Eatonville Landfill

The legal agreement, Agreed Order DE 20072 (AO DE 20072), for planning cleanup of the former Eatonville Landfill site has been signed. The Town of Eatonville (Eatonville) is the only potentially liable person (PLP) subject to this Agreed Order. 

The Agreed Order is about cleanup of hazardous substances at the landfill. It requires Eatonville to complete a Remedial Investigation (RI) Work Plan and RI report. The RI report identifies the type of contamination and where it is found at the Site. The Agreed Order also requires Eatonville to complete a Feasibility Study (FS) that compares alternative cleanup methods. Eatonville will use the information in the RI/FS to complete a preliminary draft cleanup action plan describing which method will be used to cleanup the Site. Ecology will use the preliminary plan to prepare the draft Cleanup Action Plan (dCAP). 

A fact sheet briefly summarizes information about the Site and AO DE 20072. 

Ecology held a comment period from August 26 to September 26, 2021, inviting comment on AO DE 20072 and the public participation plan.  The public participation plan describes how we inform the community about cleanup at the Site. Three comments were received during the comment period. The responsiveness summary provides our responses to those comments. 

The Site is about 3.5 miles west of the Town of Eatonville. The landfill is located on a property that is about two acres in size and covers about a quarter of the parcel. The landfill is on a very steep slope.  

Eatonville leased the property from Weyerhaeuser from about 1950 until about 1980 for use as a landfill. Municipal solid waste, appliances, car parts, empty drums, tires, and other waste were disposed of at the Site and waste burning occurred there. 

The Nisqually State Park surrounds the landfill. The state plans to develop recreational facilities in the area where the landfill is located. 

The Nisqually Indian Tribe holds fishing, hunting, and gathering rights in the Nisqually watershed and the area around the landfill is culturally important to them.

There is a wetland at the base of the landfill. Water from the wetland flows about a quarter mile to the Mashel River. A major tributary of the Nisqually River, the Mashel River provides critical spawning and rearing habitat for Fall Chinook salmon and steelhead. 

Ecology placed the site on the Confirmed and Suspected Contaminated Sites List in 2020.

Known hazardous substances at the site:

• Metals (iron, lead, zinc) have contaminated water to levels above water quality standards. The contamination was found in wetland water at the base of the landfill. 

Suspected hazardous substances that may have contaminated surface water, sediment, and/or groundwater:

• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).
• Petroleum products.
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Results from Remedial Investigation sampling will determine what contaminants are present at the site. 

Once the RI/FS and dCAP are complete, the reports will be available for public review and comment before the reports are finalized.

When the dCAP is finalized, it becomes the Cleanup Action Plan (CAP). The CAP will be implemented under a separate legal agreement that will be available for public review and comment.