Cleanups

Since the mid-1990s the port has returned 55 acres of contaminated sites to productive property for use by tenants such as Pacific Coast Shredding, TriStar Transload PNW, Columbia River Sand and Gravel, and Marine Terminals Corporation. With the recent purchase of the former Alcoa Evergreen smelter property, an additional 218 acres of brown fields will be returned to productive use at the ports Terminal 5.

The port works closely with the Washington State Department of Ecology to ensure site cleanup activities are conducted in a timely manner, and in accordance with the Model Toxic Control Act (MTCA), and other applicable laws and regulations. The Department of Ecology provides technical and regulatory oversight and shares the cost of investigation and cleanup under the Remedial Action Grants Program. The port is also committed to pursuing cost recovery from other industrial parties responsible for the contamination.

Environmentally impacted sites that the port is currently working on are:

Fruit Valley Area Cleanup

Project Update: Groundwater Pump and Treat Construction Complete
The groundwater pump-and-treat system, the most comprehensive method to cleaning the rest of the contamination, began pumping and treating contaminated groundwater in June.  The facility will help speed the completion if the cleanup of solvent contamination in groundwater under the Fruit Valley neighborhood in West Vancouver.

The pump-and-treat system, which is currently being erected behind the Tri-Mac building, will accelerate the remainder of the TCE cleanup in the groundwater under Fruit Valley.

In 1982, the port purchased 0.88 acres of property, at the SW corner of Fourth Plain Blvd. and Mill Plain, where a restaurant/tavern, last known as Ragg's Tavern was located. Swan Manufacturing, a baseboard heater manufacturer had operated at the site from 1956-1964. Trichloroethylene (TCE) and other solvent contamination was found in soil at the manufacturing site and has reached groundwater. Immediate actions by the port enabled the soil contamination to be treated successfully.

Further investigation by the port revealed that TCE contamination was also present at the Cadet Manufacturing Co. site, located on Fourth Plain Boulevard north of existing port property. Cadet had purchased the heater manufacturing operation from Swan in 1972. Cleanup efforts by the company resulted in the removal of 540 pounds of chlorinated solvents from soil and groundwater between 1998 and 2006.

In February 2006, Port Commissioners approved an agreement to purchase the Cadet facility and property that allows for faster and better coordinated cleanup of co-mingled groundwater from both sites. Under the settlement agreement, the port purchased 11 acres of land, a 75,000 square foot building, and assumed responsibility for the completion of the environmental cleanup project at the Cadet Manufacturing facility. Operations at the Cadet Manufacturing facility (which employs more than 100 to manufacture electrical heaters) will remain unchanged.

Click here for detailed information about the site and cleanup efforts.

Former Fort Vancouver Plywood site

This property was the site of industrial activities, mostly wood-related manufacturing, for over 70 years. The last known industrial operation was a former plywood mill that closed in 1996. Site investigation revealed that the soil has been contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), metals, and pentachlorophenol (PCP) in excess of Department of Ecology standards.

Project Status: Cleanup of the site is complete. The port is under a formal agreement with the Department of Ecology and has removed the contaminated soil from the site. This site is now in use by a metal recycling facility. Groundwater monitoring is on-going.

Automotive Services, Inc. (ASI) site

The ASI facility was constructed in 1972 and previously used kerosene to remove under-coatings from foreign automobile imports. Kerosene-impacted soils were identified on-site. Diesel contaminated soils, which may not be related to former ASI activities, were also identified.

Project Status:  Cleanup is complete. Through the Department of Ecology's Voluntary Cleanup Program, the port successfully cleaned up the site using bioremediation.  The site has been returned to productive use as a ready mix concrete facility. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing.

Former Brazier Forest Industries site

Industrial uses, including a wood laminating facility, operated at the site until 1991. Petroleum-impacted soils and groundwater were identified on the site at levels above Department of Ecology standards.

Project Status: Cleanup is complete. Contamination at the site is being addressed through the Department of Ecology Voluntary Cleanup Program. A majority of the petroleum-impacted soils above MTCA levels have been removed. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing.