Editing Chehalis, Washington (section)

==Environment and ecology==
The city owns and operates the Chehalis Poplar Tree Farm located east of Claquato on State Route 6. The 11-unit, {{convert|250|acre}} site grows nine hybrid varieties of [[Populus|poplar]] and the trees are harvested on a rotating basis in sectioned units every 8 to 10 years. The lumber is sold to produce paper. The farm is part of Chehalis' water treatment program. As of 2008, Class 1 [[wastewater]], rather than be fully discharged in the Chehalis River as was common practice before the tree farm was created, is used to hydrate the poplar fields through the use of irrigation pipes. Reclaimed and treated water not absorbed by the poplars recharges the local aquifer.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stanton |first1=Carrina |title=Poplars take root in second year |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/poplars-take-root-in-second-year,228086 |access-date=July 25, 2022 |work=The Chronicle |date=September 20, 2005}}</ref><ref name="Poplar"/> The farm was informally known as the "Chehalis Poplar Tree Plantation" and was renamed to its current moniker in 2021 due to local action requesting the removal of the word "plantation" as the term was considered objectionable.<ref name="Poplar">{{cite news |last1=Rosane |first1=Eric |title=Chehalis Site Renamed 'Poplar Tree Farm' After Concerns Over 'Plantation,' City Manager Says |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/chehalis-site-renamed-poplar-tree-farm-after-concerns-over-plantation-city-manager,269936 |access-date=July 25, 2022 |work=The Chronicle |date=July 30, 2021}}</ref>
	
The area is populated by [[Frangula purshiana|cascara]], defined as a bush or tree depending on its size. The main harvesting of the plant is for its bark, commonly used as a laxative.<ref name="IPC"/>

The Chehalis River and Dillenbaugh Creek watersheds in the city are home to migrating [[coho salmon]] and the ecosystems support beaver and deer.<ref name="DCWSA"/> A {{convert|66|acre|ha|adj=mid}} [[wetland]] area was donated to Chehalis in 1994 by the owner of Yardbirds. Located at the northern city limit at Salzer Creek on National Avenue, Chehalis allows the parcel to be used as an improvement offset by businesses in exchange for companies building in other wetland areas in the community.<ref>{{cite news |author1=The Chronicle staff |title=Chehalis has its own wetland site |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-chronicle/2002/10-05/page-10 |access-date=May 28, 2025 |work=The Chronicle |date=October 5, 2002 |page=A8}}</ref>

The city contains two [[Superfund sites]]. A major flood in 1986 led to a contamination cleanup at a closed industrial site, known as American Crossarm and Conduit, near Millett Field. Approximately {{convert|10,000|USgal}} of a mixture of creosote and diesel fuel, as well as cancer-causing chemicals such as [[Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds|dioxins]] and [[pentachlorophenol]] used in the treatment of lumber, spread into the surrounding neighborhoods as well as the Dillenbaugh Creek watershed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vowell |first1=Michele |title=Danger at out doorstep? |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-chronicle/1995/01-12/page-27 |access-date=February 18, 2025 |work=The Chronicle |date=January 12, 1995 |pages=A1, A10}}</ref><ref name="DCWSA"/> The $9.5&nbsp;million hazardous cleanup was undertaken by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) and the area was listed in 1988 as a [[List of Superfund sites in Washington (state)|federal superfund site]]; <ref>{{cite news |last1=Vowell |first1=Michele |title=Health concerns remain |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-chronicle/1995/01-31/page-24 |access-date=February 18, 2025 |work=The Chronicle |date=January 31, 1996 |pages=A1, A10}}</ref> the remediation was not completed until 1996.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vowell |first1=Michele |title=The end of a hazard |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-chronicle/1996/05-25/page-1 |access-date=February 18, 2025 |work=The Chronicle |date=May 25, 1996 |pages=A1, A7}}</ref> The Hamilton/Labree Roads Groundwater Contamination site is an ongoing remediation project. Split into two units, the more than {{convert|10|acre|ha|adj=mid}} contaminated area is located {{convert|2|mi}} south of the city at Berwick Creek. The concerns include the dumping of [[Tetrachloroethylene|PERC]] and buried drums of other hazardous chemicals which has affected the soil and water system in the area. First noticed in 1993, an initial cleanup, referred to as "interim", began in 2020 and was completed in 2024. Continued monitoring of the site will evaluate if further mitigation will be required.<ref>{{cite news |author1=The Chronicle staff |title=EPA reviewing cleanup of contaminated Superfund site south of Chehalis |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/epa-reviewing-cleanup-of-contaminated-superfund-site-south-of-chehalis,378501 |access-date=April 16, 2025 |work=The Chronicle |date=April 9, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=HAMILTON/LABREE ROADS GW CONTAMINATION CHEHALIS, WA |url=https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.cleanup&id=1002174 |publisher=[[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] |access-date=February 18, 2025 |date=2025}}</ref>