Hexcel Corporation public comment period
Hexcel Corporation cleanup documents available for review and comment
Aug. 26, 2024, 12 a.m. - Sept. 27, 2024, 11:59 p.m.
We invite you to review and comment on cleanup documents for contamination cleanup at Hexcel Corporation located at 19819 84th Ave. S in Kent, Washington.
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Please review and comment on:
- Draft Remedial Investigation (RI)/Feasibility Study (FS): The RI studies the site conditions and contamination so the FS can compare cleanup actions.
- Draft Cleanup Action Plan (dCAP): The dCAP describes the proposed cleanup actions and sets the cleanup standards that the cleanup must meet.
- Consent Decree: This is the legal agreement Ecology has with Hexcel to complete this cleanup according to state law.
- Draft State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and Determination of Non-Significance (DNS): We use SEPA during site cleanups to find and evaluate negative environmental impacts that could result from a proposed action. Hexcel’s draft SEPA resulted in a determination of non-significance, meaning that this work will not have large negative environmental impacts.
- Public Participation Plan (PPP): The PPP encourages comment and involvement in cleanup decisions from the community.
How to submit comments
This public comment period opens Aug. 26, 2024 and closes Sept. 27, 2024.
Submit your comments by:
- Online public comment form.
- Email: valerie.cramer@ecy.wa.gov.
- Mail (see address information below).
When the public comment period ends, we will consider all comments and may change the documents based on them. After considering all comments, the documents will become final.
Will there be a public meeting?
At this time, there are no public meetings scheduled for this comment period. We will hold a public meeting if 10 or more people request one. To request a meeting, please contact Christa Colouzis at 425-324-1850 or christa.colouzis@ecy.wa.gov.
Site background
The cleanup site in Kent has two main properties: Hexcel Corporation (Hexcel) and BSB Diversified (BSB). This comment period is for the Hexcel property only. Hexcel is an active manufacturing facility of aerospace parts.
Some of the groundwater under Hexcel was contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE). TCE is a chemical that may cause cancer. TCE was used at the BSB site, leaked into the groundwater, and flowed under the neighboring Hexcel property. Over time, TCE breaks down into cis 1-2 dichloroethlyene and vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride can also cause cancer. Most of the groundwater contamination at Hexcel came from the TCE spilled or leaked on the BSB site. An underground barrier wall was built around the BSB property to keep contaminated groundwater on the BSB site. In the past, low concentrations of TCE were in Hexcel’s groundwater. Currently, only the breakdown products of TCE are found in groundwater at the Hexcel site.
Hexcel checks their groundwater to make sure contamination is below the legal limit. To finish the cleanup, we will allow a bacterial process that occurs in the groundwater to break down remaining contamination. This is called natural attenuation. Natural bacteria will continue to slowly break down these chemical contaminants. We oversee these cleanup activities to make sure they are working.
More information
- Read our Hexcel public comment focus sheet (publication 24-04-037).
- Go to our Hexcel site cleanup webpage.
Comment online
- Use our online comment form
- Submit your comment by email: valerie.cramer@ecy.wa.gov
Comment by mail
Department of Ecology
PO Box 330316
Shoreline, WA 98133
Questions
To request ADA accommodation, contact Ecology's ADA Coordinator by email at ecyadacoordinator@ecy.wa.gov, or call 360-407-6831, 711 (relay service), or 877-833-6341 (TTY). More about our accessibility services.