As one who has submitted numerous lengthy letters on behalf of citizens of Kirkland, this will likely be one of the shortest.

Citizen review (and that of two experts) finds that one area of the recent report on contamination brings forward some questions. I will be asking the city to provide answers so that I can share with citizens. No need to flood city hall with letters. We’ll just see what they say.

The issue is that the cleanup report identified contamination extending beyond the property line. It sounds like how much contamination and how far it extends has not been researched. It sounds like it is known to be of sufficient toxicity that it requires cleanup. It sounds like it extends under the city sidewalk, but whether it extends further such as the city street, the sidewalk across the street or all the way to the lake has not been determined.

So will the city require the developer of the property to clean this up in advance of a building permit? This would seem the only time the city has teeth to make this happen, but maybe not. Some materials for Mr. Dargey’s projects indicate a five year exit strategy, not quite sure if that means he intends to build then sell, but if so, might the city be left holding the bag and footing the bill for contamination cleanup due to past activities on the parcels currently being prepared for construction at a later date?

I will submit these questions to the city with the hope that the city makes sure that the burden of investigation and cleanup is not one that is put on the backs of Kirkland Citizens if it rightfully belongs to those who intend to break ground on a project sometime in the future.

Karen Levenson, Kirkland