Muddy Waters: Navigation Dredging, Regulations and the Commencement Bay/Nearshore Tideflats Superfund Site

The Port of Tacoma and the City of Tacoma are both vitally interested in moving forward on dredging and clean up of Commencement Bay. At the same time, both the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers have responsibility for assuring that any activities taking place comply with the applicable laws and regulation governing sediment analyses and clean-up. Several of the waterways within Commencement Bay have been cleaned up. Over 150 acres of contaminated sediment remain, and as much as 1.8 million cubic yards of sediment may be dredged. Although Commencement Bay/Nearshore Tideflats is listed as an NPL site, some portions are outside areas of concern. In addition, within the areas of concern, not all sediment proposed for removal is contaminated. Some may be suitable for in-water placement. CERCLA laws and regulations and Clean Water Act laws and regulations were not written with this patchwork of clean/contaminated material in mind. To add to the mix, the Corps of Engineers also has authorized navigation channels in many of the Commencement Bay waterways, and these are subject to specific Corps policy on dredging within Superfund sites. EPA Region 10, Seattle District USACE, the various responsible parties and their consultants have navigated years of muddy waters in the regulation of dredging and dredged material in Commencement Bay. A number of innovative (but legal) approaches have been used to comply with the law and move the clean up forward.