Rogers Brothers Seed

The Port of Whitman County purchased the site in January 2026, to clean up contamination from past industry on the property. The 5.9-acre site is behind the Colfax Junior-Senior High School. Before purchasing, the Port used a $500,000 EPA grant to assess the property, as part of a community-wide assessment looking for contaminated properties to clean up.

The Port plans to redevelop the property for the community's benefit following cleanup. EPA awarded them another $4-million grant in June 2026 to fund the cleanup, which will cost an estimated $5 million. They began tearing down the four buildings on the property in July 2026.

Union Pacific Railroad stored coal at the site from 1908 to 1912, and a railroad spur is on the property. From the 1940s to 1980, Rogers Brothers Seed Company processed and stored pea seeds there. From 1994 until the Port bought the property in 2026, Juaul, Inc. stored cars, boats, and other items at the site.

Contamination

Rogers Brothers Seed mixed pesticides with water and applied them to pea seeds. Until 1979, a conveyor chute dumped the leftover mixture of diluted pesticides and water on the ground outside the pea processing building. Then, a new system was installed that carried the leftover pesticide-water mixture in an underground pipe to an underground storage tank outside the storage building.

Records show the rock under the railroad tracks at the site may be mine tailings from Idaho’s Silver Valley, which would contain metals.

Due to past railroad use, pea processing, and vehicle storage, soil and groundwater are contaminated with:

• Pesticides
• Lead
• Diesel and gasoline

As buildings are torn down, materials may be hazardous, including asbestos and lead-based paint.

In the 1990s, Rogers Brothers hired an environmental consultant to remove the underground storage tank and connected pipe, which were leaking. Workers dug up contaminated soil from around the tank and pipe and disposed of it at an appropriate facility. Soil samples were taken from the excavated area, and pesticides remained at levels requiring cleanup.

After Ecology reviewed the report about the work, we requested groundwater samples be taken. Workers installed monitoring wells and took groundwater samples from them. Pesticides were in groundwater at levels requiring cleanup.

Through 1997, more soil and groundwater investigations were done, but cleanup wasn’t finished.

The Port was considering purchasing the property for redevelopment, and in 2025, hired another environmental consultant to further investigate soil and groundwater. These investigations confirmed contamination remained at levels requiring cleanup. The consultant wrote a report documenting the investigation findings and evaluating ways to clean up the site. They recommended excavating and moving contaminated soil that isn’t hazardous waste to one spot on the property. This soil would be buried in a lined hole about 4 feet deep and covered with more protective liner and then clean soil. Contaminated soil that is hazardous waste would be taken to an incinerator. This work is estimated to cost $5 million.