The former Lora Lake Apartments site at 15001 Des Moines Memorial Drive in Burien is currently being tested to reveal the full extent of hazardous contaminants from industrial use, according to Perry Cooper with the Port of Seattle.

Once a cleanup plan is established, Cooper said cleanup will begin in 2013 and, once finished, the land will be open to redevelopment. The Port is considering two main options – develop a cargo center for the airport or selling the land to Burien’s larger auto dealers to create an auto mall.

Cooper said the Port Commission is “having good discussions with the City (of Burien)” over the auto mall concept which would relocate 1st Ave. S. dealerships to Des Moines Memorial Drive. You can read more about the auto mall idea, a longtime project of former Burien Councilmember Gordon Shaw, in the Highline Times story found here.

The Port expects to submit a draft report of their findings to Washington’s Department of Ecology (DOE) sometime in January. Cleaning up the site is required by state law for it to be further developed.

After the DOE looks the report over it will be issued for public review before being finalized. The report will be used to develop a cleanup action plan that will also be issued for public review, according to the Port.

The Port purchased the site in 1998 as part of the third runway project and apartment complexes within the projection zone had to be demolished.

According to the DOE, the site was used in the 1940s and 50s for cleaning barrels that contained chemicals. From 1960 to 1981 it was used for auto wrecking, and in 1987 the Lora Lake Apartments were built.

“Former activities at the site released hazardous chemicals into the environment including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum products, pentachlorophenol, dioxin, tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, 1,2-dichloroethane and arsenic,” according to the DOE website.

More information on the cleanup project can be found at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/gsp/Sitepage.aspx?csid=2008.