Boeing Field Chevron

Updated February 2020

The Feasibility Study (see below) is underway.

In 2015, Ecology entered into an Agreed Order with Potentially Liable Persons or PLPs (Chevron and the current property owner) to investigate and develop a cleanup action plan for the site.  

The Agreed Order describes the work that the PLPs agree to perform on the site. Under this legal agreement, the PLPs are required to complete the following:

• Remedial Investigation (RI). The purpose of the RI is to define the nature and extent of contamination at the site and to determine if it is contributing to the sediment contamination in the Lower Duwamish Waterway. During the RI, the PLPs will collect data necessary to adequately characterize the contamination in soil, groundwater, stormwater, and sediments. 
• Feasibility Study (FS). The FS will use the results of the RI to evaluate and choose measures to cleanup contamination and prevent recontamination of the sediment. 
• Draft Cleanup Action Plan (DCAP). Ecology will identify a preferred cleanup action based on the results of the FS.

What happens next?

Ecology is working with the PLPs to complete the RI and move forward with the FS. The next opportunity for public comment will be when the Draft Final RI Report is ready for review.

Why this cleanup matters

This site is part of Ecology’s Lower Duwamish Waterway source control efforts, because it is within 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 Boeing Chevron 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.

Site location

The Site is located between Pacific Highway South and East Marginal Way, immediately south of the South Boeing Access Road. The Site is located approximately 250 feet east of the Duwamish River and approximately 1/2 mile southwest of Boeing Field. 
Final site boundaries will be defined by the extent of contamination determined during the remedial investigation.  
The Lower Duwamish Waterway drainage basin is divided into source control areas. This site is located within the Norfolk Combined Sewer Overflow/ Storm Drain Basin Early Action Area source control area along the east bank of the river at river mile 4.9.

Site history

The Boeing Field Chevron facility has operated as a gasoline station since 1940. Standard Oil and Chevron operated the Site from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s. 

The site currently includes underground storage tanks with associated pump islands and dispensers, a car wash and a mini-mart building.

Contamination

In soil and groundwater:

•Diesel and gasoline-range hydrocarbons
•Light Non-aqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPLs)
•BenzeneTolueneEthylbenzeneXylenes


Previous cleanup work

Chevron reported releases of gasoline to Ecology in 1990 and 1996 associated with the former underground storage tanks (USTs). As a result, Chevron removed eleven USTs, three pump islands, the former service station building, and about 2,500 cubic yards of petroleum contaminated soils (PCS) from the site between 1990 and 1996.

Some soil and groundwater with petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations above MTCA cleanup levels remained on the site. In 2003 Chevron reported a new release of gasoline. Some chemicals from the different releases are co-mingled.

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) over a variable timeline.