Priceless Gas

Ecology is funding cleanup using the Eastern Washington Clean Sites Initiative since the previous owners notified us in 2003 that they could no longer afford it. Currently, we are further assessing groundwater contamination.

A leaking underground storage tank contaminating soil and groundwater was discovered in 1998. Cleanup included excavating and disposing of contaminated soil, treating and monitoring groundwater contamination, and filing an environmental covenant to make any future property owners aware of remaining soil and groundwater contamination as treatment continues.

The Priceless Gas cleanup site is about 30 miles west of Spokane and currently used by Some Like it Hot Espresso.

The site was a retail service station and convenience store owned by Merit Truck Stop, Inc. / F.O.F. Inc. that used four underground gasoline and diesel storage tanks:

• One 12,000-gallon tank
• One 10,000-gallon tank
• Two 2,000-gallon tanks 

All four tanks were emptied, and Priceless Gas operations ended in March 1997. The facility closed in June 1998.

Petroleum leaked into soil and groundwater from an underground storage tank that has since been removed.

In November 1998, Ecology received a call from a resident whose home is directly north of Priceless Gas. He was concerned about gasoline odor in his home and what appeared to be gasoline seeping through the wall in his basement.

Ecology’s Emergency Spill Response Team responded for the initial investigation. Three pits were dug on the residential property, and two of them contained petroleum-contaminated soil. Two groundwater monitoring wells were installed, and samples taken contained unsafe levels of gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene compounds.

In December 1998, the four underground storage tanks used by Priceless Gas were taken out of service and inspected. The 12,000-gallon tank had several small holes in the side. In January 1999, the fuel dispensing pumps, pump islands and associated piping were removed.

The Remedial Investigation was conducted from September to December 1999. The investigation, along with earlier interim cleanup actions, included:

• Installing 17 soil borings, 10 of which were developed into monitoring wells
• Excavating 4 underground storage tanks
• Digging 10 trenches
• Sampling soil from each trench, boring, and tank excavation
• Sampling groundwater from the tank excavation and each monitoring well
• Removing over 725 cubic yards of contaminated soil and backfilling it with clean soil

Following the investigation, concerns included the possibility that remaining soil contamination could pollute groundwater, gasoline vapors could be inhaled, and contaminated soil and groundwater could be directly contacted due to the lack of a cover over it.

In June 2003, Ecology published the Cleanup Action Plan, which included:

• Removing and disposing of remaining contaminated soil
• Installing a sump to recover petroleum products from groundwater
• Treating groundwater in a trench along the northern property boundary
• Backfilling excavated areas with clean materials
• Sampling and analyzing groundwater from all the monitoring wells on a quarterly schedule
• Recording a restrictive covenant on the property deed to ensure that the potential exposure risk to contaminated soils and groundwater is known, and site activities are considerate of these potential risks

In 2003, Merit Truck Stop, Inc. / F.O.F., Inc., the party responsible for the contamination, notified Ecology it couldn’t fund the cleanup. We now fund and direct cleanup.

In 2005, more contaminated soil was excavated and disposed of, an 80-foot treatment trench was constructed, and an air-sparge/soil-vapor-extraction system was installed. The system began removing contaminants from soil in April 2005. As funding became available, Ecology completed quarterly groundwater monitoring.

The property sold in 2005, and became an espresso stand. The owner communicated with Ecology and followed the restrictive covenant during construction and has not been held liable for cleanup costs. The site has been partially paved with asphalt around the drive-up espresso building.

Between 2011 and 2015, contamination levels in groundwater samples from six of the monitoring wells and the treatment trench have been consistently higher than state standards.

In May and August 2015, bioremediation products were injected into the east and west ends of the treatment trench to stimulate biological degradation of the remaining contaminants.

We continue to assess and monitor the extent of groundwater contamination.

Periodic reviews

Ecology has completed two periodic reviews and found the asphalt cover and the espresso building continue to prevent exposure to contaminated soil. The asphalt appears in satisfactory condition, and no repair, maintenance, or contingency actions have been required. You can learn more in the reports:

• 2023
• 2016