Bank of Pacific Property

Environmental cleanup is completed at the site, and the periodic review in 2019 shows that cleanup work remains effective in protecting the health of people and the environment.

After cleanup, some petroleum-contaminated soil remained at the site under a portion of a retaining wall and parking lot. To prevent exposure to that contamination, a restrictive covenant was filed for the site in 2005. The covenant restricts property use and requires maintenance of a pavement cap, retaining wall, and layers of clean soil and gravel next to the retaining wall to cover the buried contaminated soil. 

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

Based on Ecology's inspection of the site on December 12, 2018, the clean soil and gravel layers next to the retaining wall in the vacant lot, the retaining wall, and the asphalt cap in the parking lot are in satisfactory condition and continue to eliminate exposure to contaminated soil.

From January 17 to February 19, 2019, 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 Bank of Pacific Property site is two adjacent properties located at 20 Butler Street and 58 Main Street in a residential and commercial area of Cathlamet. Currently the 20 Butler Street property is a vacant lot and the 58 Main Street property is a parking lot. The two lots are separated by a retaining wall.

The Butler Street portion was a service station for vehicle maintenance and repair that operated from the 1920s to the mid-1970s. The service station reportedly had four underground storage tanks and a pump island. In the mid-1980s the station building was demolished and a new building was constructed on the property, which was utilized for storage and an automobile paint shop.

In 1997, Bank of the Pacific purchased both the Butler Street and Main Street properties. The Main Street property was developed as a parking lot for the bank, and the building on Butler Street was leased.  In 2003, the building on Butler Street was demolished leaving a vacant lot. In 2018, the City of Cathlamet purchased the 20 Butler Street portion of the site.

Cleanup Site History

There was historical evidence in the 1970s of petroleum hydrocarbon releases from the former service station at 20 Butler Street.   

In 1999, the four underground storage tanks were left-in-place after cleaning and filling with a cement-like material, and 13 tons of petroleum-contaminated soil was excavated and removed from the 20 Butler Street location. Based on the concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons and benzene in the groundwater, in 2003 the decision was made to remove the remaining contaminated soil that was the source of groundwater pollution. To accomplish this, the decommissioned underground storage tanks that had been left-in-place were excavated and removed.  A total of 1,187 tons of soil was excavated and removed from the site and an adjacent residential property.  But continued excavation was stopped where the digging threatened a small portion of the retaining wall and paved parking lot on the Main Street section of the site.

After cleanup, soil sampling confirmed that all accessible petroleum-contaminated soil had been removed from the site. 

Groundwater sampling conducted quarterly in 2004 indicated no contaminants were above cleanup levels.

An environmental covenant was filed for the site in 2005 because not all of the contaminated soil could be removed. The covenant restricts property use and requires the pavement in the parking lot, the structure of the retaining wall, and the layers of soil and gravel next to the wall be maintained to make sure the small portion of contaminated soil that remains next to the retaining wall does not pose a threat to people's health and the environment.

Ecology issued a no further action letter for the site in 2006.