Klickitat County Road Dept Goldendale Shop Wash Pad

The site is the location of a county maintenance shop. During the addition of a new building, a washdown slab was removed. The washdown pad had served as a location to washdown vehicles and dispose of unwanted contaminants including gasoline, solvents, and herbicides. During the removal process, contamination appeared to be present under the slab.  

In 1994, a site assessment was conducted near a vehicle shop wash pad. A drain located near the pad discharged wash water to the ground that contained gasoline, solvents, and herbicides. Soil and groundwater samples were taken and sent to a laboratory for analysis. The soil samples results revealed gasoline, solvents, herbicides, and metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, and silver. The groundwater samples revealed no contamination above state cleanup levels.

After a Site Hazard Assessment conducted in 2005, the Site was ranked a “3” on the Hazardous Sites List. The Hazardous Sites List is a statewide list of contaminated properties. Sites can be ranked from a “1” to “5”.  A rank of “1” is the highest level of environmental concern compared to other sites on the List, and a rank of “5” is the lowest.

From 1969 until 2010, an above-ground 10,000-gallon heated and insulated asphalt tank was used. In 2011, the tank was cleaned and removed. Contaminated soil was excavated from beneath the tank. Nearly 300 tons of petroleum (gasoline and diesel) contaminated soil was removed. Soil sampling revealed contamination above state cleanup levels.

In 2018, Ecology funded site investigations at this site through the Model Remedies Grant Program. Site investigations are the process of gathering data about the site and are used to help develop and implement cleanup plans. The Klickitat County Road Dept Goldendale Shop Wash Pad site was selected to receive a portion of the funds.

In 2019, an engineering company, GeoEngineers, performed site investigations and sent soil samples to an accredited lab for analysis. The results confirmed no contamination above state cleanup levels remains at the site.