Downtown Contaminated Soil & Groundwater Clean Up

Project description

This project is a component of Bothell's Downtown Revitalization Plan and is identified in the Capital Facilities Plan as T47. The environmental assessment and cleanup of several contaminated downtown Bothell city-owned properties needs to occur prior to their redevelopment. Since early 2008, the City has implemented environmental assessment efforts which entail conducting historic research and field investigations aimed at determining the presence, nature and extent of contamination in soil and/or groundwater on the various properties. This assessment work was followed by cleanup work beginning in summer 2010.

Contaminated parcels

Five contaminated parcels lie along the pathway of the new Crossroads (State Route 522) roadway alignment. These are under Cleanup Agreed Orders with the Department of Ecology. The Ultra Cleaners site adjacent to City Hall is also under an Agreed Order. Just south of the future Main Street extension near the SHAG development, cleanup of the Bothell Service Center and former Wexler are being conducted under a consent decree with the Department of Ecology. In the northern part of downtown, the City independently cleaned up another contaminated property in the area formerly occupied by the Northshore School District’s (NSD) Bus barn and transportation/maintenance facility.

Grant funding & assistance

The City has secured some grant funding and assistance to perform this work, including:

  • Remedial Action Grants totaling $8 million from the Department of Ecology for assessment and cleanup of the five Agreed Order sites (Bothell Landing, Bothell Riverside, Bothell Paint & Decorating, Bothell Hertz, and Bothell Ultra Custom Cleaners). Ecology will pay for 50% of eligible costs incurred by the City. 
  • A $200,000 Brownfields Cleanup Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) to clean up the Bothell Landing site.
  • The King County Brownfields Program also assisted the City by conducting environmental investigations to better understand groundwater impacts caused by former dry-cleaning businesses in the downtown area. This work was funded by an EPA Brownfields grant.