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What we now know as the Tacoma Tideflats and Port Industrial area was
once a broad expanse of estuarine habitat extending from the surrounding
hills as far back as I-5. The twisted, many-braided delta fan of the Puyallup
River splayed widely across the landscape, adding fresh water, sediments
and organic debris to the richness and diversity of the salt-water bay.
Additionally, 2,000 acres of mudflats and 4,100 acres of salt water and
fresh water marshes criss-crossed with miles of tidal channels added
together to create a vibrant and diverse ecosystem teeming with life.
The People who had for centuries made their homes in and around
Commencement Bay and the Puyallup River estuary knew that, when the
tide was out, the table was set – and they taught this to the first few hardy
folks who  ventured out to settle this area. They
would not recognize the landscape we find so familiar today, but their efforts
led to the creation of the industrial develop-ment of the Tacoma Tideflats and one
of the largest commercial Ports in North America and secured the success and
economic future of the City of Tacoma.
In 1981, Commencement Bay was listed as one of the first candidate
Superfund sites in the Nation. 130 years of development and industrial
activities left a toxic legacy of contaminated sediments and polluted waters
lethal to the once rich aquatic environment that was Commencement Bay and
the Puyallup River estuary. Areas once packed with an amazing wealth of life
and diversity had become virtual biological deserts where only low numbers
of the most pollution-tolerant species could live.
The Commencement Bay Nearshore/Tideflats (CB/NT) Superfund Problem
Area covers 10-12 square miles of shallow water, shoreline and adjacent
uplands. Early investigations of the CB/NT problem area revealed nearly 500
sources of contamination to the bay by more than 70 different chemicals and
generated by more than 150 responsible entities. The contaminated upland
soils and in-water silts and clays requiring remediation combined would
fill 4 Tacoma Domes.
To manage cleanup actions, the CB/NT problem area was divided up
into 6 distinct areas: Thea Foss/Wheeler-Osgood Waterway,
Middle Waterway, St. Paul Waterway, Sitcum Waterway, Hylebos
Waterway and the former site and surrounding area of the ASARCO
Smelter in Ruston. In 1998, the Olympic View natural resources
restoration site was added as an independent action.
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