Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove last Tuesday reported to city council members that the cleanup of the city’s Brownfield site was close to being finished and the city should go “full steam ahead” to get the site back in use.
Brownfield site in Palouse posted
“Right now we’re on the very edge of the cleanup,” he said
Discussion followed about what the Department of Ecology (DOE) cleanup site could become, whether it might bring new property taxes, jobs or another benefit to Palouse.
Mayor Echanove indicated that the $786,000 state DOE and federal Environmental Protection Agency investment in the cleanup site calls for a higher standard .
“You gotta focus on the word re-use, I don’t think just selling it is being a good steward. We need to integrate it,” Echanove. said.
He reported the first year of monitoring lead levels and other contaminants in the groundwater will begin shortly.
Councilman Cecil Floyd asked about people who show an interest in developing the site.
“Who do we direct those people to?”
“Bring it to the finance committee,” said Echanove.
“Pizza,” said Councilman Bo Ossinger to indicate his wish for a business on the site.
Three wells on the property will monitor anything in the groundwater coming in and out of the site. The wells will be checked four times per year by DOE staffers.
The quarter-acre environmental cleanup project is on the site of a former gas station and fertilizer producers operation.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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