2014 CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO — Workers remove pieces of a probing drill as they bore 45 feet into the ground along Berwick Creek and Hamilton Road south of Chehalis in 2014. The companies were sub-contracted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to sample soil and groundwater at the Hamilton Road Impacted Area which is part of the EPA's Hamilton/Labree Superfund Site. The EPA hoped to find the worst contamination in the area's soil so they can focus on the best ways to proceed with cleanup of the area.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to begin cleanup efforts this spring as part of the “Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site,” the agency announced.
The EPA and Twin Harbors Waterkeeper have scheduled an informational meeting for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 11 at the Veterans Memorial Museum at 100 SW Veterans Way in Chehalis to discuss the cleanup.
Twin Harbors Waterkeeper is involved through a Public Participation Grant from EPA to increase understanding and awareness about contaminated sites.
The cleanup action is focused on preventing the contaminant tetrachloroethene from getting into groundwater. Construction is expected to impact traffic in the area.
According to a notice on the meeting sent by the EPA, tetrachloroethene, known as PCE, is a “chemical solvent used for dry cleaning, metal degreasing and other industrial processes.”
Past actions by the EPA and the Washington Department of Ecology in the area included removing buried containers of hazardous substances from under a building near a livestock market, supplying residents with water when their wells had been contaminated and expanding Chehalis’ municipal water system.
“PCE-contaminated groundwater from these areas flows west and northwest across the Newaukum River Valley,” according to the EPA notice. “Several area homes use groundwater as their drinking water source from private wells. Other homes and businesses near the site get their water form the City of Chehalis public water supply system.
The Hamilton Road Impacted Area covers 10 acres along Interstate 5 and North Hamilton Road.
The contamination is believed to have come from a release of PCE directly into Berwick Creek sometime before 1990. Area creek-bed sediments, surface soil and subsurface soil is contaminated.
