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| LOCKHEED WEST SEATTLE | Seattle, Washington | |
| King County |
Site Location:
The Lockheed West Seattle site is a former shipyard located in Seattle,
Washington, on the southwestern shoreline of Elliott Bay.
Site History:
The former shipyard operated from 1946 to 1986; it was sold to the Port
of Seattle in 1992. The uplands portion of the old shipyard is
approximately 25 acres and aquatic area is approximately 27 acres. The
uplands portion of the old shipyard, which was remediated under state
authority, is now part of Terminal 5, one of the Port's container
shipping facilities. The aquatic area, which has not been remediated, is
located on property owned in part by the Port and in part by the
Washington Department of Natural Resources.
The site had three dry docks, four piers and a shipway. All of these
structures have been removed except for the shipway, and two of the
piers which no longer have decking.
Past industrial practices at the shipyard have resulted in contamination
of the sediments. During the years of operation, paint, metal scrapings
and sandblast grit from boat refurbishing activities were discharged
directly to the adjacent surface water body (i.e., Elliot Bay).
Site Contamination/Contaminants:
The primary contaminants of concern include heavy metals (arsenic,
chromium, copper, lead, silver, zinc) and butyltins. Polychlorinated
biphenyls and polyaromatic hydrocarbons have also been found in the
sediments.
Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment:
Elliott Bay is used for a variety of recreation purposes. Recreational
fishing and small craft pleasure boating, including canoeing and
kayaking, occur near the site. The site is also within the Usual and
Accustomed Fishing Grounds of both the Muckleshoot and Suqamish Tribes.
The tribes use this area as a commercial and subsistence fishery. It is
a critical habitat for the Federally-listed threatened Chinook Salmon.
Response Activities (to date):
The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) had been the lead
regulatory agency overseeing cleanup activities under Model Toxics
Control Act (MTCA) authority since the late 1980s. This site is listed
on Ecology's Hazardous sites list. In 1994, Ecology entered into a
Consent Decree with the Port under MTCA which required the Port to
conduct interim clean up actions on the upland portion of the site.
These actions included the removal and treatment of contaminated zone
soils, the clean up of storm drain sediments, installation of an asphalt
cap and the design and implementation of a monitoring program. The Port
implemented these actions in 1995. In 1996, following a remedial
investigation, Ecology drafted a MTCA Cleanup Action Plan for the
aquatic portion of the site which was never finalized or implemented.
In January 2006, Ecology sent EPA a letter requesting that EPA take the
lead for overseeing site cleanup. Since that time, EPA has had a number
of meetings with the responsible party, Lockheed, to discuss the change
in the agency lead, and to initiate and complete negotiations with
Lockheed for the performance of a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility
Study to fill data gaps left by the prior state investigation and to
enable EPA to issue a Record of Decision for the site. Presently,
Lockheed is collecting additional sediment data to complete the nature
and extent analyses for the Remedial Investigation.
[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991, or subsequent FR notices.]
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.