On August 26, Olympia residents got their first look at the Department of Ecology’s cleanup plan for the decades old solid and hazardous waste dump on Olympia’s Westside, also known as the Sundberg Gravel Pit and Cooper Point Log Yard, and the site for the proposed Green Cove Project, the 5th housing project that developer Jerry Mahan has been proposing to the City of Olympia since 2008.
Each proposal has received almost unanimous pushback from the community primarily because of the notorious nature of the site as a legacy waste dump. Several years of intense public pressure finally put the site on Ecology’s radar, and on its Confirmed and Suspected Contamination List (CSCSL) in 2020.
At the August 26 meeting, ten people from Ecology were on hand to explain the process of cleanup, Ecology’s role in it and to answer questions from the 25 neighbors and interested residents who attended. No representative from the City of Olympia was in attendance. The City never adequately responded to the complaints from neighbors about the site, despite clear evidence of hazardous waste, some of which it had itself dumped. (1) Rather, it actively promoted Mr. Mahan’s development plans.
Connie Groven, the cleanup project manger, is an environmental engineer with 17 years of experience at the Department of Ecology. She was joined by Jerome Lambiotte, Section Manager for the Toxics Cleanup Program and a geologist who has worked doing cleanup for the Department of Defense and private entities, and by Marian Abbett, Unit Supervisor for the program and a professional environmental engineer who has also worked for Ecology for 17 years. Ms. Abbett was key to Ecology’s cleanup of the Tacoma Asarco plume, and will take over as Section Manager soon when Mr. Lambiotte begins employment with the Army Corps of Engineers. Several other support staff members were also present.
Ecology had several large maps on display showing the extent of land disturbance and areas where waste and contamination have already been found in soil, surface water and groundwater.
Roger Robinson, a neighbor who has documented activity at the site since he moved next to it in 1999, also provided a map showing the areas where he has seen hazardous waste, including concrete, metal drums, creosoted wood and other construction debris, dumped and buried.
Other neighbors also shared their knowledge of the extensive dumping that has occurred on this and on adjacent sites for over 7 decades. Michael Moore, who lives on Grove St at the southeast section of the site, reported that he has found a fiberglass boat hull, metal, bike parts and all kinds of trash in the wetland behind his house that is outside the site boundary. A family who lives on the northwest boundary is dealing with a stormwater pond and ditches that were dug on their property to drain the contaminated water from the gravel pit which still drains water from the site. Mike Gwinn who lives north on 28th Ave. and next to the 5 acres the City of Olympia bought recently for a “park” for the proposed housing development, reports Ted Sundberg buried concrete, asphalt, sheetrock and an old car frame under a road he was trying to construct from the site to 28th Ave. in the 1970’s, and buried garbage, including metal drums at the border of his parcel and the City property.
Neighbors also reported the huge amounts of bark and wood waste from Weyerhaeuser’s export log yard that were deposited in swales along the eastern edge of the property filling canyons 40’ deep with bark contaminated with Agent Orange type herbicides used routinely in silviculture during the 1970’s. Messages to the City from Jim Elliot, now deceased, whose family owned the property before Sundberg and who lived adjacent to it on East End St NW, stated “that the property has been filled numerous times over the years,” and that “fill from around underground storage tanks and fill from the Port were placed on the property and spread out up to his west property line.”
Ecology staff thanked residents for this information, which they say guided their work devising the current Remedial Investigation Work Plan now under review, written by Aspect Consulting of Seattle and reviewed by Ecology.
Jerry Mahan, owner of the site since 2006 when he bought the site from Sundberg’s daughter, is recognized as the Potentially Liable Party (PLP) by Ecology and is responsible for all costs associated with the cleanup according to the terms of the Agreed Order that he signed with Ecology in January, 2024, including the costs for Aspect Consulting who prepared the Work Plan. Ms. Groven assured the audience that Aspect is a nationally known firm and that Ecology closely supervises and reviews their work.
Ms. Groven presented an informative slide show that addressed current conditions and community concerns. Ecology has identified numerous contaminants of concern, including diesel and heavy oil, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, metals, like arsenic, iron and manganese, PCBs, pesticides and methane. Notably, creosote, a carcinogenic toxin present in logs from the Port of Olympia that ample eyewitness testimony and photos prove were deposited on the site, was missing from the list of contaminants of concern. Also missing was pentachlorophenol, a highly toxic chemical requiring specific sampling protocols which also was present on the Port peninsula from which material was brought, and which also should be included in Ecology’s sampling. The extent of the contamination will determine the site boundary that is covered by the cleanup order, and not the property line.
