December 7, 2015

South Park site could become recycling facility

Image from city of Seattle documents [enlarge]

SPU says it needs more facilities to meet the goal of recycling 70 percent of the city’s waste by 2022.

Seattle is moving forward with plans to redevelop about 11 acres on the 40-acre South Park Landfill site for new solid waste operations.

Seattle Public Utilities recently issued a DNS and submitted an interim action work plan to clean up the contaminated site, which was once the South Recycling and Disposal Station.

An informational meeting will be held Tuesday with SPU and the state Department of Ecology.

Cleanup costs are estimated at $5.1 million.

SPU still uses its parcel at 8100 Second Ave. S. for yard waste and household hazardous waste collection, truck parking, fueling and vehicle maintenance. The rest of the site is owned by others.

Most of SPU's 11 acres are covered with asphalt. There are a few structures, including the household hazardous waste building, former waste collection building, fueling area and temporary office trailers. They total about 51,000 square feet.

SPU plans to keep the household hazardous waste building and remove everything else. Initial site work is expected to expose refuse and a soil and gravel cover that was applied prior to paving. Site work later will raise the grade with new fill.

Some fill could be preloaded and surcharged to reduce settlement, which otherwise could be up to 6 inches.

An interim action work plan for the cleanup lists HDR, Herrera, Aspect Consulting and Floyd Snider as consultants. A schedule in that plan has site work starting in mid-2016 to 2017, followed by demolition and regrading in 2017, and construction of a cap and landfill gas controls also in 2017. Building construction is scheduled for 2018.

The work plan outlines these potential elements:

• SPU offices

• Surface parking garage

• Materials recovery facility supported by up to 300 piles

• Recycling facility with office, covered storage and loading dock

• Reuse facility with office, covered storage and loading dock

• Truck fueling with aboveground tank

• Truck washing tied into the stormwater system

• Stormwater decant/sewer grit facility

• Pedestrian path on Fifth Avenue South

Preliminary estimates put the new space at about 53,000 square feet.

SPU says additional recycling facilities will help the city meet its 70 percent goal by 2022, and a vactor truck station will allow it to clean more stormwater and sewer lines.

Tuesday's meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the South Park Neighborhood Center, 8201 10th Ave. S.

Comments on the environmental documents can be submitted until Jan. 5 to Jerome Cruz, Department of Ecology, 3190 160th Ave. S.E., Bellevue, WA 98008; or jerome.cruz@ecy.wa.gov.

The landfill operated from the 1930s until 1966. It was added to the state's hazardous sites list in 2007 due to concerns with groundwater contamination and flammable landfill gas.

SPU operates a newer transfer station north of the landfill at 130 S. Kenyon St.