Montesano Farm & Home

Environmental cleanup is complete at the site and the third periodic review shows the cleanup work remains effective in protecting the health of people and the environment.

Because some contamination was left in place at the site, an environmental covenant was recorded on the property and filed with the county in 2006. When an environmental covenant exists for a cleanup site, Ecology reviews conditions about every five years to ensure the long-term effectiveness of the cleanup action.

Ecology visited the site on July 13, 2021. The contaminated soil is covered by asphalt, the loading dock, and the building footprint. These covers provide adequate barriers to direct exposure to contaminated soil and prevent water infiltration.

From August 11 to September 11, 2022, Ecology held a comment period to give the public an opportunity to comment on conditions at the site. No comments were received during the comment period and Ecology finalized the third periodic review report.

Third Periodic Review Report Final.

The Montesano Farm & Home site is located at 412 South Main Street in Montesano. The site is occupied by a retail agricultural supply and hardware store, an attached warehouse, and a retail fuel station. The fuel station is not operated by Montesano Farm and Home.

The area of the site is used mostly for commercial purposes. 

Petroleum-contaminated soil and groundwater were discovered after Montesano Farm & Home removed an underground gasoline storage tank in 1999. Soil contaminated with gasoline- and diesel-range petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes was excavated and removed from the site.

In 2005, petroleum-contaminated soil was found when a heating oil underground storage tank was removed. About 377 tons of contaminated soil was excavated and removed from the site.  Some of the contaminated soil was not removed because it was located under the building and loading dock and could not be removed without risking integrity of the structures. The contaminated soil is isolated and is not impacting groundwater on the Site.

From 2003-2005, Montesano Farm and Home installed monitoring wells on the site to monitor contamination in groundwater. Sampling in 2005 showed some higher levels of petroleum contamination in groundwater on the site compared to sampling done in 2003 and 2004. Ecology-conducted an area-wide investigation of groundwater contamination in downtown Montesano.

The sources of gasoline and BTEX constituents found at the site are from a groundwater plume in downtown Montesano that appears to have moved from other known sources onto the site.

Montesano Farm & Home recorded an environmental (restrictive) covenant for the site in 2006 because some contaminated soil remains on the property. Among the covenant's restrictions, it prohibits using groundwater drawn from the site for any purpose. The covenant prohibits any activities that could result in the release of contaminants that remain at the site without approval by Ecology.

In 2010, Ecology issued a No Further Action Determination with the implementation of institutional controls in the form of a Restrictive Covenant. A long-term groundwater monitoring plan was not required by Ecology as a condition of the No Further Action determination.