Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
With a Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) environmental cleanup project near completion in Palouse, the city will now look to improve the shoreline along the site.
Environmental engineers Maul Foster Alongi and representatives from DOE finished the cleanup work last fall with the project $70,000 under budget.
While groundwater monitoring on the site continues, the extra money has allowed the city to propose spending some of it on enhancing the Palouse River streambank, which runs along the 100x200-foot site.
Earlier this year, Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove directed Maul Foster Alongi to propose that $4,500 of the DOE’s remaining Palouse Brownsfield budget to be spent on removing debris and replanting by the river. The project would be a joint venture with the Palouse Conservation District.
“We need to incorporate the river into downtown, to make it accessible and friendly,” said Echanove.
In March, Maul Foster Alongi sent a proposal to the Department of Ecology and received approval. Echanove will now take the news to the city council to ask for approval of the expenditure.
The mayor indicated that when the riverbank enhancements are finished, volunteers would provide ongoing irrigation and maintenance of the planting area.
The Palouse Conservation District has worked with the city of Palouse on previous projects such as an annual river cleanup and Palouse Native Plant Walk, on the site of the former mobile home park.
“The Brownfields shoreline would be a logical extension of what we’ve done before,” said Echanove.
The remaining $65,500 of the Brownsfield fund would then likely go back into the Department of Ecology’s fund for similar environmental cleanup projects. Although, Mayor Echanove said some of it may be spent on monitoring equipment for the city.
According to the original agreement, Maul Foster Alongi will monitor water quality on the site through 2013. Further testing, for which it is yet to be determined whether it’s necessary, would be performed by the city and require equipment.
“It’s a gray area,” Echanove said.
Otherwise, he said that is all for the Brownfields endeavor, the site of a former blacksmith shop, a gas station and the Palouse Producers fertilizer operation.
“That’s the last thing we can think of for the project,” Echanove said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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