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Metropolitan King County Council
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Seattle, WA 98104
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Oct. 27, 2008

Phillips applauds Port of Seattle on Puget Sound-friendly dredging

Sending PCB-contaminated dredging materials to landfill better for Puget Sound

Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips calls the Port of Seattle’s approval of sending PCB-contaminated materials dredged in the Terminal 30 project to a landfill a responsible action for Puget Sound. Earlier this month, the Port Commission approved a $4.1 million change order to the Terminal 30 project that means rather than burying contaminated sediment underwater in Puget Sound, the materials will be removed from the Sound and disposed of in a landfill.

“If this region is truly serious about restoring Puget Sound, we can’t keep using the same harmful practices we’ve used in the past,” said Phillips, Chair of the County Council’s Regional Water Quality Committee. “I applaud the Port of Seattle for going above and beyond current regulations to make a difference for Puget Sound.”

The Terminal 30 project calls for dredging 21,000 cubic yards of materials from a Superfund site east of Harbor Island in order to allow for passage of deep container ships. Plans originally called for using the standard practice of burying PCB-contaminated sediment at a site in the middle of Elliott Bay. Puget Sound protection groups, led by Fred Fellerman of Friends of the Earth, called on the Port to voluntarily hold itself to a higher environmental standard and remove the contaminated materials from Puget Sound.

Phillips joined Fellerman in supporting the concept of upland contaminated soil removal and requested that King County Department of Natural Resources collaborate with the Port of Seattle on the potential for upland disposal.

“Taking the extra time and expense now to remove PCBs from Puget Sound will pay dividends in the long run,” said Phillips. “I hope this will become the new standard for dealing with contaminated soils in our waterways.”