Seattle shipyard fined $112,000 for water quality violations
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) is issuing a $112,000 penalty to Northlake Shipyard in Seattle for failing to protect water quality, including polluting Lake Union and mishandling toxic chemicals.
Located on Lake Union near Gas Works Park, Northlake Shipyard is a shipyard offering both self-service and full-service facilities. It is responsible for ensuring that its tenants and users comply with the terms of its water quality permit.
Despite Ecology’s multiple offers of technical assistance and a legal order directing the facility to make specific corrections, the company is still failing to implement practices to protect the lake.
"Every waterfront business has the responsibility to protect Lake Union, which is a key resource for fish migration, recreation, commerce, and transportation," said Vince McGowan, water quality program manager for Ecology, in a press release. “Both the ship repair industry and clean water are vital to western Washington. Other shipyards and boatyards are successful at preventing pollution in their daily operations, and we are holding this business to the same standards.”
Facility investigation
During a January 2023 site visit, Ecology inspectors documented numerous violations of the shipyard’s discharge permit. Violations included allowing polluted water to enter Lake Union, improper handling of solid waste, and failures to properly manage, store, and prepare for spills of petroleum and other toxic chemicals.
In August 2023, Ecology issued a legal order outlining the steps that Northlake Shipyard needed to take to comply with state and federal regulations. In particular, the shipyard has failed to prove that they are pumping out their industrial wastewater tanks to prevent them from overflowing to Lake Union. Staff offered technical assistance to the business, both before and after the order was issued, through in-person meetings, phone calls, and emails.
A follow-up site visit in April 2024 found violations were continuing. After the visit, Northlake Shipyard made some of the required improvements. However, it still has not fully met the conditions of its water quality permit and the August 2023 legal order, including ensuring wastewater and polluted stormwater are not discharging to Lake Union.
Historic contamination
The Northlake Shipyard property was contaminated by historical shipyard activities under previous owners. Under a legal agreement with Ecology, the current property owners paid $1.5 million to clean up polluted sediments in Lake Union. Cleanup work at the site — dredging, removal of debris, and capping the area with clean sand — was done in 2014.
“Cleaned up sites only stay clean if we control sources of pollution,” said Section Manager for Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program Kim Wooten in a press release, which oversaw the sediment remediation work. “After this company’s significant investment in cleaning up legacy contamination, we would expect them to be more aware of the importance of preventing new pollution.”