Green River Killer Gary Ridgway booked into King County jail

Seattle along the edge of Lake Union is Seattle's Gas Works Park the last standing coal gasification plant in the United States the park architecture may look like something out of a steampunk film set but the tall cylinders and series of pipes were once used to produce synthetic gas that powered the city of Seattle for decades the park is an official Seattle landmark and is a popular spot for bikers joggers and people out for a picnic but it also offers a glimpse into Seattle's history in the industrialization era in 1900 the then Seattle Gas Light Company began purchasing lots for development and the park was one of them construction began in 1906 and a year later the land became the Lake Station gas manufacturing plant that ended up being the largest private utility then existing in Seattle by 1954 the Lake Station plant used 1,071 Mi of gas main to serve Seattle Renton Kent and tuilla approximately 43,124 customers with was served in 1940 decreasing to 36,200 in 1954 according to City archives the plant had about 130 employees with four crews of 23 men per shift rotating 24 hours a day 7 days a week the Lake Station plant closed in 1956 when the city converted to using natural gas but that wasn't the end for the 20 acre plot of land there was a lot of talk about what to do with the site the lake stay plant created gas from coal up until 1937 when high operating costs forced the change over to oil for the remainder of the plant's existence during operations many types of wastes including coal tar and oil accumulated on site resulting in the contamination of the soil groundwater and sediment according to the Washington department of ecology the environmental concerns about the site weren't going to disappear overnight but where some saw toxic soil and a load of problems landscape AR Richard hog saw potential hog who died in 2018 lobbied to create a park on the land reusing the gasification structures and even removing toxins from the soil the city of Seattle purchased the abandoned gas plant in 1962 and the Seattle Park Board began working with hog and his team to move forward with plans for a public park Hog's plans centered around recycling the buildings production structures machinery and even the grounds themselves hard worked with soil scientists on bioremediation which uses microbes to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater and it resulted in detoxifying most of the land with that success the great Mound also known as kite Hill opened to the public in 1973 and the rest of the park opened 3 years later the great Mound was molded out of thousands of cubic yards of rubble from building foundations covered with fresh top soil with the sun dial on top of the hill that allows visitors to tell time using their Shadow the hill is one of the Park's most popular spots with great views of the Seattle skyline but few people know what they are standing on used to be toxic de the soil on the north south and picnic Lawns also went gone through the bior remediation process with 18 in of sewage sludge and sawdust which decontaminated the soil and allowed for a field of grass to grow other structures around the park were repurposed to be part of the design to create an urban playground of sorts the one thing you don't want to do though is swim in the water directly around the park in addition to contaminating the soil its history as a gas plant also polluted the groundwater and sediment the park was briefly closed in April of 1984 on the recommendation of the Environmental Protection Agency however after evaluation of site risks the city reopened the park in August despite the contamination of the land it is not designated as an official super fun site the Washington department of ecology said much of the contamination in the Upland area was cleaned up between 1971 and 2020 and restrictions were put in place to keep people from being exposed like sinage saying not to swim in the water due to pollution and fences were put up around the cylinders but there is still work to do on cleaning up the site the ecology Department finalized plans in 2023 to move forward with more cleanup of the site the plan is to cap the shoreline soil treat Shoreline groundwater dredge and cap sediment underwater and set up monitoring moving forward the planning is still taking place with construction set to begin in 2027 the work is estimated to cost about $73 million which will come from the city of Seattle and Puget Sound Energy nowadays gasworks Park is a notable spot on the Seattle skyline it's a fun place to walk bike or just sit and watch the boats on Lake Union the park remains an iconic landmark in Seattle and is cemented in history