Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Final cleanup of a January heating oil leak is nearing completion in Garfield.
A total of 120 feet of storm drain has been replaced and 100 cubic yards of contaminated soil removed as part of an interagency agreement between the Town of Garfield and the Washington state Department of Ecology.
The estimated $70,000 cleanup stemmed from a leak following a delivery of fuel at the J.E. Love Company. On Dec. 24, 2,000 gallons were pumped into an underground 6,000-gallon tank. On Jan. 12, the red-colored diesel fuel appeared at the Garfield sewage treatment plant and in Silver Creek.
Jani Gilbert, communication manager for the DOE’s eastern regional office, said an estimated 1,000 gallons of fuel went out of the tank which was later determined to have 10 holes.
The J.E. Love company closed off the tank and pumped out the remaining fuel.
“It represented an ongoing threat to the storm drain and creek,” said Michael Boatsman, Project Manager from the Department of Ecology.
The fuel leaked into the storm drain after being carried by groundwater into a catch basin.
The old storm drain pipes lacked grouting at the connections, according to Eric Hasenoehrl, Project Engineer for the cleanup from Keltic Engineering.
The leaked fuel made its way into the sewer by seeping into a breach in an old sewer line, which was no longer used, but still connected to the trown’s treatment plant which is located along Silver Creek.
Keltic led the repair and replacement project along with contractor Western Construction, both of Lewiston.
As the excavation proceeded, beginning Sept. 25, samples were taken at junctures along the way.
Initially, Boatsman said, DOE thought it might be necessary to replace the pipe all the way to the creek, which would mean 500 feet of pipe and three catch basins.
However, the samples began to come back clean.
“It diminished the farther we went south,” said Boatsman. “With the samples taken, we are confident there aren’t any remaining contaminated soils.”
The replacement project began with the excavation of the storm drain line, which runs down Third Street to where it discharges into the creek at Wesley Street.
The DOE was concerned residual oil had seeped into the storm drain or the gravel bedding around it.
In turn, none was found in the 12” storm drain pipe, while some was found in the gravel.
“Not very much,” said Hasenoehrl. “It’s hard to quantify but I would say less than 10 gallons.”
He said that these type of spills can be deceptive.
“One drop can cover an acre of surface water,” he said. “A 25-gallon spill isn’t very much but look what it can do should it get away from everyone.”
Hasenoehrl said the original pipe was laid in the late ‘60s or early ’70s, and backfilled with gravel.
The pipe was five feet below ground, with a slight slope.
As part of the current clean-up project, the main waterline was re-routed, in order to upgrade it to meet today’s standards.
It was backfilled with clean soil and gravel.
“If you tamper with it, you have to bring it up to current codes,” said Hasenoehrl.
During the digging, an abandoned water line was hit but it wasn’t necessary to remove it.
“The project went very well,” said Hasenoehrl. “When you dig in the street, you don’t know what you will encounter. It went very good. We got the work done and within our budget. It was a great collaboration with J.E. Love, the town of Garfield, DOE and Western Construction. And we had successful results.”
Under the agreement, the DOE provided money and technical resources, while the Town of Garfield contracted for the work and DOE will reimburse the town.
A final report remains to come, said Boatsman, indicating that up to $75,000 was allocated for the project.
“It will probably be in the neighborhood of $70,000,” Boatsman said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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