNS)  This comment period is now closed.

The SEPA checklist and DNS are part of the Interim Action occurring at the site. The project will address upland contamination by historic industrial operations. Proposed cleanup actions for soil and groundwater remediation include, excavation of hot-spots of contaminated soil throughout the site, removal of PCB containing caulk, injection of an edible and non-toxic emulsified soybean oil mixture and bacteria to enhance the natural breakdown of volatile organic compounds, expansion of an air sparge / soil vapor extraction system, and institutional controls.

Site location

This site is located in an industrial area on the east bank of the Lower Duwamish Waterway in Tukwila. It includes the upland area and the sediments in the Lower Duwamish Waterway next to the upland area. The upland area consists of about 25 acres of paved property, and about 1/4 of the property is covered by buildings. The upland area is bordered to the north by the Boeing Isaacson Thompson cleanup site, and to the south by property owned by Container Properties, LLC (formerly the Rhone-Poulenc cleanup site) and the Museum of Flight Foundation. It is bordered to the east by East Marginal Way S and King County Regional Airport, and to the west by the Lower Duwamish Waterway.

The Lower Duwamish Waterway drainage basin is divided into source control areas. This site is located within the Slip 6 (river mile 3.9-4.3) source control area along the east bank of the river.






 Site history

In 1929, Fisher Body Corporation built the main manufacturing building to assemble trucks. During World War II, Boeing used the facility to build airplane assemblies.

In 1946 Kenworth Motor Truck Corporation, a PACCAR Inc (PACCAR) subsidiary, bought the property which is now the northern two thirds of the cleanup site.

In 1966, PACCAR bought what is now the southern third of the property from the Monsanto Company, which had operated a chemical manufacturing facility there.

PACCAR built trucks on site from 1946 until 2002 when it decommissioned the facility.

Merrill Creek Holdings LLC (Merrill Creek Holdings) owned the property from 2004 to 2014 when it was purchased by CenterPoint. It is currently rented out to Auto Auctions, Inc. but is in the planning stages to be redeveloped late this year.



Contamination

Contamination on the upland portion of this site is attributed to heavy industrial use since the 1920s. Soil or groundwater is contaminated with:

•Petroleum hydrocarbons
•Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
•Volatile and semi volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs)
•Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
•Metals (primarily arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, and lead)


Previous Cleanup Work

In the uplands, PACCAR completed several independent investigations and cleanup activities from 1986-2006. These included groundwater monitoring, studies of tidal influences, removal of soil and underground storage tanks, storm drain cleaning, and soil and groundwater sparging treatment to remove volatile organic compounds. Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. also installed storm water quality improvements under a water quality permit.

In 2008, PACCAR and Merrill Creek Holdings entered into a legal agreement with Ecology to investigate and cleanup contamination in the upland portion of the Site. The Agreed Order was amended to replace Merrill Creek Holdings with the new property owner, Centerpoint, in 2017.

In 2006, Ecology entered into an Agreed Order with PACCAR Inc. to investigate sediment contamination at the site. They submitted a Sediment Evaluation Data Report in 2009

Why this cleanup matters

This site is part of Ecology’s Lower Duwamish Waterway source control efforts because it is contributing pollution the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW) Superfund Site. The 5-mile stretch of the Duwamish River that flows north into Elliot Bay was added to the Superfund National Priorities List by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001. The sediments (mud) in the river contain a wide range of contaminants due to decades of industrial activity and runoff from urban areas. EPA is leading efforts to clean up the river sediments. Ecology is leading efforts to control sources of contamination from the surrounding land area. The long-term goal is to minimize recontamination of the river sediment and restore water quality in the river. The 8801 E Marginal Way Site is one of several sites that will be cleaned up as part of Ecology’s Source Control Strategy – controlling sources of pollution to the river. Contaminants in the soil and groundwater around the river pose a risk to human health and the environment. They can also find their way into the river through storm runoff and other pathways. For more information, visit our Source Control page.

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA; Chapter 70.105D RCW 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.