Twin Harbors Waterkeeper offers an opportunity to learn about contaminated sites in Grays Harbor

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Twin Harbors Waterkeeper is offering an opportunity to learn about contaminated sites in the Aberdeen and Hoquiam area.

Twin Harbors Waterkeeper is an environmental non-profit based on the Southwest Washington coast. The mission of Twin Harbors Waterkeeper is to protect and improve water quality and marine and freshwater habitats on the Washington coast including the watersheds of the Hoh, Quillayute, Queets and Quinault and Chehalis Rivers and the Chehalis River estuary and Willapa Bay watershed.

There will be several speakers at this event. Lee First, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper, will provide a short presentation about her organization’s work to raise awareness and public participation in the cleanup process.

Washington State Department of Ecology staff will demonstrate how to research contaminated sites using the What’s In My Neighborhood mapping tool, as well as information about the cleanup process and status of each site. Ecology staff will include Joe Hunt (Grays Harbor Port Export Facility Development Site Manager), Tim Mullin (Voluntary Cleanup Program Unit supervisor), and Marian Abbett (Toxic Cleanup Program Section Manager).

After these presentations, there will be a question and answer session, and an opportunity to join a van tour of several sites in the Hoquiam area. The tour will focus on three sites in the Hoquiam/Aberdeen area:

The Grays Harbor Port Export Facility Development (proposed industrial wood pellet plant site), Butchers Scrap Metal and Harbor Battery.

The meeting will take place at the Hoquiam Timberland Library downstairs meeting room, July 7, at 1:30 p.m.

Attendees can learn more about the Model Toxics Control Act and pollution in the area. For those interested, an informal tour may occur to visit these sites following the meeting.

“Several large industrial site cleanups are just starting the cleanup process in Grays Harbor. This is an exciting opportunity to learn more about these sites and the cleanup process, which in some cases, has opportunities for the public to engage,” said Lee First, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper.

Since 2021, Twin Harbors Waterkeeper has provided outreach about contaminated sites in Grays Harbor County under the terms of three two-year Public Participation Grants through the state Department of Ecology. The purpose of these grants is to encourage participation by people and nonprofit organizations in the investigation and cleanup of hazardous substances and to implement the state’s solid and hazardous waste management priorities.

The Model Toxics Control Act is Washington’s environmental cleanup law. MTCA funds and directs the investigation, cleanup, and prevention of sites that are contaminated by hazardous substances. It works to protect people’s health and the environment, and to preserve natural resources for the future.

There are almost 7,000 contaminated sites in Washington state. Some are small and relatively simple to clean up, and many are large, former industrial sites that are complex and contain contaminated soil, groundwater, and sediment.

Many small sites, such as gas stations, have been cleaned up, but many remain. An interactive map, What’s in My Neighborhood: Toxics Cleanup, is available for all to use – it’s an excellent tool to learn

more about these sites.