TACOMA — Several dozen companies and public entities will restore salmon habitat to settle a lawsuit filed by federal, state and tribal agencies seeking to make them pay for environmental damages to Tacoma’s Commencement Bay, the U.S. Department of Justice and others announced Thursday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Puyallup and Muckleshoot tribes and others had sought to make those responsible for pollution in the Thea Foss and Wheeler-Osgood Waterways to pay for damages to natural resources, such as fish, birds, shellfish and cultural resources.
The more than 50 defendants include BNSF Railway, Chevron, The Boeing Co., King County Metro, Washington State Department of Transportation and others who operated along the industrial waterways in Tacoma. Arsenic, mercury and PCBs and other hazardous substances have been found in the soil and sediment of the waterways.
“This settlement is an important step toward repairing damaged natural resources from pollution in Commencement Bay, restoring critical salmon habitat in the area watershed, and reducing flooding for residents,” Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden said in a statement.
The defendants denied the allegations and did not admit liability, according to the settlement filed in federal court in Tacoma. But they agreed to help pay for a project to restore salmon habitat on the Lower White River, which flows through King and Pierce counties.
The project is expected to open more than 100 acres of side channels and other key habit for salmon and steelhead, while reducing flood risks to about 200 nearby homes and businesses.
The defendants also agreed to pay more than $1 million to help the federal, state and tribal agencies, known in the case as trustees, cover the cost of oversight and long-term stewardship and to reimburse them for costs of assessing the environmental damages.
The trustees include NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington State Department of Ecology and other state agencies, The Puyallup Tribe of Indians and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
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