Protecting the Puget Sound Environment
$ ® \
\Wj Environmental Progress in the
\Pno^ Puget Sound Basin
Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Bellingham, and Bremerton are all major cities located on Puget
Sound. Puget Sound also encompasses Bainbridge Island and the San Juan Islands, the Tacoma
Narrows and Hood Canal, where clam flats and crab pots are plentiful. The waters of Puget Sound
are used for a variety of water sports and its shores support a number of active ports, beaches and
recreational facilities. People living in the Puget Sound area consider the environment an
important part of the high quality of life they enjoy and consider pollution to be of great concern.
However, some business and industrial practices as well as urban and even rural land use practices
have caused environmental pollution in Puget Sound.
This brochure will focus on hazardous and solid waste management and cleanups and how these
cleanups impact the communities' current and future land use. It will briefly explain how the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is involved in these efforts, and where these efforts are
making a difference in Puget Sound.

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EPA Reaion 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101 • 1-800-424-4EPA • Alaska • Idaho • Oregon • Washinqton
April 1994

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Managing Hazardous Waste
It became clear, in the mid-1970s, to Congress and the nation alike, that action had to be taken to ensure
that hazardous wastes are properly managed. Two major federal laws govern proper management of
wastes and discarded chemicals, as well as cleanup of spills and releases of these materials. These two
laws are the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental,
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, commonly called Superfund).
The goals set by RCRA are:
•	To protect human health and
the environment;
•	To reduce waste and
conserve energy and natural
resources;
•	To reduce or eliminate the
generation of hazardous
waste as expeditiously as
possible; and
•	To manage hazardous waste
from "cradle to grave."
The RCRA program works in
conjunction with owners and
operators of facilities. There
are three active programs under
RCRA:
1.	Subtitle D - States are
encouraged to develop
comprehensive plans to
manage primarily
nonhazardous solid wastes.
2.	Subtitle C - Business and
industry must establish a
system for controlling
hazardous waste from the
"cradle to grave."
3.	Subtitle I - Regulating
certain underground storage
tanks (UST) establishing
performance standards for
new tanks, requiring leak
detection, prevention and
corrective action at
underground tank sites. This
program protects drinking
water and ensures explosion
hazards are addressed
quickly.
RCRA was enacted in 1976 to
address a problem of enormous
magnitude - how to safely
manage and dispose of huge
volumes of municipal and
industrial waste generated
nationwide. This problem arose
through a combination of
greatly increased industrial
production and waste
generation, and widespread
mismanagement of toxic
wastes. Through RCRA, a
national policy was established:
"that, wherever feasible, the
generation of hazardous waste
is to be reduced or eliminated
as expeditiously as possible.
Waste that is nevertheless
generated should be treated,
stored or disposed of so as to
minimize the present and future
threat to human health and the
environment."
The hazardous waste, or
Subtitle C, component of the
RCRA program is applicable to
persons who generate, transport,
or manage hazardous waste.
The Subtitle C program is based
on a hierarchy of approaches to
reducing the risk from
hazardous or toxic wastes.
Elements of this hierachy
include pollution prevention,
waste management and control,
and cleanup or corrective action
to address releases of hazardous
waste. EPA knows that the best
way to manage risks from
hazardous waste is not to
generate it in the first place.
Thus, pollution prevention is
EPA's preferred tool to address
waste management. For waste
that must be generated, the
Subtitle C program insures that
the waste is responsibly
managed. Finally, when spills
or releases of hazardous waste
do occur through accidents or
mismanagement, the Subtitle C
program can require owner/
operators to clean up such
releases.
EPA Region 10's Approach to Waste Management
Tier 3
Pollution
Prevention
7 ier 2:
Management & Control
Tier I:
Clean-ups

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Protecting the Environment through Responsible Waste Management
RCRA is intended to protect the environment through responsible waste management. Although many
RCRA requirements have to do with reporting, recordkeeping and planning, some have easy-to-see
results. The following before-and-after photographs illustrate changes required by RCRA at a waste
management facility. Things to look for include:
•	Sufficient room between drums to allow access for routine inspection and leak detection.
•	Access for emergency response, such as fire equipment, including requirements for traffic patterns.
