Contained-in determinations for contaminated soil and groundwater

Submit your request for a contained-in determination by letter or by email. Address your request to the Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction regional contact (below). It may require up to two weeks to review and respond to your request.

Central Regional Office
Counties: Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan, and Yakima

• Greg Caron
  greg.caron@ecy.wa.gov
  509-454-7839

Eastern Regional Office
Counties: Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman

• Karen Wood
  karen.wood@ecy.wa.gov
  509-329-3469

Northwest Regional Office
Counties: Island, King, Kitsap, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom

• Paul Bianco, PE
  paul.bianco@ecy.wa.gov
  206-594-0046

• Mindy Collins 
  mindy.collins@ecy.wa.gov
  360-255-4383

Southwest Regional Office
Counties: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Mason, Lewis, Pacific, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston, and Wahkiakum

• Michelle Underwood
  michelle.underwood@ecy.wa.gov
  360-407-6337

Site information

• Specific location and address of the site with your contaminated soil or groundwater.
• Names, mailing addresses, and contact information for the property owners of the site.
• Names, mailing addresses, and contact information of environmental staff assisting with the cleanup action at the site.
• EPA/State Identification Number, if one is assigned to the site. This number is required for certain facilities managing wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
• Ecology’s Facility/Site Database Number, if one is assigned to the site.
• Name and contact information of the Ecology site manager overseeing cleanup actions, if one is assigned.

Cleanup plan and schedule

• Description of the type of cleanup action generating your contaminated soil or groundwater. For example, is the cleanup independent, voluntary, or under an order issued under MTCA.
• Your schedule to excavate or remove your contaminated soil or groundwater. If you have already excavated your soil, give the time elapsed since excavation.
• Proposed procedures for managing and disposing of the material. Include the name and location of proposed permitted disposal facilities that would receive your contaminated material if Ecology approved your request for a contained-in determination. Include contact information for person(s) at these facilities.

Contamination description and designation

• Description of the listed waste codes and the type of your contaminated soil or groundwater including the amount in volume or weight.
• Description of the source of contaminants at the site. Include types of businesses, products and wastes used or managed, and the dates when contaminants may have been released.
• Discussion of whether the contaminated media designates as a federal characteristic waste or a state-only criteria waste. Provide any analytical results that support this discussion.

Sampling and reporting

• Map of the site showing the location of buildings, sampling locations with sample identification numbers, groundwater monitoring wells, and surface water bodies. Show the location of the excavated soil on your site map. If you have not yet excavated the soil, show the location of sources of contamination.
• Description of the sampling techniques and the type of analytical methods you used. Include the number, locations, and depths of samples. You should use all reasonable analytical methods to obtain practical quantitation limits below the applicable MTCA cleanup levels and Universal Treatment Standards, or UTS. Include a short discussion on how your analytical data is representative of the level of contamination in your environmental media.
• Table with analytical results for the contaminated soil or groundwater. Include sample identification numbers. Include applicable MTCA cleanup levels and applicable UTS for all regulated hazardous constituents and any possible breakdown products in your contaminated media.
• Copies of original analytical reports and data quality assurance reports, including method detection limits and practical quantitation limits.

When you request a contained-in determination, you must provide us with statistically adequate analytical data that represents the level of contamination in your soil or groundwater. We make contained-in determinations only after reviewing site-specific analytical results.

We will compare your analytical results to risk-based cleanup levels from the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) and Universal Treatment Standards (UTSs) levels for regulated hazardous constituents in your contaminated media. The risk-based cleanup levels are calculated according to MTCA Method B, using default exposure scenarios and risk assumptions. MTCA Method A cleanup levels for unrestricted land uses may also be used.
When reviewing your request for a contained-in determination, we consider the mobility and toxicity of contaminants in your media, as well as the potential impacts of your contaminated media on landfill operations.

This includes whether:

• Workers are safe during handling and disposal.
• Your contaminated soil or groundwater is compatible with the landfill's liners and leachate collection systems.
• Your contaminated soil or groundwater affects landfill leachate.
• Your contaminated soil or groundwater affects the quantity and quality of landfill gas.

We may require contingent management of your contaminated soil or groundwater. This includes covering truckloads of soil, spraying excavated soils with water for dust control, or other requirements necessary for protecting human health and the environment.

We examine potential risks and pathways of exposure to evaluate whether contingent management is adequate. In some cases, we may approve your request with risk-based levels calculated using MTCA industrial standards. This only happens when you include provisions for more stringent contingent management in your request.

To qualify for a contained-in determination, your contaminated soil or groundwater cannot designate as a federal hazardous waste or Washington state-only dangerous waste. We may require additional information from you before making a final decision on your contained-in request.

Please contact the appropriate regional office if you are considering compositing samples for analysis. We will not accept analytical results from composite samples contaminated with volatile organic compounds. If you composited samples for other contaminants, include the justification for not obtaining discrete samples. We may request additional discrete samples.