Environmental clean-up to be discussed at a public meeting on August 24

Seattle Housing Authority purchased land in the last two years between E. Yesler Way and E. Fir St. at 109 and 111 12th Ave. After initial environmental testing the property was found to be contaminated with petroleum products and chemicals commonly used by dry cleaning businesses. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Seattle Housing with a Brownsfields Grant of $96,000 to help pay for cleaning the property.

SHA and the King County Brownfields Program will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. on August 24 in Schaefer Auditorium at Seattle University, 901 12^th Ave., to discuss plans for cleaning the property. Representatives of SHA, King County and the environmental consultant will be present at the public meeting to provide information and answer questions.

At the information meeting on August 24, plans to investigate conditions on the properties of 113 through 117 12^th Ave. will also be presented. A dry cleaning business operated on this site for more than 60 years and is suspected to be the source of contamination affecting 109 and 111 12^th Ave.

The houses were originally purchased to improve the neighborhood adjacent to SHA's Yesler Terrace community. Seattle Housing has made similar purchases in other neighborhoods, including Westwood Heights in West Seattle and NewHolly in Southeast Seattle. The properties on 12th Ave. included run down buildings and a burned-out house where squatters were carrying out illegal drug sales and prostitution.

SHA will eventually redevelop these properties into mixed-use developments containing housing and commercial uses. Specific plans are not yet in place. The properties were not purchased in connection with the possible redevelopment of Yesler Terrace. Community conversations on redevelopment possibilities are just beginning and planning for any redevelopment is still more than a year away.

SHA is in the process of acquiring the properties of 113 through 117 12^th Ave. and is interested in developing a clean-up plan that encompasses the source of pollution as well as the properties impacted by it. The King County Brownfields Program will fund the assessment of this site.

Locations of Properties

For more information, contact Paul Fitzgerald, SHA development program manager, at 206-615-3551 or Lucy Auster from the King County Brownfields Program at 206-296-8476.

For more details about the public meeting in a variety of languages, please click on the appropriate link below.
 

• Details in English

• Details in Vietnamese

• Details in Somali

• Details in Tigrinya