Cleanup effort
By Larry Meyer | Argus Observer
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 11:04 AM PDT
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| A crew from Anderson Environmental Contracting, Longview, Wash., works to tear down what is left of the old gas station on the corner of Main and North Fourth streets in Nyssa. Katie Robertson, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, said the project includes removal of contaminated soils, as well as removing the dilapidated building. |
NYSSA — Another Nyssa landmark came down last week after construction crews removed a former gas station as part of a decontamination effort on the corner of Main and North Fourth streets.
The project — at the former Texaco station — is part of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Brownfields Program. The program helps communities cleanup contaminated sites for possible development. The ODEQ project in Nyssa will be completed in cooperation with Malheur County, which owns the building because of a tax foreclosure.
While primarily a retail gasoline outlet, the site also hosted other businesses.
Anderson Environmental Contracting, Longview, Wash., is doing the demolition work and the removal of contaminated soil.
GEO Engineers, Portland, is managing the project, Katie Robertson, ODEQ Brownfields coordinator, said. DEQ steps in when there is no viable property owner and the county is holding the land, she said. Robertson added that counties cannot be held as a liable party to the contamination.
Earlier work done at the site included removal of underground storage tanks. Robertson said petroleum did leak from the tanks and other sources into nearby soil and groundwater.
“We’re not sure of the extent,” Robertson said.
After the demolition work is completed, monitoring wells will be installed to determine the severity of the contamination in the groundwater before final cleanup is done, depending on when additional grant money is found. That task could take up to a year, Robertson said.
“It’s a slow, but steady process,” she said. The Main and North Fourth Street project has already proved to be expensive, but not as costly as the cleanup operation for the former VP station on the corner of Main of North Sixth Streets. Robertson said the VP project cost more than $100,000.
“I would say $150,000 to $190,000,” she said.
Environmental cleanup, such as at the former Texaco and VP gas station sites in Nyssa, is completed in stages because of grants, Robertson said.
“It’s challenging to find grants,” she said. “We’ve been fortunate to find money.”
Final disposition of the property, once it is clean, will be up to the county.