•	Cleanup of stains and spills. Requirements for facility maintenance, spill response, secondary
containment and run-off control.
•	Security and safety requirements, such as a fence around the entire facility.
Before Waste Management Changes.	After Waste Management Changes.
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The Underground Storage Tank Problem
Excavation Underway To Remove Leaking Underground
Storage Tank
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Removed
Underground storage tanks, frequently found at
service stations near residential neighborhoods,
have proven to be an enormous environmental
problem. As of 1990, there were about 1.4
million underground storage tanks nationwide,
mostly storing petroleum products and retail
motor fuels. In 1986, EPA estimated that these
tanks were leaking at a rate of about 2.2 million
gallons per day. These leaks can easily
contaminate drinking water supplies; as little as
one gallon of gasoline can contaminate a
million gallons of drinking water. Most
underground storage tank regulations are
preventative in nature. They include requirements
addressing:
•	Design, construction and installation
•	General safe operating practices
•	Release detection and reporting system
•	Cleanup and corrective action; and
•	Closure and financial assurance
In the state of Washington, almost 39,000
underground storage tanks are registered, with at
least 10% (3,696) having confirmed leaks. In the
state of Washington, cleanup has been started at
3,339 sites and the cleanup has already been
completed at about one-third of them (1,301).
New leaks are being reported at a rate of over one
per day.
In Kitsap County a leak from an abandoned
service station contaminated the well of a nearby
resident and perhaps several others who will need
to obtain alternative drinking water supplies if
they are going to remain in their homes. The
resident was given bottled water, and will
continue to use bottled water until the situation is
resolved. Arrangements are being made with the
local water company to connect this resident to
the nearest water main and the State must find a
way to get the connection from the water main
through a busy intersection and down the road to
her house.
In the Queen Anne Hill district of Seattle no one
would have suspected that a large apartment
building situated next to a deli would be at risk of
extreme explosion hazards! Unfortunately, the
deli is located on the site of an old service station.
When the station closed, eight underground
storage tanks were allowed to remain in the
ground, and one (or more) of those tanks were
leaking. The leak went undetected, causing
contamination so significant that when the
gasoline vapors from the contaminated soil
migrated into the basement of the apartment next
door, the occupants had to be evacuated! A vapor
extraction system is now in place to protect the
residents in the apartment building from the
explosion hazard, and all eight tanks were
removed from the new deli property.
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Cleaning up Hazardous Waste
Although RCRA creates a framework for the
proper management of hazardous and
nonhazardous waste, it does not address the
problems of hazardous waste encountered at
inactive or abandoned sites or those resulting from
spills that require emergency response. These
problems are addressed by a second
environmental protection law, the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA).
In 1980, Congress passed CERCLA, which was
amended in 1986 by the Superfund Amendments
and Reauthorization Act (SARA). These two
laws, commonly known as Superfund, provide
EPA with the authority and resources to
investigate and cleanup releases, or threatened
releases, of hazardous substances. The Superfund
amendments strengthened and expanded the
cleanup program and focus on the need for
emergency preparedness and community right-to-
know.
Congress renewed the Superfund law for three
more years as part of the October 1990 Budget
Appropriations Bill. At the same time the funding
authority was renewed for an additional four
years. The Superfund law is currently waiting for
reauthorization by Congress in 1994.
EPA's "enforcement first" policy encourages
cleanup by responsible parties rather than using
Superfund money .Under Superfund, certain
parties are considered "Potentially Responsible
Parties (PRPs)" for hazardous waste
contamination. PRPs include:
•	Current and past owners and operators;
•	Persons who arrange for the disposal of, or
transport of, hazardous substances; and
•	Transporters who selected the site for
hazardous material disposal.
EPA believes that through cooperative efforts
business and industry meet site cleanup
requirements just as well as the government does.
Region 10's PRPs are now conducting 68%
percent of new cleanup actions while 20% are
being conducted by other federal agencies.
EPA is working cooperatively with business,
local, state, tribal and federal government in
implementing cleanup and prevention of
hazardous waste sites in Region 10.
EPA encourages these parties to conduct
investigations and cleanups under EPA oversight.
