Tacoma Smelter Plume project
For almost 100 years, the Asarco Company operated a copper smelter in Tacoma. Air pollution from the smelter settled on the surface soil of more than 1,000 square miles of the Puget Sound basin. Arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals are still in the soil as a result of this pollution.
Arsenic and lead are toxic metals that pose risks if you accidentally ingest or inhale contaminated soil. Children are especially at risk because their bodies are still developing and they put dirty hands and toys in their mouths.
In most areas, arsenic and lead pose only a very small, long-term health risk. Using healthy actions can lower your risk. Homes in areas with higher levels of contamination may qualify for free soil sampling and other services.
What we’re doing
Educating communities and promoting healthy actions
We work with Public Health — Seattle & King County and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to educate communities about health risks and healthy actions. Healthy actions are simple things you and your family can do to decrease contact with arsenic, lead, or other harmful chemicals that may be in dirt. Arsenic and lead in soil can pose a risk to children.
Sampling areas where children play through the Soil Safety program
We provide free soil sampling and soil safety actions for play areas within the program service area. We sample public and private schools, licensed childcares, parks, camps, and multi-family public housing.
Cleaning up residential yards
Ecology’s Yard Program provides free soil sampling and cleanup for residential yards in the most contaminated areas of the Tacoma Smelter Plume. 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 use our interactive Dirt Alert map.
Providing technical help to property developers
Arsenic and lead in soil puts people at risk, especially children. We provide free advice for developers and property owners on how to sample soil for arsenic and lead contamination and to complete cleanup.
The Dirt Alert map
We maintain an interactive map of properties likely to have contamination or that have already been tested for arsenic and lead. The Dirt Alert map allows anyone to search for an address and see results for individual properties. You can use the map to view sampling results, soil replacement records, or if a property qualifies for the Yard Program.
Buying or selling property in the smelter plume?
Purchasers should use the map above. Property owners must disclose soil contamination. Learn more about buying and selling property in the smelter plume.
History and funding
In the mid-1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required Asarco to start cleanup work in the Ruston/North Tacoma Study Area under the Superfund program. Their work focused on the areas most affected by the former Asarco smelter. In 2009, Washington received a settlement from Asarco, including $94.6 million to pay for cleanup of the Tacoma smelter plume.
For more details on how Ecology is using the settlement to protect human health, see the Final Interim Action Plan.