Washington Dept. of Ecology to host public meeting on Boeing groundwater contamination

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently announced a public meeting for Feb. 27 on an investigation of groundwater contamination in Auburn and Algona spreading from a Boeing property.

Boeing is carrying out the investigation under Ecology’s supervision, and has undertaken several studies to document the location, size and impacts of the contamination. It is mostly comprised of trichloroethene (TCE) and vinyl chloride, which is a result of TCE breaking down, two solvent chemicals that were introduced into the environment through past releases. The studies suggest that the plume of contaminated groundwater now extends for more than a mile, in an area north and northwest of the property, though the chemicals are not appearing in high enough concentrations to harm public or environmental health. The impacted area’s public drinking water is safe for consumption.

The open house meeting on the investigation will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pacific’s Alpac Elementary School, with child care and Spanish translation provided. The meeting will provide information about the investigation in the form of information displays, and attendees will have the opportunity to present questions to representatives from Ecology, state and federal health agencies and the Algona Public Awareness Coalition.