In the RCRA program, business and industry
modify the plant or facility operation to reduce the
use of hazardous chemicals and to clean up any
spills or to correct environmental damage caused
by their past operating practices. Abandoned
facilities are being cleaned up under Superfund.
This section explains how business, local, state,
tribal and federal government along with EPA are
successfully cleaning up hazardous waste in the
Puget Sound region.
Business and Industry
Corrective Action at Reichhold Chemicals in
Tacoma
Cleanup is underway at the Reichhold Chemical
manufacturing facility in Tacoma, Washington.
Several decades of manufacturing
pentachlorophenol (a wood preservative) and
other chemicals caused significant soil and
groundwater contamination at this site. Portions
of the contamination have left the site and have
impacted land being transferred to the Puyallup
Tribe as part of the 1988 Puyallup Land
Settlement. The Tribe intends to use the affected
property as part of their economic development
activities once it is clean. Although all
manufacturing activities at this site have ceased,
cleanup activities are intended to return the
facility property to beneficial industrial uses.
Work at this site has required close coordination
among a variety of organizations, including EPA,
the Washington Department of Ecology, the Port
of Tacoma, the Puyallup Tribe, the Army Corps of
Engineers, and the City of Tacoma.
Reichhold is using an innovative wastewater
treatment technology and evaluating
biotechnology options for soil that reduces the
materials that must be disposed of off site. In
addition, a groundwater cleanup system continues
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Cleaning up Hazardous Waste
to operate and appears to be reducing contaminant
levels. Reichhold is also exploring creative ways
to re-use waste materials. Examples include reuse
of concrete waste for aggregate, and recycling of
waste wood and steel.
Ruston/North Tacoma Residential Cleanup
Arsenic and other metals related to the past
operations of the Asarco Smelter are present in the
soil and slag found in Ruston and North Tacoma.
EPA is concerned about potential health effects
from exposure to this contaminated soil and slag.
It is unlikely that natural processes such as
weathering or rain will reduce the amount of
contamination in the soil. EPA developed a
cleanup plan for the residential area and is
working with Asarco to carry out the plan.
The plan focuses on removing and replacing
contaminated residential soil that has arsenic and
lead concentrations exceeding EPA's action level.
In October 1993, Asarco began taking soil
samples from properties in areas that EPA
anticipates have arsenic and lead concentrations
above the agency's action levels. In other areas,
property owners will be allowed to request that
their property be sampled. Where samples show
that soil contamination exceeds EPA's action
levels, Asarco will remove the soil and replace it
with clean soil. Soil removal activities will begin
in April 1994.
State and Local Government			
State and local governments are actively working
towards protection and cleanup at sites along the
Puget Sound. The following sites are just a few
examples.
Harbor Island Cleanup Plan
EPA and the Washington Department of Ecology
share the responsibility for ensuring cleaning up
of Seattle's Harbor Island, a Superfund site at the
head of the Duwamish River in Elliott Bay. The
Washington Department of Ecology manages the
cleanup of the petroleum tanks farms. EPA is
responsible for the soils, groundwater, and
sediments around the Island. This site was
contaminated by industrial activities on the Island
which included a lead smelter, shipyards, scrap
metal recycling, and petroleum tank farms.
In September 1993, EPA selected the cleanup plan
for most of the soil and groundwater
contamination.
The selected cleanup action is consistent with the
Port of Seattle's plan to expand its container cargo
shipping operations on Harbor Island. Marine
sediments around Harbor Island have also been
contaminated by industrial activities on the Island.
Affected sediments include a traditional fishing
area of the Suquamish and Muckleshoot Indians.
EPA intends to select a cleanup action for the
Harbor Island sediments in early 1995. The Tribes
and other natural resource trustees are helping
EPA develop and evaluate cleanup alternatives
which will restore the marine habitat and create an
area where young salmon can feed without being
exposed to contamination.
