Earth Day: CD Faces Pollution From Gas Stations & Cleaners

For the most part, the Central District has only ever been two things:  an old growth forest and a residential neighborhood. Never having had a real industrial presence, you wouldn't expect to see too many issues with serious pollution or toxic cleanup. But a review of State Department of Ecology data shows that we've got our share of problems spread around the area.

The biggest culprits are from two sources: dry cleaners and gas stations or other fueling depots. State environmental rules require reporting and remediation whenever toxic or other volatile compounds end up in the ground, water, or air. That has resulted in 36 different reports filed in the last 10 years in various locations around the Central District and the northern part of Capitol Hill.

The good news is that most property owners appear to be very responsive when a problem is found. Of those 36 reported sites, 11 have already been cleaned up and another 15 are in the active stages of a remediation process. Another 5 are in various stages of analysis to determine the level of risk.

But a total of 5 different sites fall into a more worrisome category where a serious pollution problem has been discovered and analyzed, but where no concrete action is being taken to clean it up. And two of those 5 are given the second most serious pollution ranking by the state Department of Ecology.