Drafter
Clerk 02/27/2025
Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to the Lower Duwamish Waterway cleanup and authorizing the King County executive to sign and fulfill the obligations in the Consent Decree with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington state Department of Ecology and the associated multiparty Settlements to govern the cleanup of sediment contamination at the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site and address King County and other parties' roles, contributions, and obligations for cleanup.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. The United States Environmental Protection Agency and Washington state Department of Ecology identified King County as having potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 et. seq., and the Washington state Model Toxics Control Act, chapter 70A.305 RCW, for sediment contamination at the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site related to discharges of contaminants from county facilities, including, but not limited to, the King County International Airport and the regional combined sewer system.
2. The county as part of an early performing party group voluntarily entered into an Administrative Order on Consent in 2000 to investigate sediment contamination and assess alternatives for cleanup of the site.
3. The United States Environmental Protection Agency selected a remedy or cleanup plan for the site in a Record of Decision in 2014.
4. Following the United States Environmental Protection Agency's issuance of the cleanup plan in 2014, the county and other early performing parties launched a confidential alternative dispute resolution process, known as the Lower Duwamish Waterway Allocation, designed to allocate costs and secure funding for cleanup through multiparty settlements among dozens of parties.
5. The county and other performing parties entered into multiple successive amendments to the 2000 Administrative Order on Consent that advanced site work toward cleanup while the Lower Duwamish Waterway Allocation concluded.
6. The United States Environmental Protection Agency issued Special Notice Letters to the county and other parties in January 2023, inviting the county and other recipients to participate in formal consent decree negotiations to conduct or finance the cleanup at the site in exchange for a settlement of liability.
7. Pending the conclusion of consent decree negotiations, the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a Unilateral Administrative Order in July 2024, to the city of Seattle, King County, and The Boeing Company as a bridge to ensure cleanup construction began on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's expected timeline. Cleanup construction at the site began in November 2024.
8. The proposed Consent Decree, once effective, would supersede the 2024 Unilateral Administrative Order to govern the implementation of cleanup for the site under United States Environmental Protection Agency and Washington State Department of Ecology oversight. The city of Seattle, King County, and The Boeing Company would continue to perform and fund cleanup by completing the cleanup design and construction, conducting long-term monitoring and maintenance of cleanup, and implementing institutional controls including providing outreach for ongoing seafood consumption advisories.
9. The associated proposed multiparty Settlements address dozens of parties' roles, obligations, and contributions to cleanup. Settling parties would pay their fair shares of costs consistent with their accepted shares of responsibility.
10. The parties negotiated the proposed Consent Decree and related multiparty Settlements in the Attachments to this ordinance in good faith.
11. King County, without admitting liability, agrees with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington state Department of Ecology that the proposed Consent Decree is fair, reasonable, and in the public interest.
12. King County, without admitting liability, agrees with other settling parties that the associated proposed multiparty Settlements are fair, reasonable, and in the public interest.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. The King County council hereby approves the Consent Decree as presented in Attachment A to this ordinance and the Settlements in Attachments B, C, D,
and E to this ordinance, and authorizes the King County executive to sign and fulfill the county's obligations contained in the Consent Decree and Settlements.