Tacoma Landfill
In December 1992, as part of the agreement to
clean up the Tacoma Landfill, the City of Tacoma
began extracting and treating groundwater
contaminated by the landfill. EPA, the
Washington Department of Ecology, and the
Puyallup Tribe are concerned that the extraction
of groundwater could reduce flows in nearby
Leach Creek, a waterway that supports runs of
salmon from Puget Sound. During the summer of
1993, the City of Tacoma installed and began
operating an augmentation well to provide
additional water to the creek. In January 1994,
the city agreed to continue operating a well until
the issue of potential low creek flows is
permanently resolved. The City of Tacoma has
also begun a recycling program and built a new
recycling facility at the landfill as part of their
cleanup agreement.
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Cleaning up Hazardous Waste
Federal Government
EPA and other federal government agencies are
involved in environmental protection of Puget
Sound either by paying for cleanups when there is
no one else to pay or by correcting and preventing
environmental damage caused through past
practices at the government owned facilities.
WyckoflyEagle Harbor Cleanup Actions
Contaminated bottom sediments in Eagle Harbor
at Bainbridge Island have been of great concern to
public health officials for some time now.
Starting at the turn of the century, decades of
shipyard practices and creosote treatment of wood
at shoreside facilities led to contamination of soil
and groundwater, as well as sediments. Studies in
the mid 1980's showed high rates of tumors in
English Sole from the harbor and contamination
of fish and shellfish. Since then, signs have been
posted advising people not to eat seafood from
this traditional Suquamish Indian Tribe fishing
area.
EPA's study of the sediment contamination began
in 1987, and a proposed cleanup plan was issued
in 1991. Cleanup of the most heavily
contaminated sediments started in mid-September
1993. Over a six-month period, daily bargeloads
of clean, sandy sediments were placed in
contaminated areas of Eagle Harbor to isolate the
contamination and provide clean habitat for sea
life. Over 275,000 cubic yards of this material
were used to build up a capping layer about three
feet thick over a 54-acre area. The clean materials
came from the Snohomish River as part of a
dredging project to keep the river channel open
for ship navigation. Combining project goals this
way allowed beneficial use of the dredged
materials and provided capping materials for the
cleanup at a significant cost savings.
This project was monitored by EPA and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to ensure proper
sediment distribution and to minimize or prevent
water quality and navigation impacts. Underwater
cameras used to monitor and photograph the clean
sediment cap show worms and other sea life in
and on the new material, indicating that the
process of establishing a healthy marine
community has already begun.
In addition to the harbor cleanup, EPA is
continuing cleanup work at the former Wyckoff
wood treating facility. EPA's comprehensive
study of the site is underway, and treatment of
contaminated groundwater continues.
Meanwhile, EPA is moving forward with
excavation and disposal of contaminated sludge
and oily wastes buried at the Wyckoff facility or
stored in tanks.
Puyallup Drums Emergency Response
EPA often responds to emergency situations. One
such situation occurred on May 6, 1993, when
EPA Region 10 received a report that there were
drums leaking a chemical substance on the banks
of the Puyallup River in the Gog-le-hi-te wetlands
within the Puyallup Indian Reservation in
Tacoma. After reviewing the site and
coordinating state, Tribe, and Bureau of Indian
Affairs representatives, the EPA emergency
response team stabilized and removed four drums
and a yard of contaminated soils which were
staged at the Reservation on the next day.
Puyallup Drums Emergency Response Team
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Cleaning up Hazardous Waste
Federal Government (continued)
Puyallup Drums (continued)
From the labels on the drums, manufacturers were
contacted and material safety data sheets were
received by fax. Field tests confirmed that
chemical and costly lab analyses were not
necessary. One of the manufacturers in Oklahoma
was willing to transport one drum and recycle it.
This reduced costly waste transportation and
disposal costs. The remaining drums and soils
were economically disposed of through the fuels
program which uses applicable waste as an
alternate energy source, again reducing the cost of
disposal.
Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island
Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island has won
numerous awards for environmental quality,
recycling, natural resources conservation, and
pollution prevention. For example, a biologist
employed by the base worked to preserve an on-
base heron rookery, restore wetlands, and create
and preserve habitat for a wide range of bird and
animal life.
Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island has also had to
address hazardous waste contamination. Past
disposal practices that were considered acceptable
at the time, resulted in contamination of the soil,
sediments, and groundwater at Naval Air Station
Whidbey Island. After early sampling, the Navy
acted immediately and began planning for an
early action cleanup resulting in over a year of
saved time.
