Cleanup work funded by federal stimulus dollars is in full swing at a Bothell convenience store and gas station.
A crew from Snohomish-based Wyser Construction is removing gasoline-contaminated soil at the Bothell BP site. Gasoline also has been found in groundwater there.
Ecology has a $287,000 contract with Wyser for the work. The money comes from Toxics Cleanup Program’s share of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) or “stimulus” funding. The Toxics Cleanup Program is using the money to evaluate and clean up some sites contaminated by leaking petroleum products from underground storage tank sites.
Ecology has put stimulus money to good use. Here’s a rundown of what the agency has done.
At the Bothell BP site, Wyser has about 20 employees supporting the project. Work began May 15; Wyser removed and backfilled about 550 tons of soil on the first day. The “steaming” shown in the photo actually is dust from an organic release compound used to treat groundwater.
We expect the project to wrap up June 11.
The site, built in 1958, originally housed a full-service gasoline station. Shell Oil Co. operated the facility until 1974, when it was sold to its current owner. From 1974 to the present, the current owner has operated a convenience store and gasoline station there. In 1990, five underground storage tanks were removed from an area south of the pump island and new tanks were installed north of the store. Testing showed gasoline contamination in soil and groundwater. Ecology installed six monitoring wells on the site in 1993.
In 2010, Ecology did more testing to better identify the location and extent of contamination.
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