&EFA U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION 10	April 1999

Proposed Plan Fact Sheet

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is
asking for public comments on the Proposed
Plan for cleanup at the Pacific Sound Resources
site. The Proposed Plan addresses cleanup for
both the upland and off-shore portions of the
site. This fact sheet summarizes activities that
have taken place over the past year and
summarizes the Proposed Plan for cleanup. If
there is sufficient interest in the community,
EPA will hold a public meeting to talk about
questions and concerns. Please contact Krista
Rave, toll free, at 1 -800-424-4372, by May 6, if
you have questions, comments or would like a
meeting on EPA's Proposed Plan.

Public Comment Period

April 15,1999 to May 15,1999

Comments must be received by EPA by
May 15 to ensure that any concerns are
addressed before EPA makes a final
cleanup decision.

Background

Pacific Sound Resources (PSR, a.k.a. Wyckoff)
operated as a wood preserving facility on SW
Florida Street in West Seattle from 1909 until
1994. Creosote, pentachlorophenol (PCP), and
various metal-based solutions were used as
wood preservatives. Creosote contains various
forms of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), which are the chemical that EPA is
most concerned about at this site. Daily
operations, as well as spills, leaks and storage
of treated wood products resulted in upland
(soil and groundwater) contamination. Direct
discharge (dumping) of wastes and indirect
transport (erosion and runoff) resulted in
contaminated marine sediment, off-shore of
the facility in Elliott Bay.

EPA added the site to the National Priorities
List (NPL) in May 1994, making it eligible for
investigation and possible cleanup under the

(Continued in next column)

federal Superfund Program. Shortly after the
site went on the NPL, the Port of Seattle (Port)
purchased it and received a prospective
purchaser's agreement from EPA. Under the
agreement, the Port agreed to provide cleanup
funding and services for the upland portion of
the property. The agreement protects the Port
from future liability for additional clean up
costs associated with past contamination.

The most perplexing contamination issue at
this site is associated with non-aqueous phase
liquids (NAPLs). The NAPL at the PSR site
consists of woodtreating chemicals and oil.
Light NAPLs, or LNAPLs, are less dense than
water and as they move down through the soil,
they will float on the groundwater. Dense
NAPLs, or DNAPLs are heavier than water and
tend to sink in the groundwater and as they
travel downward, they leave a trail that is
absorbed onto the soil which makes cleanup
very difficult.


-------
SEFA =

The Upland Area

The upland area consists of approximately 15
acres. Under EPA's direction, the Port has
completed the cleanup work in the upland
area. In 1995 all of the wood treating facility
buildings were demolished and approximately
4,000 cubic yards of highly contaminated soil
and sludge was removed from the site. In
addition, a subsurface barrier wall, or slurry
wall, was constructed to minimize the release
of contaminants into Elliott Bay. The wall
extends from the ground surface to a depth of
about 45 feet below the surface and blocks
most groundwater flow to Elliott Bay. In late
1997, the site was covered with clean fill, and
an asphalt cap and monitoring wells were
installed. The upland site has been
redeveloped by the Port and it is now used for
container transfer.

Small amounts of DNAPL continue to be
collected from on-site monitoring wells. To
date, approximately 1500 gallons of DNAPL
has been collected and disposed of off-site.
Since the installation of the barrier wall, no
LNAPL has been detected for collection. A
report on the investigation of the upland area,
called the Upland Remedial Investigation/
Feasibility Study is available for your review at
the information repository listed at the end of
this fact sheet.

In the upland area, EPA is proposing to monitor
groundwater and maintain the existing asphalt
cap and barrier wall. The asphalt cap and the
subsurface barrier wall have eliminated risks to
people and the environment.

The Marine Sediments

The marine sediments area is off-shore of the
old woodtreatment facility in Elliott Bay and
has been impacted by contamination from the
facility. EPA began investigating the nature
and extent of contamination in the marine
sediment area in 1996.

2

Pacific Sound Resources	April 1999

EPA investigated approximately 120 acres of
marine sediment in Elliott Bay, of which 100
acres have PAH concentrations that are at a
level of concern, and approximately 50 acres
require cleanup for PAH contamination.
Immediately offshore of the facility, where the
bay had been used for disposal, the sediment
contamination is up to 20 feet thick. The bay
slopes down fairly quickly, and the depth of
contamination decreases as you move further
from shore.

The risk assessment for the marine sediments
does indicate that contaminated marine
sediment poses a risk to human health and the
environment due to PAH concentrations. The
population at highest risk is the tribal fisher
person consuming seafood harvested from the
site for their entire life. Because of these risks,
EPA has determined that actual or threatened
releases of hazardous substances from this site,
if not addressed, present a threat to public
health, welfare, and the environment.

Cleanup Options

Several options were considered for addressing
the contamination in Elliott Bay, including: no
further action (a requirement to be considered
in all proposed plans); dredging (removing) the
contaminated sediments; and capping
(covering). EPA uses nine criteria to evaluate
the alternatives in order to select a cleanup
option. The nine criteria are: overall protection
of human health and the environment;
compliance with applicable or relevant and
appropriate requirements, (how the alternative
complies with federal and state statutes,
regulations); reduction in toxicity, mobility and
volume through treatment; short-term
effectiveness; long-term effectiveness and
permanence; implementability; cost; state
acceptance; and community acceptance.
Community acceptance will be evaluated based
on the comments received during the public
comment period. The enclosed Proposed Plan
explains how the cleanup options compare to
each of the nine criteria.


-------
SEFA =

Proposed Cleanup Plan

EPA is proposing to cap (cover with 3 feet of
clean sediment) the most highly contaminated
sediments (approximately 50 acres). Several of
the old wooden piers may need to be removed
so that contaminated sediments under and
around the piers can be effectively capped. In
order to maintain the cap, there will likely be a
"no anchorage zone" where boats will be
prohibited from dropping anchors.

The capping option was chosen for this site
because it can adequately address the risk
associated with contaminated sediment with
relatively minimal impacts to fisheries. In
addition, capping was determined to be the
most feasible cleanup option to implement.
Dredging, the other common approach to
marine sediment cleanup, raised significant
concerns regarding short-term water quality
impacts and potential impacts to fisheries due
to the oily and fine-grained nature of the
contaminated sediment. In addition, dredging
requires finding a site where the dredged
contaminated material can be safely disposed
of. While the volume of material necessary to
cap the contaminated sediment will not be
available to complete the work in one season,
receiving smaller portions of capping material
over a longer period of time will allow for tests
of various placement techniques as well as
ongoing evaluation of how effectively the cap
is working.

3

Pacific Sound Resources	April 1999

The Information Repository:

If you would like to review the Remedial
Investigation and Feasibility Studies, Risk
Assessments, or other documents for the Pacific
Sound Resources site, please visit the following
location:

EPA Records Center, 1200 Sixth Avenue, 7th
Floor, Seattle (Please call 206-553-4494 to
arrange a time to look at the documents.)

For further information on the PSR site, please
contact:

Sally Thomas

Project Manager
1200 6th Avenue ECL-111
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 553-2102

Krista Rave

Community Relations Coordinator
1200 6th Avenue ECO-081
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 553-6686

To ensure effective communication with
everyone, additional services can be made
available to persons with disabilities by
contacting EPA toll free at 1-800-424-4372.


-------
&EPA	

EPA Region 10

Community Relations and Outreach
1200 Sixth Avenue, ECO-081
Seattle, Washington 98101-1128

United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

Proposed Plan Fact Sheet
Pacific Sound Resources
West Seattle, WA


-------