Facility Site ID: 1884322 Cleanup Site ID: 2146

A Puget Sound Initiative site - Reaching the goal of a healthy, sustainable Puget Sound.

Background

From the 1890s to the early 1980s, the Weyerhaeuser Mill A site was used primarily for sawmill and pulp mill operations. The site is located at 3500 Terminal Avenue at the Port of Everett’s South Terminal.  

A range of historical industrial activities were performed including pulp manufacturing, saw milling, ship building, shingle milling and log handling. While operating as a sulfite pulp mill, the facility produced approximately 300 tons of pulp per day. Some of the waste materials from this production contributed to the contamination of the site. All pulping operations at the site ceased in 1980. The Port of Everett (the Port) purchased the property in 1983 and currently uses the site for break bulk and container cargo handling. Samples collected from adjacent marine sediments were found to contain a large volume of wood waste as well as contaminants including metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phenols and dioxins/furans. Upland contaminants include metals, PAHs, petroleum and several semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs).

Status

The Site is in the early stages of the cleanup process:

  • January-March 2010: The Port conducts the initial phase of an Independent Upland Source and Groundwater Investigation.
  • August 2012: Ecology enters into an Agreed Order (AO) with the Potentially Liable Persons (PLPs) – the Port, Weyerhaeuser Company (Weyerhaeuser) and Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
  • March 2016: A draft AO for an Interim Action (IA) and draft Public Participation Plan are released for public review and comment. The PLPs to this AO are the Port and Weyerhaeuser.
  • August 2016: An interim cleanup action in a portion of the in-water area began to remove contaminated sediment and wood debris to increase navigational access to the terminal.

Additional information on the work accomplished to-date is provided below.
 
Independent Upland Source and Groundwater Investigation (January 2010)

In January 2010, the Port of Everett conducted the initial phase of an Independent Upland Source and Groundwater Investigation to evaluate potential contamination at the site that may have resulted from historical uses of the property. This independent investigation was conducted in coordination with Ecology who provided technical assistance in the form of review and comment on the Site investigation work plan. A report documenting the results of the upland investigation was provided to Ecology in March 2010.

Agreed Order (August 2012)

This first agreed order for the site is a legal document between Ecology and the PLPs – the Port, Weyerhaeuser and DNR. The 2012 agreed order outlines the agreement to provide remedial action at the Site where there has been a release or threatened release of hazardous substances. Notice of this agreed order was provided in June 2012. 

The 2012 agreed order describes the studies that the PLPs agree to perform on the site and covers the following studies and documents:

  • Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) – Explains the work needed to identify and analyze contamination at the site.
  • Draft Cleanup Action Plan – Uses the RI/FS to identify a preferred cleanup action and a schedule to remove and treat the contamination at the site.

Draft Agreed Order for an Interim Action (March 2016)

The second Agreed Order for the site is a legal document between Ecology, the Port and Weyerhaeuser. This Agreed Order is for a proposed interim cleanup action in the in-water area (off-shore of Pacific Terminal). An Interim Action is a remedial action required to partially address cleanup of the site. Action will take place during the 2016/2017 in-water work window as allowed by the Army Corps of Engineers permit for the project.

The Interim Action will remove contaminated sediment and wood debris identified at the site and increase navigational access to Pacific Terminal. This work includes dredging, transport and disposal of contaminated sediment and wood debris to an approved landfill facility. Dredged material suitable for open water disposal will be placed on a disposal barge and transported to the open water disposal site. The action also includes installing armor and habitat mix (rounded sand and gravel materials) along areas where a temporary side slope remains. Further details regarding the technical elements of the Interim Action can be found in Exhibit B (Interim Action Work Plan) of the Agreed Order. An Interim Action report, documenting the cleanup actions taken, will be written following the action and evaluated as a part of the final cleanup action for the site as identified in the 2012 Agreed Order.