Ms. Groven reviewed explorations that had already been done, and acknowledged that there are still many unknowns. What is the nature and extent of the fill? 400-500 dump loads of material were brought on site and graded by Mr. Mahan. Where did it come from? What about all the materials brought on site during the 65 years Ted Sundberg owned the property? How contaminated is it? How deep and far off the property does the contamination extend? What contamination exists at the north edge of the property where ditches were dug to drain water off the gravel pit, or in the shallow groundwater, surface water and wetland sediment?
There is also the potential for methane generation from buried wood debris which would preclude building houses on those areas, as would the threat of subsidence of such disturbed ground. She indicated additional places on the site where Ecology will be looking for soil, surface water and groundwater contamination.
Because the nature of the site is so complex, the work will progress in phases. Ecology will first dig 6-10’ test pits on the eastern and northern boundary. If the test pit does not reach the bottom of the fill or if contamination is found, soil borings, 1-4” wide, will be done to go deeper down to 2 feet below native soil. Concerns were raised that inserting a needle down into a haystack might miss contamination lying nearby. Within the 53 acres, there are less than 20 soil test pits, and some question whether this is sufficient. Ms. Groven appeared confident that Ecology would be able to pick representative locations.
To check the groundwater, Ecology plans to put monitoring wells where woody debris and underground tanks were, and will check for soil contamination as they go down. The wells will go as deep as necessary to hit the shallow groundwater, which she says is mostly 8-10’ deep.
Mr. Lambiotte in a subsequent conversation said that though it is assumed that a thick layer of impervious soil exists between shallow groundwaters and the deeper aquifers, Ecology will be careful to insure that borings go through any fill layers that may have been deposited to cover up dumped waste until they get to true native soils to determine if the deeper aquifers are compromised. Concerns continue about how deep Ecology will test to check if contamination has reached this deeper aquifer which feeds city and neighbors’ drinking water wells. It will be interesting to review these findings from the contractor who will be conducting this work.
When all the groundwater, soil and surface water have been assessed, Ecology will decide on an ongoing monitoring plan to check seasonal changes. Green Cove will be required to submit quarterly reports detailing all activities, all raw data and any deviations from the Work Plan that occurred on the site during the cleanup and for at least 1 year afterwards depending on results.
How long it will take for cleanup to begin is difficult to say, but several years seems a reasonable guess as investigating the actual nature and extent of the contamination on site is just the first step. Fieldwork and laboratory analysis takes time, especially as labs are backlogged. This work must then be reviewed by Ecology to determine if additional work is needed, e.g., if offsite or deeper aquifer sampling is required.
When Ecology thinks it has all the data it needs, a Feasibility Study will be done which provides options on how to address the contamination. Ecology, not the PLP, will determine the choice of cleanup action. Public comment periods will be held for each phase until the cleanup begins.
Attendees did have several questions after the presentation, the most obvious being why Ecology has characterized the site as a gravel mine and log yard only when documents and evidence prove it was an illegal hazardous waste dump for more than 70 years. If Ecology is to be trusted, it needs to be truthful about the actual history of this site and correct the now clearly false mischaracterization presented in Ecology’s documents.
Neighbors concerned about their drinking water wells were told that Ecology first finds contamination at the source and then tracks it offsite to neighboring properties and the surrounding area, including Puget Sound. Adequate groundwater investigation and monitoring is a major concern.
Overall, Ecology’s presentation began another arduous process – that of regaining the public trust after decades of neglect. Hopefully, the gratitude that Ecology has finally undertaken this long overdue Herculean task will be well deserved.
Neighbors in the Olny Homeowners Association who live close to the site and the Green Cove Defense Committee will be closely following the progress of the cleanup and will give periodic updates to the community.
Ecology’s Cleanup Website linked here
Written Comments can be submitted until September 16. These will be used by Ecology to modify the current draft Remedial Investigation Work Plan.
Submit comments online http://tcp.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=h7UYfTDC4
or by mail or email to
Connie Groven, Site Manager
WA. State Department of Ecology
PO Box 47775
Olympia WA 98504-7775
connie.groven@ecy.wa.gov
Esther Kronenberg resides in the Green Cove Watershed
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