Town Pump Gas Station

The Town Pump Station Site is located at 521 East Jewett Boulevard, in White Salmon. The Site currently operates as a wholesale bakery. It does not serve the public as a retail storefront. The former trailer park to the south of the Site is being developed as residential housing.

Contaminated soil has been documented at the Site since 1989, when gasoline contaminated water was observed seeping into the trailer park located directly downgradient of the site.

The cleanup and removal of pumps, piping and tanks at the former Town Pump service station site and the associated bulk fuel storage was generally completed in two phases. 

Gas Station

The first of two work phases was to clean up the former Town Pump service station. This was largely completed in 1994. Actions at the station included the removal of underground storage tanks and removal of accessible petroleum contaminated soils.

Bulk Fuel Storage

The second phase of work, completed late in 1996, addressed the bulk fuel storage area that supplied fuel to the Town Pump Station. This consisted of the removal of four underground storage tanks and most of the associated piping from the hillside across Jewett Boulevard, above the Town Pump station.  Some of these tanks supplied fuel to the pumps at the former Town Pump through piping buried under the road. 

Soil samples collected from the vicinity of the tanks and lines were included in this phase of work, however no contaminated soil was found. Petroleum contamination is known to exist beneath Jewett Boulevard, beginning at a depth of approximately 3 feet below the ground surface. This contamination is thought to have been released from the two pipelines joining the tanks and the pumps. That portion of the lines traveling underground just north of the station and beneath Jewett Boulevard does remain in place.

Finishing the Cleanup

To address petroleum contaminated soils remaining at the base of the retaining wall behind the service station site, a geomembrane barrier (similar to landscaping cloth) has been placed over the contamination to isolate it. Further requirements include addressing the remaining petroleum contamination should the old service station building be demolished. 

In December 2023, Ecology and a representative of the Upper Weyers HOA met at the site. Sampling locations were selected collaboratively, and Ecology collected several samples. The results revealed no contaminants were detected in soil or groundwater and no odor or staining of gasoline were noted.

Periodic reviews are conducted every 5 years by Ecology for sites that have Environmental Covenants and/or Institutional Controls. The review is intended to examine the effectiveness of cleanup activities and to assure the continued protection of human health and the environment.

Periodic Review Results

Based on the 2020 periodic review, the cleanup actions completed at the Site are protective of human health and the environment.

Soil cleanup levels have not been met at the Site; however, the cleanup action for the Property is determined to comply with cleanup standards under WAC 173-340-740(6)(f). Requirements for containment technologies have been met and the long-term integrity of the containment system (i.e. onsite structure) is provided for through institutional controls.

The Restrictive Covenant for the property is in place and is expected to be effective in protecting public health and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances and protecting the integrity of the cleanup action.

No additional remedial actions are required by the property owner.  It is the property owner’s responsibility to continue to inspect the Site to assure that the integrity of the cap (i.e. onsite structure) is maintained.