Downtown Contaminated Soil & Groundwater Clean Up

  1. Project Update
  2. Project Description
  3. Contaminated Parcels
  4. Grant Funding & Assistance

Ecology and the City of Bothell held a 20-day comment period (Jan. 19 –Feb. 7, 2023) to remove the environmental covenant for portions of the Bothell Paint and Decorating, Former Hertz, and Bothell Landing sites. The Bothell Paint & Decorating site is known as Tax Parcel 3. The Bothell Former Hertz and Bothell Landing sites are on Tax Parcel 4.

All petroleum contaminated sources have been removed at Parcel 3 and Parcel 4. Groundwater monitoring data collected between 2020 and 2022 shows localized and naturally high arsenic in some groundwater wells, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs-diesel and heavy oil) are sporadically detected. The sporadic detections are due to degradation products (polar metabolites) of TPH compounds in groundwater. Ecology has determined that the naturally occurring arsenic and petroleum degradation products do not pose any threat to human health and the environment.

Ecology received seven comments regarding removing the environmental covenants. They've reviewed and considered all of them, and no significant changes will be made to the environmental covenants. Ecology will remove the environmental covenants from Tax Parcels 3 and 4.

Map of three downtown Bothell sites for environmental covenant removal public comment