Richland Uptown Shopping Center Parcel 09

The Richland Uptown Shopping Center Parcel 09 site was originally part of a larger site known as the Richland Uptown Shopping Center. The Uptown Shopping Center, previously owned by the US government, was obtained by private parties in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the development of the shopping center. The City of Richland presently owns the parking lot and service alley encompassing the shopping center.

During a 1993 Phase I Site Assessment, 32 underground storage tanks (USTs) were identified in and adjacent to the service alley; the tanks reportedly stored heating oil. In addition to the USTs, past or present businesses that may have stored or used hazardous materials at the site include print shops, dry cleaners, camera shops, paint stores, and automotive supply stores. The larger site was subsequently split into separate sites based on information indicating separate releases had occurred at different parcels within the larger site.

The Richland Uptown Shopping Center Parcel Parcel 09 site included a heating oil underground storage tank (referred to as tank #23). Removal of this tank was documented in the "Report of Underground Storage Tank Removal Project, Limited Environmental Site Assessment, Uptown shopping Center", June 8, 1994.

That report included the collection of two subsurface soil samples. The two soil samples were analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). An excavation sidewall sample collected at a depth of 7 feet below ground surface (bgs) had no TPH detected. A soil sample collected at the base of the excavation at a depth of 10 feet bgs had a TPH concentration of 850 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg).

At the time of the 1994 tank removal project, the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) Method A cleanup level for TPH diesel and TPH heavy oil was 200 mg/kg. The current Method A cleanup level for these contaminants is 2,000 mg/kg. No available data indicates contamination above the current Method A cleanup level.

Ecology has determined the site is no longer a threat to human health and the environment. Ecology made a no further action determination in August 2017.