We all have a stake in our neighborhood’s play areas – because happy families make happy communities. So it’s time to let Fremont voices be heard. Everyone has until March 17, 2017 to sound off in the comment period allotted by Seattle Parks and Recreation for the Gas Works Park Play Area Renovation and Cleanup Investigation.
SPR plans to install new play equipment at Gas Works, while Puget Sound Energy hops on the bandwagon to conduct studies of contaminated groundwater – specifically where arsenic is impacting groundwater under the play area. They’ll also install part of a system of pipes and monitoring wells to cleanup the contamination that’s already in place there. It’s not just the park that’s impacted by this; it’s also crucial to prevent more contamination from caching Lake Union. Elevated concentrations of arsenic were first detected in soil and groundwater samples collected beneath the Play Area in 2013.
Part of what the public can comment on is the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) determination of non-significance (DNS) for adverse impact on the environment from the proposed activities. There’s two ways to check this out: by reviewing the SEPA Checklist and DNS at Fremont Library on N. 35th Street, or by visiting the Department of Ecology website: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/gsp/Sitepage.aspx?csid=2876
Any comments can be addressed to Ching-Pi Wang at the Department of Ecology, at 3190 16oth Ave., Bellevue, WA 98001, or by phone at 425-649-7134. The email address is Ching-Pi.Wang@ecy.wa.gov
Sound off, Fremont!