Hungry Whale Grocery

Ecology finalized the Cleanup Action Plan to address contamination at the site and signed a legal agreement, Agreed Order DE 20344, with the Port of Grays Harbor to implement the cleanup plan. The port is the potentially liable person (PLP) responsible for cleaning up the site. Ecology staff is overseeing the project to ensure that human health and the environment are protected during cleanup.

Ecology provided the port with a grant of about $1.2 million for cleanup construction. 

A fact sheet briefly summarizes information about the cleanup action plan. 

Ecology held a public comment period from June 2 to July 5, 2022, and hosted an informational meeting on June 22, 2022, to present information about the cleanup plan and answer questions. 

The documents under review during the comment period included:

• Remedial Investigation & Feasibility Study.
• draft Cleanup Action Plan
• Agreed Order DE 20344 between Ecology and the port to implement the Cleanup Action Plan.
• State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Determination of Non-Significance.

We did not receive any comments during the comment period. 

We signed the Agreed Order and finalized the cleanup documents.

The Hungry Whale Grocery site is located at the intersection of North Montesano Avenue and Wilson Street. The port owns the property. A portion of the property is leased as a retail gasoline fueling station and convenience store.

The convenience store and gas station was constructed in the mid-1970s.  There are underground storage tanks (USTs) and a gasoline dispensing island at the site.

Gasoline contamination was confirmed in October 1990 when soil was sampled in areas near two underground storage tanks revealed high levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons.
 
In March 1991, one of the tanks was decommissioned and the other was removed. During this work, a thin layer of free product was found floating on the surface water in an area near the tank excavation.
 
In November 1991, Ecology hired a contractor to perform a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study at the site to determine the extent of contamination and examine cleanup alternatives.  Soil and groundwater sampling confirmed the presence of total petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene above state cleanup standards. Hydraulic oil and lead were also found in groundwater.
 
Ecology entered into Agreed Order DE 94-S388 with the Port of Grays Harbor in 1995 to complete additional sampling and implement the selected cleanup remedy identified during the Feasibility Study.  A system was installed to cleanup groundwater contamination. The system ran from 1997 to 1999. Tests showed the treatment was not effective and groundwater contamination remained above state cleanup standards.
 
In 2006, Ecology entered into a Agreed Order DE 3812 with the Port of Grays Harbor to complete a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study to determine a new and more effective method for cleanup. 

Ecology's Cleanup Action Plan is based on removal of contaminant sources in soil and groundwater and monitoring groundwater to ensure the cleanup is effective.  

The plan is a combination of soil excavation and groundwater removal and will include these actions:

• The convenience store will be demolished and the remaining USTs and fuel dispensing equipment will be removed.
• About 5,200 cubic yards of contaminated soil will be excavated and properly disposed of off-site. 
• Groundwater entering the soil excavation will be pumped out and treated at an on-site facility. After treatment, the groundwater will be clean enough to be released into the City of Westport's stormwater ditch.
• The excavation will be filled with clean soil after the groundwater is treated.
• Once the contamination source is removed, concentrations in soil and groundwater will decrease from biological activity, called natural attenuation.
• Conditions will be monitored to make sure the contamination decreases in groundwater.

Any contaminated soil that might extend beneath the street right-of-ways will not be removed.

The port will file an environmental covenant with the county if contamination remains at the site. Among other restrictions, the covenant will likely restrict groundwater use at the site. As long as the covenant is in place, Ecology will review conditions at the site every five years.