Department of Ecology Starts Phase 4 of Chelan Chevron cleanup activies

CHELAN - A team under the Department of Ecology was in town at the begining of November to start Phase 4 of the Chelan Chevron cleanup.

"Phase 4 began and consisted of another geophysical survey to evaluate the east part of the site.  Phase 4 also included the installation of more groundwater monitoring wells and the collection of soil samples," said Cleanup Project Manager John Mefford. 

Mefford exaplined that "the field work spanned about two and a half weeks beginning November 1."  Preliminary work was done, it included utility locates one week prior to any drilling/air-knifing.

The evaluation of the east part of the site served as a way to find out if any of the other gas stations contributed to the leak. The team found that there was no new hazardous contribution. The soil samples that were collected are now being processed by a laboratory to find any sources of chemical concentration.

Phase 4 is not yet completed and the team will be back in town in December and possibly again in the spring time.

The Chelan Chevron Site cleanup started back in the 2000s, after "contamination from gasoline was found in soil and groundwater."

Some might ask why the cleanup is taking so long? Well, according to Mefford, "it's a complex site." There's alot of history that the DOE isn't aware of and to make things more difficult they do not know what is underground the gas stations, so testing needs to get done.

Another fact that contributes to the long process, is the tourism and weather. Which only leaves the fall and spring for the team to work on the site.