Clean Care Corp

The 4.25-acre former CleanCare Corporation site (CleanCare) is located in the Tacoma Tideflats between the Blair and Hylebos Waterways.

From the 1960s to the 1970s, wastewater from oil recycling, petroleum tank-cleaning scales, and sludge were placed in a pond at a site adjacent to CleanCare. This oil pond was later filled with auto shredder fluff, lime, silty sand, and other materials.

CleanCare operated a treatment, storage, disposal, and recycling facility with four tank farms, two hazardous waste container storage pads, and a processing area.

The property is currently owned by Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer because tax payments were not made. CleanCare is now part of the larger Taylor Way and Alexander Avenue Fill Area cleanup site along with neighboring properties.

Over the years, there have been many spills and releases of petroleum, organic compounds, and other chemicals at CleanCare. In March 1999, about 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of oily waste spilled into the on-site storm drains. The wastes flowed off-site into the Lincoln Avenue ditch and into Blair Waterway. In July 1999, Ecology issued a $486,000 penalty against CleanCare. CleanCare ceased business operations and closed its doors in November 1999.

Soil samples at the site and neighboring properties show:

• Wood debris from nearby forest product industries, in some places as great as 10 feet thick
• Pulverized or fragmented auto debris (“auto shredder fluff”)
• Lime solvent sludge

Site soil is contaminated with:

• Arsenic
• Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Benzene
• Toluene
• Ethylbenzene

Groundwater is contaminated with:

• Metals including arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury
• Gasoline, diesel, and oil
• Semi volatile compounds
• Volatile organic compounds

Ecology asked the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team to collect data and remove dangerous waste from the abandoned site. EPA

• Transported 3,630 drums offsite for disposal
• Transferred 2 million gallons of liquid waste material from above ground storage tanks offsite for disposal
• Removed 19 temporary above ground storage tanks
• Demolished 4 large above ground storage tanks
• Capped three areas of the site with asphalt

EPA returned responsibility for the CleanCare site to Ecology in 2000.