Integration of Aquatic Habitat Restoration, Superfund Clean-up and Industrial Development in Commencement Bay

Located in southern Puget Sound, the Port of Tacoma is a major gateway to Asia and Alaska, handling more than $25 billion in trade annually. It is also working to simultaneously clean-up the sediments of Commencement Bay, listed as an EPA Superfund site in 1983, and to strategically restore habitat in the migration path of salmonid species, while creating high value water-front industrial developments. The Port has invested millions of dollars in a wide range of cleanup and improvement projects, including restoration of a former city landfill into nine acres of inter-tidal wetlands, reconstruction of a creek outlet to allow salmon access to 10 miles of stream, and rehabilitation of acres of marine beaches.  It is currently conducting restoration work on Hylebos Creek, historically, a productive salmon stream within the Puget Sound region.  In 2011, the Port will complete a project creating 25 acres of freshwater and intertidal marsh, forested upland and riparian habitat.  Site work to date has included removal of 254,531 tons of contaminated or unsuitable material, 7,000 tons of concrete, re-grading of 70,000 cubic yards of on-site soil and planting 35,000 native trees and shrubs. The project is expected to cost over $13 million dollars. This presentation will share the Port’s strategy of applying a broader definition of “environment" - one that includes the people, businesses, culture and history of a place, along with its native species and natural systems