State of Cleanup Report Washington State Department of Ecology Toxics Cleanup Program December 2002 Publication Number 02-09-043 This report is available on Department of Ecology’s home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0209043.html. For printed copies of this publication, please contact: Department of Ecology Publications Distribution Office P.O. Box 47600 Olympia, Washington, 98504-7600 (360) 407-7472 [email protected] Refer to Publication No. 02-09-043 The Department of Ecology is an equal opportunity agency and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, disability, age, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disabled veteran’s status, Vietnam-era veteran’s status, or sexual orientation. If you have special accommodation needs or require this document in alternative format, please contact Carol Dorn in the Toxics Cleanup Program at (360) 407-7224 (voice). The number for Ecology’s Teletypewriters (TTY) device for the deaf at Ecology Headquarters is (800) 833-6388 or dial 711. I appreciate the several contributions that made and completed this report. If you have questions about this report, please contact: Dawne Gardiska, Program Planner Toxics Cleanup Program (360) 407-7233 [email protected] Table of Contents Executive Summary Status of Current Cleanup Sites Facilitating Cleanups Challenges on the Horizon Financial Overview Reflections Introduction Purpose of this Report Purpose of the Toxics Cleanup Program Cleaning up Hazardous Waste Sites Changes in the Program Section One: Status of Current Cleanup Sites The Cleanup Process All Tracked Sites Ranked Sites and Trends High-Priority Sites Evolution of a Cleanup Program Two Priority Tracks Voluntary Cleanups Leaking Underground Storage Tanks New and Pending Sites Section Two: Facilitating Cleanups Remedial Action Grants Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Clean Sites Initiative Sediment Cleanup Sites Mega Sites Abandoned Mine Sites Innovative Technologies Section Three: Challenges on the Horizon Areas of Wide-spread Contamination Institutional Controls/Periodic Reviews UXO – Unexploded Ordnance Perchloroethylene (PCE or “Perc”) Contamination Stormwater and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs) Large-scale Public Works Projects Section Four: Financial Overview State and Local Toxics Control Accounts Expenditures and Revenue Staffing Levels EPA Operations/Maintenance Fund Lead Sites i Decline of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund Remedial Action Grants Section Five: Reflections A Systems Approach Moving from Remediation to Redevelopment Number of New Sites Continues to Grow Broadening the Cleanup Perspective Highest Priority of the Program Appendix One: All Report Maps State Cleanup Sites Tracked Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites Sediment Sampling Locations with Detected Chemical Contamination Clean Sites Initiative Location of Discharge Sites and Treatment Plant Outfalls Appendix Two: Types of Sites Appendix Three: Sediment Sites Appendix Four: Large-scale Public Works Projects Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs) Appendix Five: List of Remedial Action Grant recipients for the 2001-2003 Biennium Note: Unless otherwise noted, data, facts, numbers, information, etc. in this report have come from: • Agency Financial Reporting System • Toxics Cleanup Program Integrated Site Information System • Model Toxics Control Act Annual Reports • Toxic Cleanup Program Quarterly Reports • Sediment Cleanup Status Report April 2001 • “Superfund’s Future: What will it cost?” by Katherine N. Probst and David M. Konisky • Technical/Regulatory Guidelines for Phytotechnology Technical and Regulatory Guidance Document – April 2001 • “Counting Down to Zero”, article from Chemical and Engineering News • Superfund 20th Anniversary Report • Handbook on the Management of Ordnance and Explosives at Closed, Transferring, and Transferred Ranges and Other Sites (EPA) ii Executive Summary In March of 1989, an innovative, citizen-mandated law went into effect in Washington. It has been 14 years This law was passed by voters as Initiative 97, and changed the way hazardous waste since the citizens of sites are cleaned up in this state. The law is known as the Model Toxics Control Act Washington State (Chapter 70.105.D RCW), and from this, the Toxics Cleanup Program was developed. passed Initiative 97. This report is a review The Cleanup Process of the program and the state of cleanup in There are two primary ways sites get cleaned up: through a “formal” process; or, Washington. independently. Under the formal process, there are several steps to cleaning up a site. After a site is discovered, an initial investigation takes place which provides information to determine if the site needs emergency