Operating under a unique agreement reached earlier this year, the Washington State Department of Ecology (WSDOE) is seeking public comment until Jan. 20 on how to clean up pollution at a former industrial site in Kirkland.
The former Pace National Corporation property at 500 Seventh Ave. South will be cleaned up under the direction of the department’s Voluntary Cleanup Program. State regulators will manage the soil and groundwater contamination clean-up with cooperation from the site’s owner, Seattle-based ULTRA Corporation. The pollution includes petroleum hydrocarbons, semi-volatile organic compounds, and chlorinated solvents. The site is a five-acre property in a mixed commercial/industrial and residential neighborhood about 0.5 mile south of downtown. Google’s new office complex and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks are to the east, Lakeview Elementary School to the north and condo/apartment buildings and single family residents to the north and west.
Under an agreed order with WSDOE, ULTRA and their environmental consultants must submit a detailed site assessment, feasibility study of cleanup options and a clean-up plan proposal. They also expect to propose a pilot test for groundwater treatment. The state is canvassing public opinion on those requirements and how the public will stay involved going forward.
The agreement and comment period mark the latest chapter of a long-running dispute between Pace’s parent company owner ULTRA Corporation head Max Gurvich and a number of neighborhood residents. One of those residents is Don Winters, head of the Moss Bay Neighborhood Association. He said neighbors that lived along Seventh Avenue first formed the association in response to the condition of the property and plans from Gurvich and ULTRA to redevelop the site as a large office park.
“It was just abandoned for years,” he said. “There were even rumors that kids had started a ‘Fight Club’ there.”
The property owner is now reportedly in negotiations with residential developer CamWest, but the offer to buy it is contingent on getting rid of the pollution. Winters said he was surprised to learn of the extent of contamination and the chemicals manufactured at the Pace site from WSDOE reports on the property.
“I didn’t know they were making carburetor cleaner there,” he said. “That’s pretty gnarly stuff.”
Living directly opposite from the old Pace site, resident Trudy Goldkamp was happy to hear that the state had finally moved on to a point where the public could get involved in the process. She hoped the property would soon be re-zoned as residential and said she wasn’t aware of the negative effects the pollution posed to her neighborhood.
“Since they closed down, it’s been nothing but an eyesore,” she said.
Eastside Sun publisher John Gilday, who was employed by Gurvich to help clean-up the site in 2001 and 2002, had a slightly different take.
“No one doubts the chemicals from Pace’s activities were part of the contamination, but they weren’t the first to occupy the land and their operations provided a large chuck of the tax revenue Kirkland enjoyed,” he said. “Employee’s salaries, sales tax revenue and the property taxes on 7 acres allowed Kirkland to grow from a sleepy ‘60s relic into the sleepy 21st century relic we all love.”
A residential area from the early 1900s, the property has had commercial and industrial occupants since the early 1960s, including the Seattle Door Company and Tyee Lumber Co. Pace National purchased the property in 1969 and conducted chemical mixing and packaging on part of the site for approximately 20 years, starting in the early 1970s, and installed 14 underground storage tanks that held various specialty cleaning products, repellants and chemical preservatives. In the early 90s, the company went out of business and underwent the first of several environmental investigations to remove contaminants. The site was used for retail storage until 2006, when the building was demolished, contaminated soil was removed and groundwater monitoring wells were installed.
All documents relating to the clean up are available at the Kirkland Public Library. No public meeting has been scheduled unless 10 or more people request a meeting during the comment period that ends in two weeks.
Residents can submit comments and technical questions to WSDOE Site Manager Maura S. O’Brien, WSDOE Northwest Regional Office — Toxics Cleanup Program, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue, WA 98008. She can also be contacted by phone at 425-649-7249, or e-mail at mobr461@ecy.wa.gov.
WSDOE will review all comments received and make recommendations for any suggested changes. If no significant changes are necessary, the Agreed Order and Public Participation Plan will be final.
