UW Tacoma is contaminated. University wants judge to force city to pay, act
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- UW sued the city of Tacoma over contamination at the university’s Tacoma branch.
- The city-owned sewer system has been leaking contaminants at UWT, the lawsuit says.
- UW wants the city held responsible for clean-up costs and ordered to fix the problem.
The University of Washington is seeking to hold Tacoma legally responsible for the cleanup costs of historical contamination leaking from the city’s sewer system onto portions of the university’s Tacoma branch campus, a court filing shows.
UW filed a lawsuit against Tacoma on Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court, also requesting that a judge order the city to fix the problem, which reportedly dates back decades, according to the lawsuit.
“The University has incurred, and expects to continue incurring, expenses for remedial actions investigating and characterizing the hazardous substances that have migrated, and continue to migrate, onto the Property from the City’s Sewer System,” the lawsuit said.
In a statement Thursday, the university sought to assure that there were no hard feelings despite taking the city to court.
“The University emphasizes that this action does not diminish the strong, decades‑long partnership between UW Tacoma and the City of Tacoma,” UW said.
However, the lawsuit was necessary to clarify responsibilities and cleanup funding obligations, and to ensure that University of Washington Tacoma could continue to be developed responsibly and sustainably, according to the statement.
Tacoma spokesperson Maria Lee said Thursday that the city and UW were engaged in the Washington State Department of Ecology’s formal environmental review of the site, specifically concerning historical groundwater contamination known as “the Westerly Plume.”
“As is standard in complex environmental cleanups, regulators and technical experts are currently evaluating proposed cleanup alternatives, exploring funding structures, and assessing potential community impacts,” Lee said in a statement. “We will continue working with the Washington State Department of Ecology and the University of Washington Tacoma and look forward to Washington State Department of Ecology’s final determinations.”
According to the lawsuit, the Ecology Department notified Tacoma in 2023 that it’s liable for the release of the hazardous substances from its sewer system. The Ecology Department’s online listing of the UWT cleanup notes that, under a 1997 agreement with the department, “UWT accepts responsibility as liable party and agrees to work on remedial actions to clean up soil and groundwater at the site.”
University investigations have revealed evidence of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) in soil and groundwater at the site, entering through sewer pipes running underneath Tacoma Avenue South, the lawsuit said.
Both chemicals are widely used for dry-cleaning fabrics and/or metal degreasing. Officials have said those groundwater chemicals didn’t affect the drinking supply and presented little risk to students and others at UWT, The News Tribune previously reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear how costly it has been thus far for UW to address the cleanup. In 2016, The News Tribune reported the university had spent about $7 million since the mid-1990s investigating and cleaning up chemicals left behind by the site’s former industrial use.
A company called West Coast Engravers may have been responsible for contamination at the site by discharging to the city’s sewer system in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the lawsuit, citing the state Ecology Department. Arrcom Inc., “a dangerous waste management facility,” was also at the location in the 1980s, according to the Ecology Department.
UW began purchasing property in the early 1990s to form the 46-acre UWT campus in downtown Tacoma. In 1997 and again in 2016, the university and Ecology Department entered into agreements to address hazardous substances at the site.
In a statement Thursday, UWT Chancellor Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange said the university remained “deeply committed” to its partnership of more than 35 years with the city.
“We also have exciting plans for the future of our campus, including new housing and dining facilities and the transformation of the upper vista along Tacoma Avenue into a welcoming second front door to the university,” Lange said. “Before we continue to develop these parts of campus, we need to work together with the City on resolving these issues.”
Lee told The News Tribune that technical teams from the city and UWT were supporting the Ecology Department’s review of a draft feasibility study “to ensure state regulators have a comprehensive and accurate picture.”
“The City of Tacoma and the University of Washington Tacoma share a fundamental commitment to the health, safety, and environmental well-being of the campus and surrounding community,” Lee said.
UW alleges that the city’s failure to eliminate the contamination source constitutes a private nuisance. The lawsuit seeks unspecified costs related to UW’s investigation and cleanup, legal fees and any other award deemed appropriate by the court.
Staff writer Isha Trivedi contributed to this report.
