Occidental Chemical Corporation
The Occidental Chemical Corporation (Occidental) site is located at 605 Alexander Ave. in the Tacoma tideflats. From 1929 to 2005, the site was used for a variety of industrial operations: chemical production, shipbuilding, and military operations. These operations produced toxic chemicals, such as chlorine, caustic soda, trichloroethene (TCE), and tetrachloroethene (PCE). An estimated 457 million pounds of solvents were produced at the site. Nearly one million pounds of solvents are estimated to now contaminate the groundwater.
Due to its depth, the contamination does not affect homes, public places, public drinking water or activities such as swimming, paddle boarding, or boating.
History of contamination at Occidental
Scroll through our Occidental Tacoma storymap or read a plain text version (PDF).
What’s happening now at the site?
Learn more about the Cleanup Action Plan for Occidental or watch on YouTube. (En español: Aprenda más sobre el Plan de Acción de Limpieza para el sitio de Occidental o vea un video en YouTube).
A cleanup action plan (CAP) will be out for public comment Dec. 18, 2023 through March 29, 2024. The CAP includes:
- Our plan to address contamination.
- Cleanup standards that Occidental must meet.
- A project schedule.
We have completed the following steps from the MTCA cleanup process:
You can find these reports and other technical, administrative, and public information documents at our Occidental electronic documents database.
Frequently asked questions
Contact information
Kerry Graber
Project Manager
kerry.graber@ecy.wa.gov
360-522-0535
Janelle Anderson
Public Involvement Coordinator
janelle.anderson@ecy.wa.gov
425-301-6454
Ron Kaufmann
Site Manager
ron.kaufmann@ecy.wa.gov
360-522-0536
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