King County receives grant to cleanup Harborview Medical Center bond project site

2004 Archived News

King County Executive Ron Sims announced today that the county will receive $200,000 in grant funds to rid a portion the site of a future Harborview Medical Center expansion of contamination. The grant was awarded to King County by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Environmental Response (OSWER).

“The grant will provide key funding for cleaning up the Harborview site, a crucial step in expansion of the facility,” said Sims. “Harborview gives priority care to special populations, including indigents, victims of domestic and sexual violence and the mentally ill, and the new clinics will provide vital services to King County residents most in need.”

The funds will be used to help cleanup part of the Harborview Medical Center (HMC) Bond Project where dry cleaning fluid was found. The site will be redeveloped into a new building that will house essential services, including the King County Medical Examiner, research facilities for Harborview and Public Health Seattle-King County clinics. The site cleanup and redevelopment is part of the larger HMC expansion and earthquake stabilization project, funded through a $193 million voter-approved Harborview Bond issue. HMC is owned by King County and managed by the University of Washington.

This is the first cleanup grant given to the joint King County/City of Seattle Brownfields Program, which has received over $700,000 in EPA assessment grant funding over the last five years. The Brownfields Program provides technical and financial assistance to businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipalities in assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites. For more information on the Brownfields Program contact Lucy Auster, Senior Planner, King County Solid Waste Division at (206) 296-8476 or lucy.auster@kingcounty.gov or visit the program Web site.