To expand community participation in cleanup
decisions, the Department of the Navy is
implementing Restoration Advisory Boards at
Navy installations involved in environmental
restoration under Superfund. Naval Air Station,
Whidbey Island was chosen by the Chief of Naval
Operations to serve as a pilot installation to
expand and modify the existing Technical Review
Committee into a Restoration Advisory Board.
Restoration Advisory Board -On July 2,1993,
President Clinton announced a five-part program
to speed the economic recovery of communities
where military bases are slated for cleanup or are
slated to close. A key element of the President's
plan is to improve public involvement
opportunities in the base environmental cleanup
program, including establishing a Restoration
Advisory Board. The Restoration Advisory Board
is an advisory body designed to act as a focal
point for the exchange of information between the
Navy and the local community. It will enable
early and continuous exchange of information and
concerns between the affected community and the
cleanup teams.
This newly formed board will provide a forum to
allow additional public members to serve with the
existing trustees from federal and state agencies.
Puget Sound Naval Station, Sand Point
At the Puget Sound Naval Station, Sand Point, a
Restoration Advisory Board has been formed to
get more public involvement in the site cleanup
process. The city of Seattle and the Muckelshoot
Tribe are currently in the process of negotiating a
reuse plan for the Navy's property after base
closure. The final reuse plan will likely include a
combination of housing, open space, and
educational and business facilities.
Port Hadlock, Indian Island
Port Hadlock is a U.S. Navy facility on Indian
Island, located in Puget Sound, just south of Port
Townsend. Much of the island is undeveloped
and forested. The views from its many miles of
shoreline are inspirational, and wildlife is in
abundance. Many deer roam the island, including
the uncommon pinto deer. Bald eagles circle
above the trees. Sea otters, blue herons, and seals
are other wildlife that can be seen.
Activities are currently underway at three sites to
remove hazardous waste. The activities will
remove contaminants that threaten the
environment. The plan includes digging up the
contamination and taking it to an off-site landfill
for disposal.
Due to the environmentally sensitive nature of the
locations of the contamination, native vegetation
is being carefully removed and stored and will be
replaced at the sites upon cleanup completion.
Indian Island is a place well worthy of
environmental protection.
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Economic Development and Cleanup
The Superfund program has not always looked at
future land use as part of decision-making for
cleanup action. However, cooperation with tribes
and local, state, and federal government is
occurring to make environmental protection
compatible with future land use.
Asarco Tacoma Smelter
Asarco is making an extensive effort to determine
the appropriate future use of their Tacoma smelter
property after cleanup of contamination. During
the smelter operations from the late 1800s until
the smelter shut down in 1986, first lead, and then,
copper smelting contaminated the bay and the
surrounding community with metals. The initial
smelter cleanup includes demolition of the smelter
stack and other structures. While the demolition
continues, Asarco, in cooperation with the City of
Tacoma, the Town of Ruston, and the
Metropolital Park District, has hired land use
planners to develop land use proposals and
present them to the public. All levels of
government and the public have been invited to
make recommendations. EPA will consider these
land use plans as it works with Asarco to design
an environmental cleanup plan for the smelter site.
Sitcum Waterway
In October 1993, the Port of Tacoma began
dredging contaminated sediments in Sitcum
Waterway as part of the cleanup of Tacoma's
Commencement Bay. The waterway, which is
utilized by the Port, has been contaminated by
industrial activities, including unloading of ore.
At EPA's suggestion, the Port is using the
dredged sediments as part of the planned filling of
the Milwaukee Waterway to expand the Port's
container handling and storage capacity. Because
existing wetlands will be lost, the Port is restoring
33 acres of habitat in the vicinity of the Bay to
benefit salmon and wildlife. The Sitcum cleanup
demonstrates that environmental protection can be
successfully integrated with economic expansion.
Puyallup Land Settlement
In February 1994, the Port of Tacoma finished
cleaning up six properties within the
Commencement Bay area. These properties are
being transferred to the Puyallup Tribe under a
1988 Land Settlement Agreement. All cleanups
were done in a manner that will allow the Tribe to
develop these properties. For example,
contaminated materials that were found at one
property were consolidated and covered with
asphalt. With minimal restrictions, the Tribe will
be able to construct buildings over the capped
area. At another property, cleanup was completed
in an expeditious manner, and the Tribe has
already built a marina there. The Tribe is
operating the Chinook Landing Marina in an
environmentally sound manner. Specifically, boat
repairs are not allowed at the marina and a sewage
pump was installed to prevent sewage dumping.
