The Foss Waterway Cleanup: A Success Story of Working Together to Care for Community

The Foss Waterway
Credit: Metro Park Tacoma 

Authored by Justine Jadallah
Edited by Princess Avianne Charles

In Washington State, the city of Tacoma is nicknamed “grit city”, or the industrial city, due to its history of maritime and railroad activity after its establishment in 1875. While the industries flourished, the environment paid the price. The Thea Foss Waterway, or City Waterway at the time, was designated as a superfund site in 1983. Big industries, such as the pulp mill downtown, as well as private business owners and the city of Tacoma itself, were designated as polluters — contributing to the prevalence of pollutants from chemicals such as phenols and pesticides. While this was projected to be an afterthought after industrialization, the harmful effects raised great concern for those in the community — stepping up to tackle the challenge of reversing the harmful effects.

From “Economic Boom” to Environmental Hazard 

There are currently 51 superfund sites in Washington State, where a small percentage have been remediated, including the Thea Foss Waterway. As someone who recently moved to Tacoma, it is very clear that Thea Foss Waterway is a key economic and cultural feature of the city. It is centered amongst the Port of Tacoma, the Museum of Glass, and the Natural History Museum. There is also a beautiful walking path along the Thea Foss Waterway, complete with intricate glass sculptures. This waterway is a key feature of the region around which all economic activity is centered. Historically, the Thea Foss Waterway was located in the middle of the robust economic district in Tacoma. Tacoma is an industrial city that gained recognition as a result of its economic boom in the 1880s.

 At the time, the Great Northern Pacific Railroad was being built and Tacoma was selected as the final destination of the line given its strategic regional location near key trade areas like ports and main waterways. As a result of all this industrial growth, the waterway was exposed to a lot of pollutants. At the time, people believed that if you dumped industrial waste into a waterway, it would flow out with the tides. Contrary to this belief, there was a build-up of pollutants in the waterway sediments, as explained by Mary Henly of the city's Environmental Services Division. She explained that as salt water is heavier than freshwater, the inland streams that drain into the waterway from land are lighter than the ocean water that flows in — resulting in pollutants not being flushed out.

The shoreline of Thea Foss Waterway in the late 1990s
Credit: The News Tribun

 As a result of this, key companies around the Thea Foss waterway had been dumping their waste directly into the water where the pollutants bonded with sediments and settled, accumulating more than one million cubic yards of contaminated sediments. A century later, there was a decline in economic prosperity in the region and as a result, a decline in downtown activity in the Thea Foss Waterway. It was in this decade in November of 1983 that the first superfund list came out from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Tacoma Commencement Bay Nearshore Tideflats made it in the top 10. 

Citizens living in Tacoma at the time were shocked by this news. They had no idea of the environmental impact and worries imposed by the waterways and used the phrase “Smell those jobs!”, in response to comments about the waterways scent. After this ruling, the city and its residents took on the superfund remediation as a matter of pride and love for their city. Superfunds have nine phases to accomplish remediation; including remedial investigation where they study the impact of the problem, records of decisions where the best clean-up plan is determined, and implementation. The entirety of this process took the city 20 years to complete. 

Environmental Effects of the Contaminated Waterway 

The polluted city waterway had widespread environmental impacts that expanded throughout most of the waterway and its connected streams. The contaminants in the water mainly consisted of lead from the paint at the pulp mill, copper from machinery wiring, grease, gasoline, and battery acids. These contaminants ended up in the wildlife, posing a threat to humans who consumed them. One of the affected areas that faced such contamination included Commencement Bay, which contains Blair Waterway, a property and landmark owned by the Puyallup Tribe that serves as a culturally significant resource. 

Besides waterways impacting wildlife and cultural resources, there was also contamination in the sediment in the region. Sediment contamination of heavy metals like lead in waterways has significant impacts on human health by damaging kidneys and nervous systems as well as impairing development in ecological and human receptors. The EPA also found tarpits at the site, which contaminate groundwater. This can lead to poor drinking water quality, loss of water supply, degraded surface water supply, and negative health impacts due to dangerous drinking water for communities who use these waterways as their water source.

The Cleanup: A Collaboration in the City of Tacoma 

 The Thea Foss Waterway clean-up was a coordinated, multi-pronged effort on the part of the City of Tacoma and local business owners in the region. The EPA spent 5 years determining the environmental damage after its listing in 1983. Once the results were finalized in 1989, the feasibility study was released and the Department of Health identified the city itself as a potentially responsible party (PRP) due to the extensive stormwater pollution, where the stormwater drains were managed by the city. In response, the City of Tacoma asked the EPA if they could take on primary responsibility for the clean-up and renamed the area the Thea Foss Waterway. In 1994 they began with step one, remediation. As part of the environmental remediation process, the city created more than 12 acres of habitat to account for environmental mitigation. There were multiple parts to the cleanup, with a focus on removing contaminated sediment and contaminated groundwater. 

Undoubtedly, this effort came with large costs for its successes, following a cleanup bill of approximately $105 million. This is derived from taxpayers and private companies who collectively foot the bill to ensure that the Waterways can be restored. 

Financial Allocations for the Clean-Up Bill. Credit: City of Tacoma Website 

The site clean-up was a multi-pronged effort conducted by state, federal, and potentially responsible parties (PRP). Some businesses located around the Thea Foss Waterway were also included as PRP’s and they participated in collaboration with the City of Tacoma to directly address their role in the pollution, stepping up to protect their community. The partners handled the cleanup by first containing the contaminated sediment by isolating it away from the current waterways into storage units. They then conducted multiple continuous studies of the soil composition to ensure that the heavy metals stayed out of the water. They conducted studies through 2001 and once they met the testing requirements they determined the preferred alternative plan. The permitting process took 2 years and the cleanup plan was completed by 2006. They successfully cleared out the contaminants and restored the groundwater by 2015. However, the EPA continues to monitor soil composition and well management of the previous groundwater-contaminated sourceways to this day. 

Thea Foss Waterway present day
Credit: Curtis Cronn

Now that the clean up requirements have been met, the City of Tacoma has petitioned the EPA and remains optimistic that the Thea Foss will be removed from the Superfund list soon. Tourists and locals alike now come here to enjoy maritime and recreational activities on the waterway, support local businesses, and enjoy cultural resources, such as the Museum of Glass. As a result of the intensive, coordinated effort by the City of Tacoma and its citizens to clean up their environment, the Thea Foss is now a symbol associated with the prosperity of the City and the center of pride for the community.

Author

Justine Jadallah

Justine Jadallah works for the Washington State Legislature. She graduated from the University of Washington with an Environmental Studies major and Marine Biology minor, which she uses to guide her environmental policy work in the Senate.