ALCOA (Vancouver Smelter)

Overview

The Alcoa Vancouver Smelter is a 300-acre former industrial property on the north bank of the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington. An aluminum smelter operated there from 1940 to 1985. Between 1973 and 1981, operators dumped about 66,000 tons of potliner on the ground outside the smelter. That material contained cyanide and fluoride. Industrial waste piles and on-site landfills also left soil and groundwater contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), TCE (trichloroethylene), metals, and alumina. EPA added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1990.

The two main contaminants of concern are cyanide and fluoride. They were found in groundwater, surface water, soil, and solid waste, and both pose unacceptable risks to human health and the environment.

Cleanup ran from 1992 to 1996. Workers excavated and disposed of 50,000 tons of spent potliners and reclaimed alumina, covered contaminated soils under the former potliner piles, regraded the land, and installed fencing and groundwater monitoring. In December 2008, Alcoa and the Washington Department of Ecology approved a Cleanup Action Plan and Consent Decree for additional upland work and removal of PCB-contaminated sediments from the Columbia River. Alcoa finished dredging those sediments by January 2009 and completed smelter demolition and soil removal by March 2010. EPA deleted the site from the National Priorities List in September 1996, and the site reached sitewide ready-for-anticipated-reuse status in September 2010.

Human exposure is currently under control, and physical construction of the cleanup is complete across the entire site. However, groundwater migration is not stabilized. EPA has determined that the movement of contaminated groundwater is not yet under control, and ongoing monitoring is tracking conditions. The Port of Vancouver purchased about 218 acres of the former smelter property in 2009 and developed it into Terminal 5, a working marine cargo terminal. As of December 2024, three on-site businesses employed 20 people and generated an estimated $6.87 million in annual sales revenue.

Community members with questions about the site can contact the EPA Remedial Project Manager. The Community Involvement Coordinator is also available to help answer questions about the site and its remediation activities.