Legal 8
Public Information 5
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Weyerhaeuser Mill A Responsiveness Summary to Public Comments June 2016 6/22/2016 Responsiveness Summary
Fact Sheet (Agreed Order DE 13119) - March 2016 2/23/2016 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Public Participation Plan (Mill A) - March 2016 2/23/2016 Public Participation Plan
Fact Sheet (Agreed Order DE 8979) - May 2012 5/30/2012 Fact Sheet\Public Notices
Public Participation Plan (Mill A) - May 2012 5/30/2012 Public Participation Plan
Technical Reports 14
Document Title Document Date Document Type
Response to September 29, 2023 Weyerhaeuser Company Letter 11/13/2023 Site Specific Administrative Document - other (Administrative correspondence)
Work Plan Addendum No 6 for Additional Upland Area Soil and Groundwater Sample Collection and Analysis at the Weyerhaeuser Mill A Former Site 10/1/2019 Remedial Investigation Work Plan
Letter Summarizing Upland RI Data Report Discussions on March 27, 2019 4/1/2019 Site Specific Administrative Document - other (Administrative correspondence)
Ecology response letter to comments submitted by Weyerhaeuser on a draft Agreed Order for Interim Action at the Port of Everett's South Terminal Berth 1. 1/30/2019 Site Specific Administrative Document - other (Administrative correspondence)
Work Plan Addendum No. 4 for Additional Marine Area Sediment Sample Collection and Analysis at the Weyerhaeuser Mill A Former Site 9/5/2018 Remedial Investigation Work Plan
Work Plan Addendum No. 5 for Additional Upland Area Sulfide Sample Collection and Analysis at the Weyerhaeuser Mill A Former Site 8/31/2018 Remedial Investigation Work Plan
Work Plan Addendum No. 3 for Additional Groundwater Sampling from Selected Wells and Analysis Using Reductive Precipitation Method at the Former Mill A Site. 7/12/2018 Remedial Investigation Work Plan
Notification of Well Decommissioning at Mill A Cleanup Site 4/6/2018 Site Specific Technical Document - other
Construction Completion (As-Built) Report. Weyerhaeuser Mill A Former Cleanup Site Interim Action 1/16/2018 Interim Action Documents
Work Plan Addendum No. 2 for Geochronology Sampling and Analysis at the Former Mill A Marine Area 1/20/2017 Remedial Investigation Work Plan
Work Plan Addendum No. 1 for Follow-up Sample Collection and Testing at the Former Mill A Marine Area. 9/1/2016 Remedial Investigation Work Plan
Final Interim Action Work Plan (Mill A) - August 2015 8/14/2015 Interim Action Documents
Stage 1 Upland Source and Groundwater Investigation Data Report (Mill A) - March 2010 3/24/2010 Initial Investigation Report
Data Report Former Mill A MTCA Support Sample Collection (Mill A) - November 2007 11/1/2007 Site Specific Technical Document - other
There may be more documents related to this site. To obtain documents not available electronically, you will need to make a public records request.

Places to see print documents

  • Headquarters
    300 Desmond Dr SE
    Lacey, 98503
    Please schedule an appointment to view print documents at this location.

Contaminants 14

Contaminant Type
Soil
Groundwater
Surface Water
Air
Sediment
Bedrock
Metals - Metals Priority Pollutants C
Metals - Metals - Other C C
Halogenated Organics - Polychlorinated biPhenyls (PCB) C
Non-Halogenated Organics - Petroleum Products-Unspecified S
Non-Halogenated Organics - Phenolic Compounds C
Non-Halogenated Organics - Non-Halogenated Solvents S
Halogenated Organics - Dioxins/Furans C
Non-Halogenated Organics - Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons C
Metals - Arsenic C
Non-Halogenated Organics - Organotins S
Other Contaminant - Bioassay Benthic Failures C
Other Contaminant - Other Deleterious Substances C
Halogenated Organics - Other Halogenated Organics C C
Non-Halogenated Organics - Petroleum-Gasoline C C
S
Suspected
C
Confirmed Above Cleanup Levels
B
Below Cleanup Levels
RA
Remediated-Above
RB
Remediated-Below
R
Remediated
This contaminant list was based on our best information at the time it was entered. It may not reflect current conditions at the site.