Quendall Terminals cleanup plan unveiled

The U.S. EPA yesterday released its final plan for the cleanup of Quendall Terminals in Renton, a former creosote manufacturing plant and oil storage facility along Lake Washington, where for decades creosote, coal tar, and other hazardous chemicals accumulated on the land, in groundwater, and in lake sediments.

EPA divided the site into two “operable units”: OU-1 for the upland portion of the site and OU-2 for the lakebed portion just offshore. The agency estimates that cleanup of OU-1 will cost approximately $66 million and OU-2 will cost $40 million. Both estimates include the cost of monitoring the effectiveness of the remedy for 100 years.

The Quendall Terminals site was placed on the Administrator’s Emphasis List of Superfund sites slated for “immediate, intense attention” by the Administrator and leadership in December 2017 due to the site’s exceptional potential for expedited cleanup and redevelopment.

The EPA will deal with the contamination in the lakebed sediments of OU-2 by:

• Dredging and disposing offsite sediment containing high levels of creosote and coal tars;
• Capping areas with upwelling of contaminated groundwater;
• Enhanced natural recovery, which includes adding clean sand to speed up the cleanup in natural recovery areas.
  

“We’re excited to move forward on this long overdue cleanup,” said Chris Hladick, EPA’s Regional Administrator for Region 10. “Sitting along the Lake Washington shore, Quendall is a potential gem, and thus one of the many places across the country where the Superfund Task Force’s work has made a significant difference.”

“Over the last three years we’ve been able to focus on Quendall to both speed the cleanup and maximize the area available for redevelopment,” continued Hladick. “This is a great day.”