EPA seeking public review of cleanup for Harbor Island Superfund Site

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working on its sixth Five-Year Review for the Harbor Island Superfund Site (due in September 2025).

A Five-Year Review provides a routine check-up to make sure that the cleanup continues to protect people and the environment. The most recent Five-Year Review (from 2020) showed that the Harbor Island Superfund Site cleanup remains protective of human health and the

environment. To ensure the cleanup continues to be protective of human health and

the environment, the EPA performs this comprehensive review every five years.

Do you have information on how the cleanup is working? Have you witnessed

any damage to the signage or fencing? Do you have other information? If so, the

EPA wants to hear from you by June 2, 2025. Please contact Ravi Sanga, EPA Remedial Project Manager at sanga.ravi@epa.gov or 206-553-4092.

For more information about the Harbor Island Superfund Site (including previous Five-Year Review documents), please visit the EPA's Harbor Island website.

If you need materials in an alternative format or language, please contact EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Laura Knudsen at knudsen.laura@epa.gov or 206-643-4299.

Harbor Island is a 420-acre island located in the Duwamish River and Elliot Bay in

Seattle, Washington. Harbor Island was listed as a Superfund Site (a highly

contaminated toxic waste site) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in

1983 after discovering that previous commercial and industrial operations

contaminated soil, groundwater, and sediment in the adjacent waterways.

Polychlorinated biphenyls are the most widespread contaminant of concern in the

sediment, but others include arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury,

and dioxins/furans.

The Harbor Island Superfund Site has been divided up into smaller areas (called

Operable Units, or OUs) to help organize the cleanup work. There are seven active

OUs. Cleanup decisions were made by EPA at six OUs and by the Washington

Department of Ecology at the Tank Farm OU.