King County Council approves arsenic clean-up project in Kent

July 25, 2016

Summary

The remediation of this area will allow further salmon habitat restoration work to move forward.

Story

Today the Metropolitan King County Council approved $850,000 in grant funding through the WaterWorks Grant Program for projects that improve regional water quality. The City of Kent was selected to receive an award of $100,000 for the Leber Homestead Arsenic Remediation project to clean up contaminated soil within the floodplain and improve both water quality and salmon habitat in the Green River.

“The Kent project is a win for the environment and also for public health,” said County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove. “Removing arsenic from the Leber Homestead site provides a direct benefit for both people and wildlife in the immediate area, as well as downriver.”

The City of Kent will use the grant funding to clean up the top two feet of soil at the Leber Homestead, located where Mill Creek meets the Green River. Elevated levels of arsenic were found at the site, a former apple orchard. The remediation of this area will allow further salmon habitat restoration work to move forward. This project, in conjunction with four other salmon habitat enhancement projects proposed or completed in Kent, are expected to provide the necessary habitat to restore Chinook salmon in the Lower Green River.

The purpose of the WaterWorks Grant Program, administered by the King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD), is to support sound investments in clean water and the community. This allocation represents the first round of funding in a competitive process where community groups, agencies, tribes, and local governments can apply for funding for projects that demonstrate an improvement in water quality in the WTD service area and also benefit its ratepayers. The fund comes from the Council’s appropriation of 1.5 percent of the Wastewater Treatment Division’s operating budget for water quality improvement activities. Project grant awards for this round range from $15,000 to $250,000.

Visit the WaterWorks Grant Program website for more information.