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Department of Ecology News Release - December 23, 2008
08-340
SPOKANE - Comments are welcome on a document that evaluates how well contamination has been cleaned up at the Washington Water Power Central Steam Plant site in downtown Spokane. The site was contaminated with petroleum products from former steam plant operations.
The state’s Model Toxics Control Act, or MTCA, requires the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) to conduct a “periodic review” to assess cleanup and monitoring results at least every five years since cleanup began.
Ecology will accept comments on the periodic review through Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. The Central Steam Plant site, at South Lincoln Street and West First Avenue, , was built in 1915 to burn coal and produce steam and electric power. In the mid-1960s, the boilers were converted to use petroleum products (Bunker C oil). Seven underground storage tanks were constructed to store the fuel.
In 1982, a fuel spill occurred, contaminating soil at the site as well as shallow groundwater. The spill did not affect the deeper Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. The site now houses retail stores, restaurants, hotels and commercial parking lots.
Cleanup actions have reduced the amount of contamination in soil and groundwater. However, soil and groundwater at the site continue to show petroleum products at levels that exceed state standards. Cleanup actions and monitoring will continue until contamination drops to levels that meet the state standards. The documents are located at:
Comments may be submitted to Patti Carter, site manager, Toxics Cleanup Program, Washington Department of Ecology, 4601 N. Monroe, Spokane, WA, 99205; or by e-mail at paca461@ecy.wa.gov.
Ecology will review and respond to all comments. The documents could be amended based on comments Ecology receives.
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Media Contact: Jani Gilbert, communications manager, 509-329-3645; jagi461@ecy.wa.gov or Cathy Cochrane, communications manager, 509-329-3433; ccoc461@ecy.wa.gov
For more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/waWaterPwr/waWaterPower_hp.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
