ASARCO Inc. - Tacoma, Washington - Super Fund Sites on Waymarking.com

ASARCO = American Smelting and Refining Company.

From 1890-1912, lead was smelt and refined at ASARCO, then they switched mainly to copper smelting until the smelter closed in 1985. The landfill and peninsula began to be created in the 1940s, as molten slag by-products were dumped into Commencement Bay, a part of Puget Sound.

The ASARCO smelter property covers about 67 acres along Commencement Bay. From 1890 to 1912, the property was used to smelt and refine lead. ASARCO purchased the property in 1905, and later converted the facility to a copper smelter and refinery. In the 1940's, ASARCO poured molten slag, a by-product of smelting operations, into Commencement Bay creating a 23-acre peninsula. In addition, many of the smelter buildings and structures on other parts of the property were constructed on slag that was used as fill material. In all, ASARCO deposited an estimated 15 million tons of slag on the property and in the Bay. The smelting and refining operations stopped in 1985, but this did not prevent the release of such metals as arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc into the soil, air and the bay. In addition, metals in the slag and soil have migrated to the area's ponds and springs, and groundwater.

Besides lead, there are large amounts of arsenic. The arsenic was also emitted into the air via a tall smokestack, since demolished. Studies of the air-borne emissions found high levels of arsenic in the soil all around the smelter, North Tacoma, Vashon Island, Gig Harbor, and many other nearby regions.

Key components of the cleanup include demolishing remaining buildings and structures, covering the entire project area with a cap (including the peninsula created from slag), and protecting the shoreline and peninsula against erosion.


It is one of the major Superfund sites on Puget Sound, and the EPA has divided it into several parts, each its own designated Superfund site. This "parent site" is named "COMMENCEMENT BAY, NEAR SHORE/TIDE FLATS"

In recent years, ASARCO and the EPA have been working to clean the place up, but the job is enormous. Some progress has been made. Many of the smelter buildings are gone and there are plans to make the slag peninsula part of Point Defiance Park. It already shelters a marina and there are further plans for redevelopment. However, progress hit a snag when ASARCO filed for bankruptcy in 2005.

(Some information and text from EPA site description)

ID: WAD010187896 Site Name: ASARCO Inc. Link to Site: [Web Link] Additional Parking: N 47° 17.923 W 122° 30.316

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