The former Kent Highlands Landfill site on the West Hill continues to protect public health and the environment, according to a recent periodic review by the state Department of Ecology (DOE).
That’s certainly good news for DevCo Inc., a Bellevue-based developer, which plans to build the GrandView apartments on the section of the former landfill it bought for $5 million last year from the city of Kent and Seattle Public Utilities. The site is 11.4 acres at 3900 Veterans Drive, just east of Military Road South. DevCo paid the city $2 million for its 3.9 acres of the property.
The developer plans to build 261 affordable housing units.
“The permit applications for Grandview are still going through review and making progress,” said Ben Wolters, city economic and community development director, in an email on Tuesday. “I anticipate DevCo will seek to begin construction sometime in the spring or early summer.”
Crews cleaned up contaminated soil and groundwater at the site in the 1990s. The state DOE reviews sites that have undergone cleanup if the cleanup included a special condition that must be maintained on the property. The reviews occur every five years.
The state, however, is taking public comment about its review through May 18. The state lists the site at 23076 Military Road S.
The purposes of the review are to evaluate site conditions and to ensure continued protection of human health and the environment, when institutional controls are used as part of a remedy. Ecology will review comments received during the comment period and make recommendations for suggested changes. The periodic review will become final if no significant changes are made. An additional public comment period will be held if significant changes are made.
The Seattle Solid Waste Utility started landfilling operations at the site in 1968. The landfill received mostly municipal garbage until 1983. The landfill also took in industrial wastes and construction debris after 1983. Disposal operations ceased in 1986. The city of Seattle was in the process of completing a closure plan at that time.
For more information about the cleanup and review of the Kent Highlands Landfill site, go to: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/gsp/Sitepage.aspx?csid=4428.
Comments about the site can be emailed to Eugene Freeman, periodic review coordinator, at eugene.freeman@ecy.wa.gov or call 425-649-7191.
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