Seattle International District site declared clean

The Washington Department of Ecology announced on Wednesday that cleanup efforts at a two-block site in Seattle’s International District have paid off, allowing the area to be removed from the state’s list of contaminated sites.

“This is a highly satisfying milestone,” said Ecology’s site manager Maura O’Brien, who oversaw the cleanup. “Washington’s cleanup process helped transform a contaminated site into one of the keystones of the International District’s overall redevelopment. We couldn’t be more pleased to share this success with Metro and the community.”

The site is located at 802 S. Dearborn St. and was a former facility of the King County Metro Transit, which used it to fuel, park and maintain buses. Metro was responsible for the site's cleanup, which included demolishing all buildings on the site, removing 12,240 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil and implementing a two-year groundwater and deep soil treatment system.

Following the cleanup efforts, the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority purchased and redeveloped the site, which now houses a health clinic, library, businesses, residential units and a community center.

Ecology has proposed three steps to finalize the cleanup process: removing the property from the state's Hazardous Sites List, withdrawing the consent decree between Ecology and Metro and removing a covenant requiring groundwater monitoring from the property’s deed. The department is accepting public comment on these proposals until November 16.