Source: http://www.dailysunnews.com, April 21, 2015
By: Laura Gjovaag
Workers digging out a space for a stormwater vault at the corner of Sixth Street and Decatur Avenue in Sunnyside hit oil a week ago, but not in a good way.
An apparent fuel spill which has seeped into the groundwater was discovered by workers as they reached the final stage of a stormwater upgrade along Decatur Avenue. According to Public Works Director Shane Fisher, the project was nearly complete.
“We were a week from being done,” he said. “Now we don’t know when this will be completed.”
Fisher said workers had dug about eight feet down when they smelled the fuel and stopped. Groundwater seeping into the hole had a sheen from some type of oil or fuel. Fisher said the fuel type and source have not yet been identified.
“We won’t know until Ecology gets in here and does their testing,” he said.
Fisher said a former gas station near the site is one potential source for the contamination, but it’s impossible at this point to know where it is coming from or the extent of the leakage.
He said Ecology officials will start by drilling sampling holes to determine how much groundwater is contaminated by the oil. Fisher said he’s worried that the city may end up losing some of the newly-placed sidewalks and pavers along Sixth Street to sample holes, but there’s not much the city can do about the problem.
“We just have to wait and see what Ecology finds,” he said.
Fisher said the news could be good and the project could be completed rapidly, but just as easily it could take months to finish the testing and clean up.
“It all depends on what needs to be done,” he said.