Chinook Landing Marina

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Pollution Prevention
Pollution Prevention is both a stand-alone
program at EPA and also a concept and goal that
permeates all of the EPA programs. Pollution
Prevention is permitting facilities to continue
working safely while using hazardous materials;
and to prevent future Superfund sites.
EPA Region 10 is actively exploring new and
innovative ways of promoting pollution
prevention at hazardous waste sites in the Puget
Sound area. In addition to traditional enforcement
and mandatory regulatory tools, EPA is working
in partnership with facilities to develop effective
pollution prevention programs. EPA encourages
facilities to look beyond traditional regulatory
requirements, and to make pollution prevention an
important part of doing business.
Specific goals of EPA's activities include:
•	Educating facilities about essential elements
of effective pollution prevention programs;
•	Helping facilities understand their waste-
generating processes and organizational
structure; and
•	Identifying the many direct and indirect
benefits of pollution prevention.
As an example of these partnership activities,
EPA has conducted a series of pollution
prevention "Program-in-Place" surveys at large
industrial and manufacturing facilities in the
Puget Sound area. These surveys were voluntary,
and non-regulatory in nature. Each served as a
joint learning experience for EPA and the
facilities. With assistance from nationally
recognized experts, EPA spent 2-3 days with each
facility examining existing pollution prevention
activities, problems that were encountered, and
ways to improve the effectiveness of these
programs. From these visits, summary reports
were prepared to assist each facility as they
develop or refine their pollution prevention
programs, and integrate pollution prevention into
their daily business. These surveys have also
assisted EPA in identifying regulatory
impediments that facilities have encountered
during pollution prevention activities.
Essential Elements of Pollution Prevention Programs:
•	Top management support
•	Description of wastes generated by industrial practices
•	Periodic assessments of efforts to reduce waste
•	A cost distribution system
•	Technology transfer
•	Program evaluation
Benefits to Business and Industry of Pollution Prevention:
•	Reduces the risk of criminal and civil liability
•	Reduces operating and waste management costs
•	Improves employee morale and participation
•	Enhances a company's public image
•	Protects public and worker health, and the environment
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Pollution Prevention Activities
Waste Busters - President's Environmental
Youth Award
The Waste Busters of Tillicum Middle School in
Bellevue, Washington, were one of ten national
winners to be recognized at the President's
Environmental Youth Awards ceremony which
was held in January 1994, in Washington, D.C.
The environmental youth awards program has
been ongoing since EPA was formed in 1971.
Nineteen Tillicum Middle School students formed
the leadership advisory group who were
responsible for implementing and maintaining the
school's waste reduction and recycling programs.
The group had two areas of responsibility. The
first was to educate fellow students and their
community. The second responsibility was to
implement and maintain a school waste reduction
and recycling program and to perform the actual
collecting of the recyclable materials from around
the school.
Some accomplishments of the Waste Busters were
the use of plastic reusable cups and reusable lunch
Tillicum Middle School Waste Busters
10
bags at the school, reuse of cardboard boxes for
storage and making key chain tags out of melted
aluminum cans. The students have designed and
built two prototype washable aluminum pizza
boxes, and now are waiting to see if a local pizza
restaurant will decide to use these boxes.
Waste Wi$e
Waste Wi$e is a national EPA challenge program
for commercial waste reduction, recycling,
buying/manufacturing recycled products. The
Washington Retail Association received a grant to
promote the program and offer technical
assistance through their Preferred Packaging
Procurement Guidelines project. The program not
only offers technical assistance to business but
provides quarterly workshops, newsletters and
success stories. There are 43 companies to date
that have endorsed the Guidelines. Some of these
endorsers are Nordstrom, Sears, Wal-Mart,
Albertsons, and Safeway. These companies
represent over 750 retail locations in the
Northwest.

