Environmental clean- up work is slated to continue at the Barbee Mill Site, at 4101 Lake Washington Blvd. N., in Renton — less than a half mile directly southeast across Lake Washington from Clark Beach Park on East Mercer Way.

The Department of Ecology is looking for public comments until Nov. 30 on the extended clean-up outlined in a draft plan with the site owners.

The approximately 22-acre site is located on the eastern shore of Lake Washington at the mouth of May Creek. The site is bordered to the west by Lake Washington, to the east and south by Lake Washington Boulevard North and an active Burlington Northern rail line, and to the north by Quendall Terminals. Quendall Terminals is a federal Superfund site currently undergoing cleanup by the USEPA.

Contamination on the Barbee Site is due to industrial use dating back to the 1920s. Soil and ground water have been contaminated with arsenic, zinc and diesel-range petroleum hydrocarbons.

The soil has also been contaminated with pentachlorophenol (PCP). Pollutants in sediments have included carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, total organic carbons and wood waste, and the sediment is suspected to be contaminated with arsenic.

From 2003 to 2007, Barbee Mill Co., Inc. conducted a number of interim remedial actions under Ecology’s Voluntary Cleanup Program, including:

• Removing contaminated sediments.

• Removing soil containing arsenic, zinc, diesel-range petroleum and pentachlorophenol above residential direct-contact cleanup standards.

• Installing a subsurface wall along the property line to treat ground water contaminated with arsenic.

Ecology and Barbee Mill Co., Inc. are entering into a legal agreement called an Agreed Order. Under this new Agreed Order, Barbee Mill Co., Inc. will complete actions including the following:

• Perform interim cleanup actions to speed removal of arsenic from site ground water.

• Develop a data gaps analysis to evaluate the need to further investigate the potential occurrence of arsenic in sediments.

The draft Public Participation Plan outlines the tools that Ecology will use to inform the public about site activities. Under the State Environmental Policy Act, Ecology has reviewed an environmental checklist and issued this site a Determination of Non-Significance. This means that implementing this work would not harm the environment but would result in an environmental benefit.

For more information or to submit written comments, go to www.ecy.wa.gov.