PACIFIC SOUND RESOURCES WASHINGTON EPA ID# WAD009248287

EPA Region 10 King County Seattle 7th Congressional District Other Names:

Last Update: May, 2010

Site Description

The Pacific Sound Resources (PSR) site, formerly known as the Wyckoff West Seattle Wood Treating facility, is located on the south shore of Elliott Bay on Puget Sound, at 2801 SW Florida Street, Seattle, King County, Washington.

The PSR site encompasses 83 acres; 58 acres of the site are either intertidal (2 acres) or subtidal (56 acres) lands. Although residential areas are located within one mile of the site, the surrounding areas are primarily commercial and industrial. The local population and industrial users obtain their drinking and production water from public supplies.

The Wyckoff family operated the site as a wood-treating facility between 1909 and 1994. Creosote and related hazardous constituents were used in large quantities over many years and were discharged onto the ground during a variety of industrial activities at the site. The discharged creosote then seeped into shallow groundwater and was eventually discharged into subtidal sediments immediately to the north. Hazardous constituents were also disposed of directly onto the site’s intertidal areas.

The upland property was purchased by the Port of Seattle (Port) in 1994 and was included in the Port's larger redevelopment and expansion project in West Seattle to construct a modern intermodal container terminal facility. During this period, the Port implemented several upland early cleanup actions, under EPA oversight, to control releases from the site and to prepare it for reuse. The southern portion of the upland unit is currently being utilized by the Port as part of their intermodal container terminal facility, and the northern portion has been reconstructed as a public waterfront park.

Site Responsibility: This site is being addressed through federal actions.

NPL Listing History	Dates
Proposed Date:	05/10/1993
Removed Date:
Withdrawal Date:
Final Date:	05/31/1994
Deleted Date:

Threats and Contaminants

Media Affected: Soil, Groundwater, Surface Water and Marine Sediment
Wood-treating operations at the site contaminated surface and subsurface soils and groundwater with pentachlorophenol (PCP), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals. Marine sediments are contaminated primarily with PAHs. Populations that may be impacted by the PSR site are people consuming contaminated seafood from the adjacent bay and organisms living in the contaminated marine sediments.


Cleanup Progress

The site was divided into two units for investigation purposes: upland and marine sediments. Several pre-Record of Decision (ROD) early cleanup actions were implemented, focusing on source and risk reduction in the upland unit. These early cleanup actions also effectively reduced the flow of hazardous constituents from the upland unit into the marine sediments unit. The ROD, signed by the EPA Region 10 Administrator on September 30, 1999, addresses both the upland and marine sediment units.

Although remedial construction activities, both pre-ROD and post-ROD, included removal of hazardous constituents for off-site disposal, there remain hazardous constituents on site. The potential for these constituents to present an actual risk to human health and the environment, or to migrate further in the environment, have been sufficiently controlled by the remedial construction activities described below.

Remedial construction activities completed pre-ROD include:

• Construction of an upland slurry wall to prevent continued hazardous constituent migration via groundwater into sediment.

• Construction of a low-permeability upland cap.

• Excavation and removal of the most contaminated source materials for off-site disposal.

These pre-ROD activities eliminated exposures due to direct contact with soil. These activities also eliminated the transport of contaminated groundwater, contaminated soil, light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs), and dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) into surface water and sediments.

Remedial construction activities selected in the 1999 ROD include:

• Placement of subtidal and intertidal caps over 58 acres to promote development of a new benthic environment, including placement of at least five feet of cap material in the intertidal zone (with overall cap placement techniques and thicknesses determined during the remedial design).

• Dredging and removal of 3,500 cubic yards of contaminated sediment for off-site disposal (10,000 cubic yards were actually removed).

• Removal of marine pilings for off-site disposal.

The designs for the subtidal and intertidal caps were intended to achieve State of Washington “Sediment Management Standards” (Chapter 173-204 WAC). Human health and ecological risks from hazardous constituents, contaminated soil, and contaminated groundwater in the upland unit were largely reduced by pre-ROD early cleanup actions.

Before designing the pre-ROD and post-ROD remedial construction activities, EPA sampled and analyzed surface and subsurface soil, groundwater, and sediment throughout the site. The analytical results indicated that approximately 4,000 cubic yards of highly contaminated soil and debris from the upland unit (removed pre-ROD) and 10,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the marine sediment unit (removed post-ROD) required excavation, dredging, and off-site disposal. After these excavation, dredging, and disposal activities, additional analytical samples were collected to determine the required length and depth of the upland slurry wall (installed pre-ROD, 1,200 feet long, 40 feet deep), the required area of upland capping (installed pre-ROD, 10 acres), and the required areas and depths of sediment capping (installed post-ROD, 58 acres, 0-300 feet below sea level).

While performing this analytical work, both pre- and post-ROD, 1,500 gallons of DNAPLs were collected from groundwater monitoring wells and disposed of off site. Additionally, independent of the ROD, the Port of Seattle collected and disposed of 25 cubic yards of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated soil and sediment from the Longfellow Creek storm-sewer outfall, which runs through the site. This environmental work contributes to the effectiveness of the overall site cleanup.

After EPA signed the ROD, EPA issued a work assignment to the Remedial Action Contractor (RAC) to develop a work plan for remedial design for the ROD's remedial construction elements. The RAC responded with final work plans and designs over several years, and submitted the “Final Design Addendum” on February 17, 2003. EPA then worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under an interagency agreement to implement the approved remedial designs during 2003 and 2004, concluding all construction work on February 15, 2005.

The contaminated sediment and marine pilings were dredged and removed off site during the 2003 in-water construction season. Additionally, the marine sediment unit was subdivided into five distinct remedial action areas to accommodate considerably varying capping environments (subtidal and intertidal slopes of 0 – 40% and depths of 0 – 300 feet). Construction activities in the first three remedial action areas in the marine sediment unit, including installation of the new beach in the intertidal area, were completed during the 2003 in-water construction season. Construction work in the remaining two remedial action areas in the marine sediment unit, the areas with the steepest slopes and greatest depths, were completed during the 2004 in-water construction season, ending on February 15, 2005.

Remaining non-construction remedial activities include ongoing inspection and maintenance, groundwater and DNAPL monitoring, continued five-year reviews, and continued implementation by the U.S. Coast Guard of the institutional controls necessary to protect subtidal areas from damage by improper anchorage.

The first five-year review of the site was completed in September 2004. EPA and USACE began the second five-year review in the fall of 2008 and completed it in September 2009. The second review identified follow-up work to ensure that the cleanup continues to protect people and the environment. That work is planned for the next five years and includes:

• Revising EPA's 1999 ROD based on a better understanding of standards needed for long-term protection of groundwater, surface water, and sediment.

• Gathering information to see whether contamination is entering Elliott Bay.

• Adding more clean material to the sediment cap in the deepest water at the site.

• Continuing to work with the Coast Guard to protect the cap by restricting use of large commercial boat anchors.

• Evaluating indoor air quality at a maintenance building.

The Port is using the site for its operations and tenants, and the public is gradually discovering their new park on an area of the West Seattle waterfront that had previously been inaccessible.


Regional Contacts

SITE MANAGER(S):	Ravi Sanga
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	sanga.ravi@epa.gov
PHONE NUMBER:	206-553-4092
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT COORDINATOR:	Caryn Sengupta
E-MAIL ADDRESS	sengupta.caryn@epa.gov
PHONE NUMBER:	206-553-1275

Information pertaining to this site is housed at the following location(s):
EPA Region 10 Superfund Records Center (Administrative Record)
1200 Sixth Avenue, ECL-076
Seattle, WA 98101