WALLA WALLA, Wash.- UPDATE: 10:00 a.m. Ventilation of the Marcus Whitman basement is ongoing after a chemical odor was detected on the night of September 14.
According to the City of Walla Walla the situation is being monitored by Clean Harbor and readings of compound levels in the air have not increased overnight.
City crews and utilities are checking all underground utilities in the area and the State Department of Ecology is expected to arrive on Friday, September 15 and formulate a plan for identifying the odor according to the City.
The streets around the hotel remain closed and residents are being asked to avoid the area. The Chevron convenience store at 7 E. Rose St. is open, but the gas pumps are turned off.
The City of Walla Walla will continue to provide updates on the situation on its website.
10:00 p.m. According to the city of Walla Walla, crews will remain on scene overnight to search for the source of the smell.
An update is anticipated around 9:00 a.m. on Friday September 15.
8:11 p.m. According to Brendon Koch, City of Walla Walla Communications manager, North second Avenue and North 3rd avenue between West Cherry Street and West Main Street are closed.
7:35 p.m. According to the City of Walla Walla, crews from the Washington State Department of Ecology and Clean Harbor are on site.
The DOE has confirmed initial reads causing unsafe conditions.
The source has been narrowed down, but not yet determined.
However, the DOE has confirmed that the source of the smell is not propane of natural gas.
A cleanup company contracted by the Marcus Whitman hotel is currently working to ventilate the basement.
ORIGINAL COVERAGE:
According to the City of Walla Walla an evacuation is underway at the Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center.
The Walla Walla Fire Department received reports that the basement of the Marcus Whitman Hotel had a chemical odors.
Readings indicate potentially unsafe conditions in the basement.
A source of the smell has not been located.
WWFD is working with the department of ecology to provide assistance.
The building is currently being evacuated in an exercise of caution.
Crews are asking the public to avoid the area if possible.
