Automotive Services Inc

PERIODIC REVIEW

Environmental cleanup is complete at the site and the periodic review completed in 2020 shows that the cleanup work remains effective in protecting the health of people and the environment.

After cleanup, concentrations of kerosene and diesel-range petroleum hydrocarbons remain in soil and groundwater above state cleanup levels. To prevent possible exposure to that contamination, an environmental covenant was filed for the site on March 12, 2012 and updated on September 18, 2013 to correct the parcel number given in the original covenant. Beyond this correction, there were no other substantive changes made to the covenant. The covenant prohibits any use or activity on the property that may interfere with the integrity of the cleanup.  Among other things, the covenant also requires groundwater monitoring to be conducted at 18-month intervals.

When an environmental covenant exists for a cleanup site, Ecology reviews site conditions about every five years to ensure the long-term effectiveness of the cleanup action.

Ecology inspected the site on August 28, 2019. The asphalt pavement continues to provide an adequate barrier to direct exposure (ingestion and direct contact) to contaminated soil. The asphalt pavement cap is in satisfactory condition except for a small area where a few cracks need to be sealed. These cracks do not affect the overall integrity and performance of the cap and the owner is in the process of sealing the cracks.

Long-term groundwater monitoring continues on an 18-month frequency.

From June 4 to July 6, 2020, Ecology held a comment period to give the public an opportunity to comment on conditions at the site. No comments were received and Ecology finalized the periodic review report.

Periodic Review Report-Final

The site comprises about 4.3-acres. It is owned by the Port of Vancouver and is currently leased by CalPortland (formerly Glacier Northwest Inc.) for its West Vancouver Ready Mix Plant.

The site was an agricultural field until 1972-1973, when Automotive Services Inc. constructed a car wash facility on the site. The facility used hot water mixed with kerosene to clean a Cosmoline-based protective coating from new cars after they arrived at the Port by ship. Although the original car wash facility covered a larger area than the current site, the area of contamination is located on parcel 059115-068 located at 2327 West Mill Plain Blvd. 

The source of the kerosene contamination in soil is thought to be from pipe and floor leakage during the operation of the car wash and from several documented overflows of the water treatment system.

The source of diesel contamination in soil was not identified but may have been a surface spill linked to a fuel storage facility and pipeline located next to the site. The spill probably occurred in the early 1970s and the volume of the spill or accumulation of spills might have exceeded 3,000 gallons.

In 1991, four underground storage tanks (USTs) were removed, including two 6,500-gallon kerosene tanks, one 6,500-gallon gasoline tank and one 8,000-gallon diesel tank. During excavation, soil was found to be contaminated with kerosene and diesel-range hydrocarbons above state cleanup levels. About 1,500 to 1,800 cubic yards of contaminated soil were excavated. The soil was likely stockpiled or spread on-site, but exactly what was done with the excavated soil is unknown.

In 1992, diesel-contaminated soil was found on the west side of the site near the adjacent Tesoro tank farm. 

In 1998, Automotive Services and the Port decided to demolish the car wash facility, which provided an opportunity to excavate contaminated soil that remained near and below the building. During demolition of the car wash building and sludge vaults, a dry well was discovered and also removed.

In 1999, soil was excavated to a depth of 16 feet below the surface but the excavation was not completed because conditions at the bottom of the pit became too risky to support the excavator. Some contaminated soil remained in the excavation walls and would be removed in the next phase of excavation. The pit was filled with clean and treated soil.

On-site bioremediation of the kerosene and diesel-contaminated soil was selected as the treatment process.  Bioremediation was conducted from 1999 to 2001. The soil was tilled and inoculated with microbes that digest hydrocarbons and added fertilizers to enhance their growth (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium). The soil was frequently tilled and moisture levels monitored and maintained. When treatment was completed, the soil was used either as fill in the excavation pits or spread on the soil surface. 

In 2000, the next phase of soil excavation began. Contaminated soil left in the wall of the earlier excavation was removed. The pit was excavated to a depth of 17 to 20 feet below the ground surface. After excavation, one area of contaminated soil (139 cubic yards), located 17 feet below the surface, was left in place to prevent excavating equipment from becoming idled while soil testing was completed. Another area of contaminated soil (250 cubic yards), located 16 ft below ground surface, was left because it would have required removal of a large amount (3,000 cubic yards) of overburden to get access to the contaminated soil. In total about 390 cubic yards of contaminated soil was left in place.

The excavations were filled with treated and clean overburden soil. In total the estimated amount of remediated kerosene and diesel-contaminated soil was 18,000 cubic yards.

The petroleum-contaminated soil remains in place on site beneath at least 16 feet of soil at the CalPortland facility and capped with pavement.

Groundwater contamination is limited in area at the site and is monitored every 18 months.

In March 2012 (and updated in September 2013), an environmental covenant was filed to address the remaining areas of contamination.  Among other constraints, the covenant restricts the land to industrial use, groundwater cannot be used for drinking water, and prohibits any activity that may interfere with the cleanup action or exposes humans or the environment to petroleum contamination. 

In March 2014, Ecology determined no further action (NFA) was required for this cleanup.