Maralco

Last Updated: January 2024

Información en español
Impormasyon sa Tagalog
Có thông tin bằng tiếng Việt
내부 한국어 정보

Fact Sheet (October 2023): English  |  Español

Ecology held a public comment period from October 23 - November 21, 2023 to review a legal agreement called an Agreed Order with 7730 202nd Street, LLC (Owner), the Potentially Liable Person (PLP) for the Maralco cleanup site (Site) at 7730 S 202nd Street in Kent. The Agreed Order requires the Owner to address contamination at the Site.

Ecology did not receive any public comments on the following reviewable documents, so they are now final and remedial investigation work will continue.

• Agreed Order: legal document that requires the Owner to investigate environmental conditions, complete a Remedial Investigation (RI), Feasibility Study (FS), and a draft Cleanup Action Plan (dCAP).
• Public Participation Plan: describes how Ecology will inform the community about site activities and ways to become involved. 

The Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) 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.

October 23 - November 21, 2023:  Public comment period

End of 2023:  Public comments addressed and documents finalized

2024:  Phase 2 Interim Action Workplan 

2024:  Implementation of Remedial Investigation.

Each of the remaining cleanup process steps will require a public comment period. The graphic above shows these different stages of cleanup. Sometimes multiple stages occur in one public comment period.

This plan includes information for the public regarding opportunities to get involved in the cleanup process. The outreach activities and mechanisms presented reflect Ecology’s current plans for keeping the public informed and for receiving information and comments from the public.

Cleanup work at the Maralco site is currently underway through Ecology’s Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP), which provides technical help to owners of contaminated sites to fulfill the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) cleanup standards. 

 The Owner currently expects to have the stockpiles in the abandoned building and the outdoor dross pile removed by the end of 2023. 

Other VCP investigation and cleanup work completed through August 2023 included:

• Soil and groundwater sampling, including an assessment of soil conditions below the outdoor dross pile.
• Sediment sampling of the stormwater pond and the drainage ditch both on- and off-property.
• Reassessment of the outdoor dross pile volume.
• Assessment of former diesel source area and extent of metals contamination.
• Indoor stockpile measurement and sampling.

Future cleanup work will occur under the formal cleanup process.

The Owner plans to redevelop the property as a warehouse following the cleanup including:

• Demolition of all existing structures (some demolition will occur in conjunction with the cleanup).
• Construction of an approximate 178,700 square foot warehouse building with concrete and asphalt loading dock, roads, and parking area. 
• Installation of new stormwater facility and new utility connections.
• Portions of the western wetland and portions of the on-property ditch will be filled, and a new wetland will be created along the eastern portion of the property. 

Background
The Maralco Site is located at 7730 South 202nd Street in Kent, WA. The Owner recently purchased the approximately 12-acre property in the Kent industrial area. The property also includes a 45,000 square foot building near the western boundary that has been largely abandoned since 1986. The eastern portion of the property is covered by wetlands.

Maralco Aluminum Company, Inc. operated a secondary aluminum smelter from 1980 to 1986. The smelter produced aluminum ingots from recycled aluminum cans, Kawecki-Berylco, Inc. (KBI) dross, and scrap metal using the molten salt process. The wastes created from this process included black dross which is typically a mixture of aluminum and metals (primarily arsenic, barium, copper, and mercury) or “salt cake” (fluorides and chlorides).  Washed oxides (aluminum oxide) were produced when water soluble components of the dross (typically salts) were removed from the dross as part of re-processing. 

The smelting process generated approximately 50,000 tons of black dross.  Several waste piles remain on the property from the smelting operation (see photos to right). Other by-products such as the aluminum oxide were also stockpiled on the property and inside the smelter building. 

Contamination
Investigations through 2023 found the following contaminants of concern on the property: 

• Soil:  Metals, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) from diesel fuel
• Groundwater: Metals, TPH, chloride, fluoride, and ammonia
• Sediment:  Metals 

Maralco property aerial photo (2023)



Maralco property and wetlands (2023)



Abandoned smelter building (2023)



Maralco property aerial photo (1993)

Español
Hoja Informativa en Español - Octubre 2023

El Departamento de Ecología está anunciando el período de comentarios públicos relacionado a la limpieza ambiental del sitio Maralco. Para obtener este documento, o más información sobre este sitio en español, favor de comunicarse con Ian Fawley al 425-324-5901 o ian.fawley@ecy.wa.gov.

Tagalog
Ang Department of Ecology ay nag-aanunsyo ng panahon para sa isang pampublikong pagpapahayag na may kaugnayan sa paglilinis ng kapaligiran sa site ng Maralco. Para makakuha ng dokumentong ito o iba pang impormasyon tungkol sa site na ito sa Tagalog, pakisuyong kontakin si Ian Fawley ss 425-324-5901 o ian.fawley@ecy.wa.gov.

Tiếng Việt
Bộ Môi Sinh (Ecology) đang công bố thời gian lấy ý kiến công chúng liên quan đến việc tẩy nhiễm môi trường tại địa điểm Univar. Để truy cập tài liệu này bằng tiếng Việt, hoặc để biết thêm thông tin về địa điểm này bằng tiếng Việt, vui lòng liên lạc Liêm Nguyễn tại 360-790-4730 hoặc email liem.nguyen@ecy.wa.gov.


한국어
주 환경부는 유니바 현장 환경 정화와 관련된 공개 논평 기간을 공지합니다. 한국어로 된 문서나, 이 현장에 대한 한국어 정보를 원하시면 담당자 (Jintae Lee: 360-890-5596, jintae.lee@ecy.way.gov) 에게 연락하십시오.