Boeing cleanup plan failing to control PCBs, state says

By Christopher Schwarzen
Times Snohomish County bureau

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EVERETT | Removal of contaminated concrete joints at Boeing's Everett plant has led to another pollution issue the company must address, state environmental officials say.

Since 2000, Boeing has been replacing joints separating large concrete slabs that make up the plant's flight line, where planes are parked for final testing before being delivered.

The joints, which allow the concrete to swell and shrink as temperatures change, contain a sealant laced with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

PCBs are considered carcinogens and can accumulate in fatty tissues of fish, animals and humans. In this case, PCBs have been entering Powder Mill Creek, potentially contaminating fish.

Federal and state authorities gave Boeing six years to remove the joints, and it is one year from finishing the project, company officials say. But deterioration of remaining joints is sending PCBs into the creek at quantities that raise concerns.

The state Department of Ecology also has ordered Boeing to improve how it collects storm water running off the flight line. PCBs enter Powder Mill Creek through storm water.

"As the joints deteriorate, particles wash off," said Dean Yasuda, Ecology's site manager for the project. "It's a multiyear project [to remove the joints], but in areas that have not been treated, they're still releasing PCBs."

PCB levels are close to 6,000 parts per billion near the company's storm-water outfall into the creek. PCBs, artificial compounds that don't degrade in the environment, build up in the food chain, putting all predator species, including humans, at risk.

Federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines say that if a person eats fish twice a week, it should contain no more than four to six parts per billion of PCBs. The Food and Drug Administration sets a lower threshold, requiring PCBs not to exceed 2,000 parts per billion in salmon.
 
Though no salmon spawn in the creek, the waters discharge into Possession Sound, where there is fishing.

"Hopefully, by the end of this month, Boeing will have its [storm-water-retention] pond retrofitted to eliminate as much as possible this PCB discharge," Yasuda said.

Boeing officials have spent about $4 million to date removing the joints, which if lined up would stretch for more than 50 miles, said Frank Migaiolo, Boeing's environmental-affairs manager for the Everett facility. The joints are part of the original 1960 plant construction. PCBs were determined to be toxic in the mid-1970s.

The company learned of the contamination in 1999 when it tested sediments in the plant's storm-water-retention ponds, Migaiolo said. A cleanup plan soon was approved by EPA and state officials.

To stop PCBs from entering the creek, Boeing is changing how water is discharged from the retention pond.

Water in the storm-water basin now sifts out through a drain in the bottom, like a bathtub. The new structure will allow sediment, including PCBs, more time to settle before the water is discharged into Powder Mill Creek.

Contaminated sediment will then be removed and transported to a facility designed to handle toxic waste.

Boeing also is investigating groundwater contamination, which could require cleanup, at the Everett plant. Another toxic substance, trichloroethylene (TCE), has been found in an aquifer near the plant.

The aquifer does not serve any water-supply wells, state officials said. The source of the TCE has yet to be determined.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com