The Washington Department of Ecology sued Asarco Inc., seeking a court order to direct the company to remove the most highly contaminated soil at the site of the former Everett, Wash., smelter.
The suit was filed by the Attorney General's Office in Snohomish County Superior Court.
"Some material at the site has arsenic concentrations that are immediately dangerous to life and health if people come in contact with it - which is a distinct possibility, since we have heard about children trespassing on the site," said Tim Nord, a cleanup manager for Ecology. "This contamination should have been removed years ago, and we can't let another construction season slip by."
Nord added that the site's soil is a source of arsenic contamination to underground water that flows toward the Snohomish River and to storm water that flows to Everett's water treatment works.
Late last year, Ecology approved an Asarco proposal for a more-extensive cleanup of the fenced area and several nearby yards. Ecology also required Asarco to stick with the April 30 start-work date for the fenced area, regardless of how the alternative plans proceed.
Ecology and Asarco agreed on a work plan earlier this year. The order covers a five-acre fenced area that was part of Asarco's lead smelter a century ago. Some residues contain up to 76 percent arsenic.
The DOE is requiring Asarco to remove soil with 3,000 or more parts per million of arsenic from the fenced area as an interim measure.
Asarco, which closed the smelter and sold the land in the early 1900s, purchased homes in the 1990s, fenced the area and demolished the houses, but has not conducted a cleanup. Ecology has used state funds to remove contaminated soil from 47 nearby homes and has sampled 10 more in anticipation of cleanup if additional funds become available.