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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Oct. 5, 1998
98-171
Contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, Public Information Manager, (509) 575-2610
YAKIMA ? Fearing further pollution to a drinking-water aquifer, the Washington Department of Ecology has asked the federal government to take over part of a cleanup operation near Grandview.
Using its authority under the federal Superfund law, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to remove contaminated soil from the site where high levels of the banned herbicide dinoseb have been found in both the soil and ground water.
"Dinoseb continues to move from the soil into a drinking-water source," said Ecology site manager Tom Mackie. "We are concerned that time is running short to get the contaminated soil out before winter rains and snows arrive."
Cleanup efforts by the owner have been stalled since early August, prompting Ecology to ask EPA to step in, Mackie said.
EPA spokesman Bob Jacobson said the operation falls under the emergency removal section of the Superfund program, which provides money for short-term cleanup operations. The owner, Dan Alexander of Bainbridge Island, a former hop farmer, remains responsible for cleanup costs and long-term remediation at the site on West King Tull Road in Benton County.
"Before we begin to remove the contaminated dirt, we will assess the site, taking both soil and water samples to determine how far and wide the contamination has spread," said Beth Shelldrake, EPA's Region 10 emergency-response on-scene coordinator.
Earlier this spring, two wells were identified with levels of dinoseb 50 times greater than allowed by federal drinking-water standards. Soil and water samples narrowed the contamination to the Alexander site, where pesticides were routinely mixed and stored, and to an adjacent residence.
In May, Alexander was ordered to prepare short-term and long-term plans for cleaning up the contamination under provisions of the state Model Toxics Control Act. Under the order, contaminated soil was to have been removed by July 31.
"Alexander missed several cleanup deadlines and declined to meet with Ecology twice in September to discuss progress at the site," Mackie said. "Now, EPA will conduct some of the very same work we had expected the Alexander's consultant to undertake this summer."
Although EPA will remove the contaminated soil, Mackie said Alexander remains responsible for investigating and cleaning up groundwater contamination at the site.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
