Evergreen Tacoma Initiative on Cusp

You can be part of the new Evergreen Tacoma Initiative by joining the City of Tacoma, the Tacoma-Pierce Co. Health Department and the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) at a joint news conference announcing a proposed national model to environmental cleanup.

The Evergreen Tacoma Initiative takes a systematic approach to environmental cleanup by considering an entire area affected by soil and groundwater pollution, rather than by tackling the problem one parcel at a time. A team of representatives from state, county and local governments, private property owners, environmental consultants and other business professionals as well as non-profit organizations will work together to identify the system-wide sources of contamination and develop a cleanup and sustainable re-use plan to prevent re-contamination and enable reinvestment. This initiative will also help to protect Puget Sound.

Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, City Manager Eric Anderson, Dr. Anthony Chen from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Southwest Regional Office Director Sally Toteff from the Washington State Department of Ecology, Chancellor Pat Spakes and representatives from Senator Maria Cantwell’s and Congressman Norm Dicks’ offices are scheduled to speak about this new, next generation approach to environmental cleanup and redevelopment.

The event will be held on the UWT campus in the Tacoma Room at 10 a.m. on Tues., Oct. 13. For directions visit the UWT Web site.