Cleanup efforts are set to start at the Lockheed Superfund site in West Seattle in mid- August.

Lockheed West Seattle is one of the remaining areas to be cleaned up at the Harbor Island Superfund site.

The Lockheed Martin Corporation, as the Potentially Responsible Party for the cleanup, will remove contamination from a 40-acre area in the northwest corner of the mouth of the West Waterway and north of the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5. An estimated total of 167,000 cubic yards of contaminated material will be removed over the course of the cleanup, reducing site risks to human health and the environment. Of that total, more than 151,000 cubic yards of sediment will be dredged from the sub-tidal area and an additional 15,800 cubic yards will be excavated or dredged from the shoreline and intertidal area.

Looking east at the site from jack block park

For the cleanup, Lockheed Martin will:

Remove pilings and debris.

Dredge and dispose of sediments, pilings and debris at a permitted off-site landfill.

Add a thin layer of clean sand across the entire site to enhance natural recovery and cover dredged areas.

Continue the Washington State Department of Health fish advisory so people are aware of risks from eating contaminated seafood. The﻿ fish consumption advisory, warning individuals not to consume contaminated resident seafood caught in the waterway, is in place. However, salmon are safe to eat since they only pass through Elliott Bay and do not live year-round in the bay.

The cleanup work begins mid-August of 2018 and will be done in the spring of 2019.

Why clean it up?

Puget Sound Bridge and Dredge Company with the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company conducted shipbuilding and repairs at the site from 1946 to 1987. The companies’ operations contaminated the site and surroundings with paint, metal scrapings and sandblast grit, which were all released directly into Elliott Bay.

The site is contaminated with heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls

(PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs), dioxins/furans, petroleum products and many other contaminants.

A Washington Department of Health fish consumption advisory warns people not to consume contaminated resident seafood caught in the bay. This advisory stays in place after the cleanup because overall contaminants in the bay are too high to eat unlimited quantities of fish.