Metro Lake Union

The Metro Lake Union cleanup site is located along the north shore of Lake Union in a mixed-use neighborhood.  The Site generally consists of three areas, including two tax parcels and the public right-of-way (ROW) between the two tax parcels. The two parcels are referred to as the North Yard and the South Yard.

Starting in 1925, the Site was operated as a bulk petroleum fueling terminal by Standard Oil, which later became Chevron Products Company. The South Yard formerly contained a warehouse, two docks, and a former railroad spur, and the North Yard formerly contained aboveground storage tanks for petroleum products, transfer piping, loading racks, and various small buildings. Piping extended under the South Yard docks to a pump vault near the warehouse, then underground to the North Yard tank farm. The South Yard and likely the ROW are located on fill that was placed to extend the shoreline, the majority of which was placed between approximately 1907 and 1919.

King County Department of Transportation Metro Transit Division (Metro) purchased the Site in 1982. From 1982 to 1992, Metro used the Site for diesel fueling operations. Metro reportedly decommissioned the fueling equipment in 1992. In 1999, Metro and Chevron entered into a consent decree (CD) with Ecology (99-2-0865511-1SEA).

Metro currently owns the South Yard property, which is leased to the Center for Wooden Boats. In 2009, Metro sold the North Yard property to Touchstone NLU, LLC following negotiation of a prospective purchaser consent decree (PPCD). This 2007 PPCD required a limited cleanup of contaminated soils within the North Yard property line, while the 1999 CD requires cleanup of soils throughout the Site including outside of the North Yard property line and groundwater cleanup of the entire Site (North and South Yards).

In 2016, the Touchstone NLU section of the Site (North Yard) was given a No Further Action determination for soils within the North Yard. Ecology determined that the requirements of the 2007 PPCD had been satisfied and the PPCD was dismissed. The 1999 CD remains in effect for soils outside of the North Yard and groundwater throughout the Site.

The potential for hazardous substances in the sediments in Lake Union, and any necessary cleanup, were specifically excluded from the CD. It is unknown whether sediments have been impacted by historical Site operations and releases.

A periodic review is conducted about every five years after a cleanup action when institutional controls are used as part of the remedy. The purpose of the periodic review is to make sure the controls remain effective, and the cleanup still protects human health and the environment. The 2023 Periodic Review  findings included the following:

• An updated vapor intrusion assessment is warranted to ensure the remedy is protective of building occupants on the North Yard property.
• Groundwater cleanup levels have not been met at the conditional point of compliance for one or more of the last five monitoring events for arsenic (most wells), benzene (well AGI-2), and lead (well MLU-3).
• Trend analysis should be incorporated into future monitoring reports in order to evaluate the performance of the remedy over time. A restoration timeframe should be estimated so it can be determined when/if contingency actions might be necessary (if the remedy is not performing as intended). Wells should be sampled for diesel- and gasoline-range TPH to confirm that these are not groundwater COCs, and because groundwater concentrations are used as a compliance metric for the soil remedy.
• The condition and location of well MW-14 should be verified during the next sampling event, and the surface monument of well MW-22 must be repaired.
• Since the CD and PPCD excluded the characterization or cleanup of any potentially contaminated sediments, the selected remedy may not be protective of sediments.

What's In My Neighborhood shows contamination cleanup sites in Washington state. Ecology works to clean up these sites to protect the health of people and the environment. Cleanups are construction projects that remove, treat, or contain potentially harmful substances.

To report an environmental problem or concern, any time, day or night, use the online reporting form.

Counties: Island, King, Kitsap, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom
Email: nwroerts@ecy.wa.gov
Phone: 206-594-0000

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