Environment Events in Seattle

Join us for free lead and arsenic soil testing at our SoilSHOP event at Shark Garden in Burien! Puget Sound has a rich history of land and industry - but industrial practices from long ago may have had unseen lasting impacts on our soils and waters today. For nearly a century, a Tacoma-based copper smelter, operated by the Asarco Company, spread lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals into the air. This is now known as the Tacoma Smelter Plume, or TSP. Over time, those compounds settled into the soils around Puget Sound, where they remain to this day. In the spring & summer of 2026, KCD and the WA Dept of Ecology will be coming to local community gardens in parts of the region that may have been exposed to the TSP, and testing soils on-site free of charge.