For those of you who have lived in Mountlake Terrace for many years probably remember the fuel station that used to be at 242nd and 56th, just to the north of what is now Romio’s Pizza. At some point in time it was determined that underground tanks had been leaking fuel. Cleanup of underground contamination generally takes many years and this site is no different. The cleanup process has been fairly slow and the City recently sent out an update (below). We’ve also included two previous updates from 2008 and 2007. Meanwhlie, the site is a bit of an eyesore:

10/16/2009

As previously reported the environmental company (Sound Environmental Strategies) working on clean-up of the Time Oil site at 242nd and 56th Avenue has a permit open to continue its wells that monitor contamination from a former gas station.  The property owner and their consultant monitoring the site, Sound Environmental Strategies, have been waiting for an assignment from Department of Ecology and the Attorney General’s office into Ecology’s formal oversight program since earlier this year.  The owner and consultant met with the Department of Ecology on October 1 to discuss remedies for cleaning up the site, and getting an assignment into Ecology’s formal oversight program.  There was no commitment from Ecology given at the meeting.  Ecology stated that they are understaffed, and could not commit to a time for response.  The property owner has communicated to our Community & Economic Development Department (Civil Engineer Kevin Kinsella) that they will provide us with updates as they occur.

11/26/08

Time Oil Update: The environmental company working on clean-up of the Time Oil site on 56th Avenue has a permit open to continue its wells that monitor contamination from a former gas station. We have also reminded the company that it may apply for installing storm facilities to appropriately clean and discharge the contaminated materials. Adequate insurance is required of the applicant

8/11/07

Monitoring Well Drilled in 56 Ave W: On Thursday, a small-bore monitoring well was drilled along the centerline of 56th Avenue W, south of 242nd Street SW. The construction required diversions of traffic around the work site located in the center of the street. The well was established as part of a voluntary
cleanup of the former Time Oil site where an underground tank leaked many years ago. The property owner is working to remediate the contamination from former leaking tanks, although a full course of action is still under development. Samples from the well will be analyzed to determine if contamination
from the former fueling station site had spread to the soils in the middle of 56th Avenue. Sound Environmental Strategies, a local environmental firm, is supervising the project on behalf of the property owner.