Hooker Chemical cleanup proposal to be discussed at forum tonight

The nonprofit Citizens for a Healthy Bay will hold a forum Wednesday evening (April 5) to discuss cleanup plans for pollution at the former Hooker Chemical site on the Hylebos Waterway, which the nonprofit calls “the worst toxic contamination left in Commencement Bay.”

The forum will be at 6:30 p.m. in room 102 of the Keystone Building on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.

It is to be an informational session about pollution in the soil and groundwater under the site and the risks it poses to surrounding areas. An in-depth story in Sunday’s News Tribune examined the situation.

The pollution from the plant’s operation, which ended in 2002, is estimated at 1 million pounds of spilled and dumped chemicals. It includes two large underground plumes of volatile chlorinated and high-pH chemicals capable of harming wildlife and entering the food chain.

Occidental Chemical, which took over Hooker’s operations in 1968, is responsible for cleaning up the pollution left by the facility. Cleanup is expected to take decades and could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

The state Department of Ecology sets requirements for the cleanup and is accepting public feedback through April 27.

At tonight’s session, Citizens for a Healthy Bay — which, per its website, advocates “the strongest and quickest cleanup possible” — will answer questions about the scope of work to be done and the role public input plays in the process.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Hooker Chemical cleanup proposal to be discussed at forum tonight."