Updating how we evaluate contaminated sites
Proposing changes to the site hazard assessment and ranking process
Dec. 23, 2025, 12:01 a.m. - Jan. 25, 2026, 11:59 p.m. PT
We want your input on proposed changes to the site hazard assessment and ranking process (SHARP). SHARP is how we evaluate chemical threats to people and other living things at contaminated sites.
Contamination at a site can be in environmental media like soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, and indoor air. Using the SHARP tool, staff answer a series of questions about each media at a site. The answers are used to score each media by how likely exposure is and how harmful exposure might be. The five media scores are then combined into an over-all site rating.
We are suggesting two updates to improve the SHARP tool:
- Increasing the weight of “B” exposure scores in the overall SHARP rating calculation. A “B” score means that living things are possibly being exposed to contaminants at the site, but more information is needed to confirm.
- Adding a question to better evaluate exposures of plants and animals to contamination in surface water.
You can download a detailed description of these updates. There is more information about SHARP on our Assessing Contaminated Sites webpage.
Comment online
- Use our online comment form
- Submit your comment by email: meredith.bee@ecy.wa.gov
Questions
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