BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Washington state proposal targets Boeing plant’s pollution

FILE – In this Jan. 25, 2011 file photo, the Boeing Company logo on the property in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

maylen

https://digital-stage.newsnationnow.com/

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Boeing will spend millions of dollars and decades cleaning up pollutants that have seeped into the soil and groundwater beneath one of their plants in Washington state, a state-mandated draft proposal said.

TCE, or Trichloroethylene, is one of many pollutants that have been found in groundwater near Boeing’s Everett, Washington, plant, the Daily Herald reported Sunday.

TCE is a solvent that is used to degrease metal parts and is a carcinogen to humans. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in 2016 that TCE can also affect fetus development, irritate the respiratory system and cause light-headedness, drowsiness and headaches.

The National Cancer Institute considers TCE a “cancer-causing substance.”

Last year, the solvent was detected in groundwater near the plant at a concentration more than 1,000 times the state limit.

“Boeing is in the final stages of environmental cleanup at our Everett site, under a draft set of studies, plans and orders and other documents available for public comment from the Washington Department of Ecology,” the company said in a written statement. “We are committed to a comprehensive cleanup of the Powder Mill Gulch area of Everett and have made considerable progress in reducing groundwater contamination through a variety of interim action cleanup activities.”

The full cost of the cleanup is not publicly known. Boeing declined to say what the cleanup is expected to cost.

Several other contaminants have been discovered at the roughly 1,000-acre Boeing site. The contaminants include fuels such as oil, gasoline, lead, hydraulic jet fluid, polychlorinated biphenyls and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The chemicals came from a range of manufacturing operations, according to the cleanup documents.

Boeing “no longer uses TCE as a widespread cleaning solvent as it did in the past,” the department said. Small quantities of the chemical are still used in one of its labs, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The most expensive and time-consuming part of the Everett cleanup plan involves a process known as bioremediation, in which Boeing will inject nutrients into the soil to help natural bacteria break down TCE. Boeing would invest heavily in improvements to an existing system that pumps out contaminated groundwater, treats it then releases it, according to the proposal.

The state-mandated draft proposal is 163 pages and will open for public comment on April 19.

West

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

71°F Sunny Feels like 71°
Wind
6 mph SW
Humidity
27%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.
47°F A few passing clouds. Low 47F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
2 mph N
Precip
9%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Gibbous