NW Pipeline Unocal Finley Meter Station

The NW Pipeline Unocal Finley Meter Station (also known as NW Pipeline St Phillips) site is a gas pipeline meter station, formerly including mercury-containing equipment. The site is located inside the old Chevron Chemical Company facility, near the east bank of the Columbia River, at the southeast edge of Kennewick in Benton County about 6 miles east of I-82 and at the east end of Game Farm Road.

In 2003, the site was added to Ecology’s Hazardous Sites List with a ranking of “3”. Sites on the Hazardous Sites List are a priority for Ecology, and have completed a Site Hazard Assessment (SHA). A SHA provides information about the environmental risk of the site. Risk is based on the amount of contaminants, how toxic they are, and how easily they can come in contact with people and the environment. Sites are ranked relative to each other on a scale of “1” to “5”; with a rank of “5” being the lowest.

Limited assessment and removal actions occurred at the site in 1990, including removal of 8 drums of mercury-contaminated soil in. Soils remaining after that removal were known to be above Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) cleanup levels. 

Site assessment activities in 2008-2009 found soil contamination with mercury levels up to 220 mg/kg, though no arsenic contamination was present above cleanup standards. In November 2011, about 46 tons of non-hazardous waste mercury-contaminated soil was transported to the Graham Road (near Spokane) Landfill for disposal. About 2 tons of state-only WT-02 Dangerous Waste was disposed of at the Chemical Waste Management Subtitle C landfill in Oregon. MTCA cleanup levels for unrestricted land use were achieved throughout the site.

Based upon cleanup activities, Ecology has determined the site is no longer a threat to human health and the environment. Ecology issued a no further action determination in December 2012. The site has been removed from the Hazardous Sites List.