cleanup, additional investigation, or no further action. If further action is required, an assessment is conducted which may lead to ranking of the site. Ranking is done relative to other sites, and determines the relative risk the site may pose to human health and/or the environment. Sites are ranked to guide the program’s use of resources. The next step is a remedial investigation and a feasibility study to define the extent and magnitude of the contamination at a site. Potential effects on human health and the environment and alternatives for cleaning up the site are also evaluated. Public review and a comment period are required before a plan to clean up a site is finalized. Sites are also cleaned up independently, without any assistance, approvals, or guarantees from Ecology about the completeness of the work being done. These sites are usually cleaned up more quickly and at a lower cost for the owner. Status of Current Cleanup Sites Cleanup Progress When Ecology’s cleanup program was first established, only a few hundred sites had A “site” in the program could be a leak from an been identified. As of January 2002, over 9,000 contaminated sites or releases had underground storage been identified in Washington State. Initially, the program focus was on cleaning up tank, or it could be a the most contaminated sites in the state, and most of these have now been cleaned unit or collection of up. sites at a large facility. Status of All 9,076 Sites Cleanups Pending No Further Action Cleanups in 1,032 Progress 4,775 11% 3,269 36% 53% Figure 1 -- Cleanup Status of All Known and Suspected Contaminated Sites 1 Evolution of Cleanup The Toxics Cleanup Program focuses its attention on cleaning up sites that pose the greatest threat to public health or the environment. In addition to the sites where the program was formally involved with the cleanup, many cleanups statewide were proceeding independently of Ecology oversight. By 1993, the program had received notice of over 3,000 such independent cleanup actions along with requests for assistance. The program continued to focus on sites that posed the greatest risk, though at the same time, the environmental community and the program had concerns about the adequacy of sites cleaned up independently. It became clear the program needed to address these growing requests for assistance. In order to respond to these needs as well as maintain higher priority cleanups, Ecology developed the Voluntary Cleanup Program and established a fee to allow Ecology to recover its costs in reviewing and evaluating independent cleanup reports. Voluntary Cleanups Since October 1, 1997, changes in the state cleanup law allow the program to provide more assistance to persons conducting voluntary cleanups. The Voluntary Cleanup Program in Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program provides services to site owners or operators who initiate a cleanup of their contaminated site. Voluntary cleanups are continuing to grow in popularity, with the unintended consequence of competing resources for staff time with high-priority cleanups. Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Currently, Ecology regulates approximately 11,000 active tanks on over 4,000 different Currently, Ecology properties. The program emphasizes technical assistance to tank owners so that regulates approxi- owners can achieve compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s mately 11,000 active tanks on 4,000 Underground Storage Tank regulations. different properties. Over half of the cleanup sites in the state are from leaking underground storage Over half of the tank sites. The number of releases from these tanks has been steadily declining over cleanup sites in the the last several years, from a high of 963 releases in 1990, to 43 by mid 2002. From state are from leaking underground storage these releases, there is now an accumulation of over 2,500 sites in the process of being tank sites. cleaned up or waiting for cleanup. Facilitating Cleanups There are several ways to get sites cleaned up in the Toxics Cleanup Program. The following briefly describes a few of those ways with more detail later in this report. Remedial Action Grants Remedial Action Grants provide dollars to local governments to clean up contaminated sites. Cleaning up contaminated sites is increasingly becoming the first step in the economic redevelopment process in the State of Washington. These sites were once seen as undesirable. Now, land near city centers is in demand, and when cleanup occurs, valuable land is restored and available for reuse, leaving more land for parks and green space. Economic benefits of redevelopment can create jobs and even improve a community’s tax base. Approximately $20 million in grants are awarded to local governments each biennium.