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Solid Waste Management
Solid Waste Program
The Municipal Solid Waste Program, RCRA
Subtitle D, is a major component of integrated
waste management. Under this law local, state
and tribal governments have been given the
responsibility to manage their own solid waste
programs. Special emphasis has been placed on
working with tribal governments within Region
10 to advance solid waste management capacity
on Native American lands.
The Solid Waste Program provides technical
support and project funding that enhance the
integrated waste management hierarchy. This
hierarchy is composed of solid waste reduction,
reuse, recycling, composting, landfilling or
combustion. Parts of the program set federal
standards for landfills, conduct research and
development, long-range planning and assist with
market development of recycled content products.
The following programs are supported by EPA
Region 10:
Ecodrive Training/Curriculum
Under a grant from EPA, the Washington
Department of Ecology is conducting an
education and outreach program on automobile
solid and hazardous waste reduction.
This program has access to students enrolled in
public and private drivers education classes, as
well as students enrolled in automotive shop
classes. The curriculum increases awareness of
solid and hazardous waste issues associated with
vehicle use. It also presents ways to reduce the
impacts of used oil, tires, antifreeze, metals,
batteries and energy use. The program is also
looking at ways to reach the public on these issues
when drivers renew their licenses.
Packaging Waste Reduction
Under a grant from EPA, the Washington Citizens
for Recycling Foundation conducts packaging
waste analysis and technical outreach to the
commercial sector. There is a continuation of
technical support for waste reduction projects with
Starbucks, PACAAR, Thriftway, and the Food
Pavilion.
Circuit Rider
A little over a year ago EPA established a Tribal
Solid Waste Specialist (Circuit Rider) position for
Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The Circuit
Rider is a person who travels to Indian
reservations to talk and listen on behalf of the
EPA solid waste program. Some of the activities
include:
•	Field liaison for tribal solid waste and related
issues;
•	Training;
•	Assisting tribes in evaluating their solid waste
needs and options and encouraging them to
begin developing an integrated solid waste
management plan;
•	Encouraging recycling/reduction/composting;
•	Encouraging tribes to give thought to their
own hazardous waste issues, through
discussion and dissemination of information
and the enhancement of inter-governmental
relations as a tool for solving environmental
problems.
The Circuit Rider helps tribes find opportunities
within the world as it is (the existing cultural
structures) to implement good resource
management practices.
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Solid Waste Management
Solid Waste Network at Work at Neah Bay
Region 10's Solid Waste Program is responding
to the motivation for new, more effective ways of
doing business. Today, Washington tribes are
faced with the need to modernize their solid waste
programs and meet new municipal landfill
standards. They can find help through an inter-
agency program called the Solid Waste Network.
EPA, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian
Health Service share responsibilities in assisting
tribes in reaching compliance with municipal
landfill standards. In addition, the Department of
Housing and Urban Development assists tribes
with housing-related solid waste allowances and
administers community development programs for
tribes. Consequently, EPA took the initiative to
bring together the talents and resources of these
federal agencies in a joint effort to offer tribes a
more streamlined agency approach for solid waste
technical assistance.
The Network is currently working in a team effort
with members of the Makah Tribe at Neah Bay.
Together, the Makah staff and the Network have
taken steps to develop a solid waste management
plan, generate public participation in solid waste
decision-making, and initiate an engineering
assessment of landfill closure options and costs
for those options. The remote location of the
Makah reservation coupled with unique landfill
characteristics, has made this Network project a
challenge for all concerned.
Glass Information System
The Clean Washington Center, a division of the
Washington Department of Trade and Economic
Development, conducts research and enhances
markets for recycled glass through a grant from
EPA. Recycled glass is crushed into cullet which
is used to make new glass bottles. However, most
glass bottles contain only 30% recycled cullet so
additional uses must be developed to avoid
landfilling glass that has been collected. Some of
the new uses and markets resulting from this
research include: gravel substitute in the
construction of sidewalks, roadbases and
foundations; fiberglass; sandblasting; septic
filtration systems; water drainage and glass bricks.
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For More Information
you would like more information on EPA programs or other information in
brochure please call toll free on weekdays from 8 a.m to 4:30 p.m. at:
1 (800) 424-4EPA or you may write
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101

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