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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014
Vol. CXXIV, No. 32
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Published Since Since 1890 1890
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Pierce County aims to improve Swan Creek water quality City Council to discuss Tacoma smelter plume cleanup progress Posted online Fri., Feb. 14 Photos Courtesy Washington State Department of Ecology Tacoma City Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday at City Hall to be briefed on the Washington State Department of Ecology's plan to clean up the former Asarco copper smelter site. For nearly 100 years, Asarco operated a copper smelter in the Ruston/Tacoma area. According to Dept. of Ecology officials, winds carried the smelter's air emissions, which deposited arsenic and lead on soils in parts of King, Pierce, Thurston, and Kitsap counties, to a 1,000-square-mile area now known as the Tacoma Smelter Plume. The Dept. of Ecology began working on the Tacoma Smelter Plume more than a decade ago, starting with education and outreach. The plume is too large to clean up all soils, according to Dept. of Ecology officials, so a plan under way aims to clean up play areas and yards in the most contaminated areas. Councilmembers were last briefed on the plan, which is funded by a $94 million settlement with Asarco, during a study session last year. At that meeting, Dept. of Ecology officials outlined the plan's four main components: a residential sampling and remediation program; a soil safety program; ongoing education and outreach; and encouraging sampling and cleanup during development. The free and voluntary residential yard sampling and remediation program aims to reduce exposure to arsenic and lead in soils in the most contaminated areas of the Tacoma Smelter Plume. The Dept. of Ecology plans to sample nearly 4,700 yards and estimates 1,200 will need soil removal cleanup. On Tuesday, Dept. of Ecology project manager Amy Hargrove will provide an overview of the residential yard sampling and remediation program, and then focus on soil sampling and cleanup prog-
Posted online Fri., Feb. 14 Swan Creek residents and business owners can learn about an effort by Pierce County to improve the creek's water quality at a community meeting next week. "Swan Creek is a valuable resource for the area and we want to make sure it remains that way for many years," said Public Works and Utilities water quality manager Dan Wrye. "We want to share information about our plans with the community around the creek and explain why it's important they are involved." Pierce County staff will share information about the development of a watershed characterization and action plan for Swan Creek at the meeting, which will be held on Weds., Feb. 19, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Mid-County Community Center, 10205 44th Ave. E., in Tacoma. Community members are encouraged to ask questions and become involved as stakeholders in the process. For the watershed characterization, Pierce County will collect new data, conduct field observations, and review existing data to build a more complete picture of the creek's health. This data will help create an action plan for improving Swan Creek, which will include strategies for maintaining and improving the creek's health and re-evaluating previously identified projects based on the new information. Earlier studies of the creek by the county and other agencies identified high levels of fecal coliform, nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in the creek, which reduce the quality of habitat for fish and wildlife. While these studies provided important information, the goal of this project is to understand the root cause of the problems and address them in a cost effective manner. The watershed characterization and action plan will be completed by the end of this year. Funding for this project comes from a Washington State Department of Ecology grant. More information is available online at piercecountywa.
org/swancreek. Swan Creek is also part of the county's Raise the Grade program which identifies water bodies with poor water quality. The county then works with the community to develop solutions.
ress in Tacoma. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department manages the soil sampling effort, while the Dept. of Ecology is lead on cleanup. According to Dept. of Ecology officials, 218 yards have already been sampled. Cleanup, however, is a more complex and time-intensive process, according to Dept. of Ecology officials. Eight yards were cleaned up during a pilot project last year.
Councilmembers will not take public comment during the study session, which will be held on Tues., Feb. 18 at 12 p.m. in Room 16 of Tacoma Municipal Building North, 733 Market St. Audio from the meeting will be broadcast live on TV Tacoma and online at tvtacoma.com. On-demand audio archives are available on the Web within 24 hours of the meeting online at tvtacoma.com.