BELLINGHAM, Wash. – More then a year after an underground fuel leak was detected, a construction manager has said contamination at the gas station on the 1400 block of Electric Avenue is more severe than originally thought.
Tom Pulver, vice president of Ultra Tank Services, the company hired to remove and replace the old tanks and contaminated soil said the leak was discovered last year by a technician completing triennial tests. The first steps were then taken to evaluate the extent of the leak, he said.
Within one week of the leak being detected and evaluated the earth that was contaminated was excavated, said Katie Skipper, public information officer with the Washington State Department of Ecology. The four underground storage tanks were drained, decommissioned and removed, she said.
The gas station pumps remained closed for a year while the owner decided the best way of dealing with the problem, she said, the tests of all pipes and equipment showed that everything was working fine and the location of the leak could not be detected. One engineer suspected a faulty release valve on the storage unit, Skipper said.
As testing went on the owner decided to replace all four tanks at his own expense, Skipper said, this was last month which is when digging resumed and more contamination was found.
“All remediation projects are a process of discovery regardless of the information compiled prior to excavation,” Pulver said. “We have encountered more extensive contamination than expected. An end date is still undetermined but we are behind our original schedule,” he said.
The project was suppose to take 45 days, Pulver said, the first two weeks were dedicated to digging out the contaminated soil, after four weeks, the crew is finally near at end of the contamination.
Older storage tanks are known to leak, said Jason Porter, a utility engineer with the City of Bellingham. This is a very minor leak compared to some other instances, he said. There is a person on site testing the soil as it is excavated, if any fuel is found the digging must continue, Porter said.
Steve Marx, a Whatcom Falls Neighborhood resident of 31 years recently learned the leak was detected more then a year ago and he said it was disappointing that it hadn’t been completely dealt with sooner.
“It is good to know that something is being done to reverse the damage,” Marx said, “but they should just take the pumps out completely”
A ground water contamination was confirmed, Skipper said. There was 900 gallons of water pumped out until the water tested clean, she said, it is important to realize the difference between ground water and source water, which is where people get their water.
Marx said that he never understood why the city would allow a gas station so close to Lake Whatcom, a main source of drinking water for the community. The lake’s nearest shore is about three quarters of a mile away.
“There is virtually no way the fuel could reach the lake,” Porter said, “And I can say that with a straight face.”
The gas station is approximately 15 feet lower than the lake, Porter said. If the leak was large enough it would still have to move uphill to contaminate the lake.
Besides the immediate harm caused to the surrounding environment, the leak has also affected some businesses in the small business complex surrounding the gas, said Tom Pulver, of Ultra Tank Services
There are only regular customers that come in to the different stores, said Aaron Brown, assistant manager of Davinci’s Subs, one of the businesses affected by the reclamation project. The gas pumps brought in a lot of walk-in customers and with the pumps not working the drive up traffic has shrunk considerably, he said.
The construction has been going on for more then three weeks, said Justin Born, 22, an employee of Lafeens Doughnuts. There has been a significant decrease in traffic since the project started, he said.
“I’m losing up to 75 percent of my tips,” Born said.
The primary cleanup effort is complete, said Katie Skipper of the Department of Ecology. The construction crew is now in the process of installing two new tanks, which is more efficient than the four that were there before, she said. A whole new system, including fuel lines is being installed, she said.
Skipper said that Annette Ademasu, Tank Site Inspector with the Toxic Clean Up Program watches over all of the 129 registered underground storage tanks in Whatcom County. Out of these 129 tanks there is maybe two a year that produce minor leaks, Skipper said.
These tanks are located a various farms, gas stations, airports and other locations that need petroleum, Skipper said. Once the construction is complete at the Whatcom Falls site regular testing will be implemented throughout the next year to ensure that the environment has been completely restored.
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| The project site at the Electric Ave. Business Complex |
