Cleanup will include excavation, consolidation and capping of contaminated soil. Soil contaminated with petroleum will be removed and disposed of offsite. Barriers will be placed in key areas to reduce the potential for fluoride pollution to enter surface water. Contamination currently in groundwater beneath the site is expected to diminish naturally, according to Ecology.

“We’ve heard from so many people in Longview about how important this cleanup is to their community, both in terms of jobs and protecting the environment,” said James DeMay, manager of Ecology’s Industrial Section, which oversees the cleanup. “We’ve got a better project because of that input.”

Northwest Alloys, a subsidiary of Alcoa, owns the property and is responsible for the cleanup. Millennium Bulk Terminals Longview is the current tenant and is proposing building a massive coal export terminal there. However, a cleanup of the site is mandatory and does not depend on approval or construction of the coal terminal to go forward.

The cleanup also needs to happen before any redevelopment, including construction of a coal terminal, can occur on the property, said Garin Schrieve, the site manager with Ecology.

“There are enough issues on the site that need to be addressed through the cleanup that it is unlikely anyone could do anything before resolving those things,” Schrieve said.

Kelso resident Sandy Davis, member of the Lower Columbia Stewardship Community volunteer environmental group, said she’s been following the cleanup plans for the entirety of the proposal. The finalized plan is a “big step toward reviving valuable waterfront property. It’s a tremendous opportunity to attract clean industries in Longview.”

But building a coal terminal on the property would “really devalue” the land, Davis said.

The proposed coal terminal is mired in legal battles, and Millennium has reduced its work force here, but it has not announced that it is withdrawing from the project.

Reynolds Metals operated an aluminum smelter and cable mill on the property from 1941 to 2000. The smelter closed in 2001, but the operation left elevated levels of fluoride, cyanide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils. Flouride also contaminated the groundwater.

Ecology held two rounds of public comment on the cleanup plan in 2016 and 2018. More than 2,400 comments were submitted during the most recent public period in September 2018.