Palouse Producers

In 1977, Palouse Producers began operations and used the facility to fuel vehicles and store and distribute bulk fuel until approximately 1985.

Historical documents show the facility was poorly constructed to contain spills and drips from historical operations and that spills occurred on the site. In addition, tanks and piping appear to have leaked. There is also evidence that these releases may have reached the Palouse River through overland flow or groundwater migration.

By 1992 all above-ground and underground storage tanks were removed from the site.  From 1984 to 1985, several efforts were made to clean up petroleum product that had entered the Palouse River from the site. 

 

The City of Palouse received an Integrated Planning Grant from Ecology to investigate and clean up remaining contamination. You can learn more on their City of Palouse Brownfield Project website.

 

• Installing and monitoring of three groundwater monitoring wells
• Restricting groundwater use at the property and enacting a Soil Management Plan to guide future uses
• Removing soil that with contamination levels that exceed standards set to protect people and environment (soil not exceeding these levels remained on-site) 

Periodic reviews

A periodic review is conducted at least every 5 years after beginning cleanup at a site when contamination remains there. The purpose of the review is to evaluate site conditions after intital cleanup is complete to ensure people and the environment are protected.

 

In July 2020, we completed the first periodic review and recommended no further cleanup actions. Groundwater monitoring will continue to track cleanup progress. The property has been purchased, and redevelopment may proceed as long as monitoring well access is maintained. The owners are working with us to ensure their plans will protect the cleanup and comply with the environmental covenants.

Institutional controls can be fences, signs, or restrictions on how the property is used. For instance, an institutional control may prohibit installing drinking water wells or disturbing a protective cap that isolates contamination. These restrictions keep the contamination contained and keep people from being exposed to the contamination. The controls are usually listed in environmental covenants recorded with the county.

Periodic reviews are required when institutional controls are required at a site. Ecology conducts reviews to make sure the controls remain effective and the cleanup still protects human health and the environment. We conduct periodic reviews about every five years.