Michael Irrigation

BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) has active railroad tracks running next to the Wenatchee River in Cashmere. BNSF also owns a 0.34 acre parcel adjacent to the railroad corridor in the west part of Cashmere.

In March 1986, BNSF leased the Site to Michael Irrigation and Excavation for storage of irrigation supplies, equipment, and miscellaneous tanks and timbers. 

In 2004, oil was found in soil at the site during a telephone pole installation. The contamination is believed to have occurred when crude oil was released from a tank car as a result of a train derailment in the 1930s. BNSF has done several investigations into soil and groundwater contamination at the site since 2004.

In 2018, Ecology and BNSF signed an Agreed Order (AO) for continued investigation of soil and groundwater at the site and to determine the appropriate cleanup option for the site. A Supplemental Remedial Investigation was completed in early 2020, as required under the AO. A Remedial Investigation (RI) uses data to determined what contamination is present and how far it has spread. A public comment period was held in late summer 2020 for the public to review and comment on the RI, in which no comments were received.

Although some petroleum contamination remain in soil and groundwater at the site, the RI found that it does not pose a threat to human health and the environment. In late 2020, an Environmental Covenant (EC) was filed in Chelan County. An EC is a legal agreement that outlines terms and restrictions of activities at the site that may impact or threaten continued protection of human health or the environment.

In 2021, Ecology has determined that activities done at the site and the filing of the EC, no further remedial actions are necessary and that the conditions of the AO have been satisfied.