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Ever notice how Gas Works Park sometimes smells like corn chips?  I usually notice it in the summer when it’s been hot outside for a while, like during the 2009 Lullaby Moon.  Well, there’s a reason for the smell.

As Jordan wrote back in July:

Gas Works Park is so named for the gas plant, tar refinery and incinerator that used to sit on that land.  Of course, when you’ve got all that nastiness boiling there for so long, it’s tough to clean up. The top-layer of soil (down about a foot and a half) was removed and replaced, but what’s under that is the same hazardous, toxic material that the gas plant was generating for half a century.

So when the weather turns hot, you can sometimes see and smell the tar bubbling up from underneath.  Now, the City and Puget Sound Energy are studying the park and the adjoining lake bottom to gather information needed to clean up contamination left in Lake Union’s sediments.

Portions of the park and parking lot will be closed to the public on weekdays from 7am to 6pm, starting Monday, Sept. 27.

Gas Works Park will remain open during the work, but park visitors will be restricted from areas where drilling activities and equipment are present.  Snack bar and restrooms will remain open. The testing is expected to end sometime in November.

I contacted Ms. Dewey Potter, Communications Manager for Seattle Parks and Recreation, to learn more:

• Could you explain a little about the kind of testing to be done, and the type of information you hope to obtain?

The sampling is an effort to evaluate the flow of groundwater from the upland (on-shore area) to the sediment (lake-bottom mud) in Lake Union. The investigation includes pumping tests of the site aquifers. The tests are necessary to support the development of sediment cleanup alternatives that protect the environment and prevent re-contamination. Hydrogeological investigation will help determine whether the groundwater in the upland area could contaminate lake sediments. (See photo for example of equipment to be used.)

• How much of the park be closed each weekday?

Only the sections of the park where the crews are working will be closed to the public for their safety. The work will move around the park, as the crews will drill in six different areas.

• Will there be noise or other impact for neighbors?

Some noise is unavoidable, as the machines make noise. Noise monitors from Puget Sound Energy will be onsite to monitor sound.

• Will the park be fully open on the weekends throughout the project?

Yes; the work takes place only Monday through Friday.

• And finally, next steps?

The work is part of a larger investigation called a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study. The reports produced by the work will be made available to the public for review and comment, and will summarize the findings about the contaminated sediments and describe cleanup options.

Thank you, Dewey!

The investigation and subsequent cleanup of contaminated offshore sediments is expected to take several years. More information about this cleanup is available on the Washington State Department of Ecology’s website.