Columbia East Commercial Park

The site is located in the Columbia East Business Park. The City of Pasco owns the undeveloped property.

During an environmental assessment, it was discovered that a portion of the property may have been part of an abandoned solid waste landfill that appears to have been west of the site. The landfill reportedly operated during the 1940s and early 1950s, and used controlled burning to dispose solid waste.

Soil sampling showed concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, chrysene, and lead exceeded state standards for residential areas.

The soil contamination levels were below state standards for industrial areas. The property is designated and zoned for industrial purposes, and the contaminant concentrations meet industrial levels. Since contaminants remain in place at the site, a restrictive covenant was filed on the property in 2001, and Ecology issued a no further action letter stating cleanup is complete. The restrictive covenant documents the type and location of contamination and limits the property to industrial use or those activities allowed under the current zoning.

Periodic reviews

Ecology visited the site in 2023, 2015, and 2010, and found the cleanup actions continue to protect human health and the environment. We found the site had been redeveloped in 2022 into a retail agricultural and construction equipment showroom. Ecology was notified in 2021 of the site selling to a new owner.

However, Ecology was not notified about redevelopment and did not approve the excavation, grading, and reuse of contaminated soil. An environmental checklist was submitted under the State Environmental Policy Act, but it didn't include the property’s status as a listed contaminated site. No records were kept of the volume of possibly contaminated soil that was managed onsite or whether any soil was removed from the site.

Ecology informed the property owner that redeveloping the site without the proper safety protocols and notification to Ecology violated the covenant. We also informed the principal contractor that workers may have been exposed to contaminated soils.

Following the redevelopment, the site is protective of human health and the environment because soil is again capped, and site use remains consistent with the allowed non-industrial use specified in the covenant.