The owners of an Auburn petroleum sales facility will conduct the final stages of a multi-year cleanup of petroleum (chiefly gasoline) that leaked into the ground in the 1990s, under a proposed plan now available for public review and comment by the Washington Department of Ecology.

The Department of Ecology seeks public comment on a cleanup plan and related legal and technical documents for the CHS Auburn site through May 7.

The cleanup area is located under and either side of Auburn Way South at Seventh Street Southeast. The contaminated area once extended from the CHS facility at 238 8th St. SE (southwest corner of 8th and C) to the Sixth Street Southeast ramp to State Route 18.

The draft plan includes air sparging, monitoring and deed restrictions on nearby property to prevent people from accidentally contacting contaminated groundwater and soil in the future. Air sparging is a treatment where air injected through wells speeds the breakdown of petroleum in groundwater. The cleanup process is expected to take 3 to 5 years to complete.

Earlier cleanup work included removal of underground tanks and contaminated soil at the CHS facility, groundwater treatment with air sparging and other methods, and groundwater monitoring.

Fuel dispensing facilities today are subject to leak prevention and detection requirements under Ecology’s underground storage tank program.

The cleanup plan and related documents are available at:

· Ecology’s website.

· Auburn Library, 1102 Auburn Way S.

· Ecology’s Northwest Regional Office, 3190 160th Ave. SE, Bellevue, by appointment: 425-649-7190 or nwro_public_request@ecy.wa.gov.

Please send comments to Jerome Cruz, site manager, at Dept. of Ecology, 3190 160th Ave. SE, Bellevue WA 98008, or Jerome.cruz@ecy.wa.gov.