Northwest Transformer (South Harkness Street)

Overview

The Northwest Transformer site in Everson, Washington, was once a transformer reclamation and manufacturing facility. The company went bankrupt in 1987, leaving behind soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals. Those contaminants came from waste disposal practices and the facility's day-to-day operations, which included tanks holding PCB-containing waste oil, an electric oven for burning off residual oils, and a painting area for finished transformers.

Cleanup work ran from November 1993 to June 1994. Workers demolished and disposed of on-site buildings and their contents, excavated and removed contaminated soil, placed clean soil over excavated areas, and capped remaining areas with asphalt. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined no further active cleanup was needed after that work finished. The State of Washington added deed notices to the property so that future owners would know about residual petroleum and PCB contamination still present on-site.

The site was proposed for the National Priorities List (NPL) in June 1988 and finalized on that list in February 1990. The NPL is the federal government's list of the most contaminated sites in the country. EPA selected "No Further Action Monitoring" as the formal cleanup approach in a Record of Decision issued in September 1994, meaning the site needs ongoing monitoring but no active treatment. The site was deleted from the NPL in September 1997 after cleanup goals were met. A five-year review in February 1999 confirmed the remedy was still protective. By September 2008, the site reached "sitewide ready for anticipated reuse" status.

EPA has determined that human exposure is under control. There are no unacceptable ways for people to come into contact with contamination today. Groundwater contamination is also stable in its original area and is not discharging to surface water at unacceptable levels. All cleanup goals for current and reasonably expected future land uses have been met, and required land-use controls are in place.

The site now serves a practical community purpose. The former facility grounds provide parking for the nearby town hall and an adjacent senior center. Community members who want to learn more about Superfund site reuse can connect with EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Program, which helps communities find beneficial uses for cleaned-up sites.