Shoreline work at the Port Maritime Center site.
A major Port of Tacoma construction project has earned the first certification in Tacoma from Salmon-Safe, a nonprofit that works to protect watershed health.
Salmon-Safe recognized the Port Maritime Center project for its commitment to managing stormwater and restoring the shoreline along the Foss and Wheeler-Osgood Waterways in ways that will benefit salmon.
The Port of Tacoma is developing the 20-acre site in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools. The Port is building a new business center next door to the school district’s Maritime|253 skills center, which will provide career and technical education to high school students from across Pierce County.
“This project is exceptional in terms of its sensitivity to protecting the local watershed,” said Dan Kent, Salmon-Safe Co-Founder and Executive Director.
The report from Salmon-Safe’s independent science team noted the “high level of on-the-ground environmental stewardship,” which includes green stormwater infrastructure designed to respond to future impacts of climate change.
The property is the former home of a door manufacturer. So far, the Port of Tacoma has removed nearly 31,000 tons of contaminated soil as part of its environmental remediation, with another 12,000 tons anticipated.
Salmon-Safe’s report noted the site, which had no natural habitat for wildlife, is being redeveloped to remove bulkheads and restore the functionality of the shoreline to local aquatic life.
Buffers will feature native vegetation and more than 250 bigleaf maple, Douglas fir, and black cottonwood trees will be planted across the site. Altogether, about 95 native plant species will be used on the property.
The Port Maritime Center is Salmon-Safe’s first certification project in Tacoma, and the first time the Portland-based organization has certified a shoreline development project with a port.
“This Salmon-Safe certification is another point of pride for the Port Maritime Center,” said Port of Tacoma Commission President John McCarthy. “I’m grateful to our project team for pursing this certification and for their commitment to environmental sustainability.”
Studies show that approximately 80 percent of pollution in Puget Sound is what’s known as non-point source, meaning it begins as runoff from farm fields, construction sites and parking lots. Salmon-Safe works with developers to mitigate those impacts by going beyond regulatory compliance standards to reduce runoff into waterways and impacts to downstream salmon.
The Port Maritime Center’s contractor, BN Builders, is certified as Salmon-Safe.
“BN Builders has been a leader in terms of pollution prevention in construction, so it gives us a high level of confidence in a project like this to see a contractor that has made that zero-sediment runoff commitment,” Kent said.
Most Salmon-Safe projects are conditionally certified. Kent said the Port Maritime Center project is unusual because it includes only one condition, which relates to planning for ongoing operations.
The organization hopes it will be a model for other developments.
“We really do see this as a flagship project,” Kent said.