Yard cleanup program
The Yard Program provides free soil sampling and cleanup for residential yards in the most contaminated areas of the Tacoma Smelter Plume. This work is funded through the settlement from Asarco, the company that operated the Tacoma Smelter.
The Yard Program is free to all residential properties that qualify within the service area and is completely voluntary. Learn what’s involved at our Soil Replacement Process page.
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Yard program service area
The service area covers parts of Point Ruston and Vashon-Maury Island where we predict at least 10 percent of yards have arsenic and lead concentration that qualify for soil replacement: 100 parts per million for arsenic and 500 parts per million for lead. We used past sampling data, distance from the former smelter, wind direction, and other factors to predict these areas.
The yard program also includes the area closest to the former smelter, where the EPA worked with ASARCO to address soil contamination in residential yards from the early 1990s to 2000. The EPA is still working on other cleanup related to the smelter.
How do I participate?
If your property is in the Yard Program service area, your yard may have already been sampled. To find out if there is existing soil sampling data for your property go to our interactive Dirt Alert map.
If your property is within the Yard Program service area and we do not have soil sampling data for your property, sign up for soil sampling by contacting Tacoma Pierce County Public Health Department or Ecology.
We do not offer soil sampling inside the EPA study area because it was already sampled extensively during the first phase of cleanup.
Related links
Contact information
Justin Zakoren
Tacoma Smelter Plume Remediation Manager
Justin.Zakoren@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6790