WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center in Walla Walla suffered from a gas leak in its basement on September 14 which has since been determined to have come from a nearby Chevron gas station.
Since the initial leak, the City of Walla Walla has been working with the Walla Walla Fire Department, the Washington State Department of Ecology, Clean Harbors and GeoEngineers to monitor and plan a way to clean the leak.
The City of Walla Walla reported that around 20,000 gallons of a mixture of gasoline and groundwater have been recovered from the hotel’s basement.
Several monitoring wells were drilled since the initial leak to attempt to find the source. After testing at nearby gas stations, it was found that a nearby Chevron station was the source of the groundwater contamination.
Roads closures were put in place in the area for drilling operations throughout the last two weeks. Below is a map of the most recent closures as of September 24.
The Walla Walla Fire Department has been monitoring the air around nearby buildings since the initial leak and has found no trace of unsafe conditions.
The City of Walla Walla says that an active carbon filtration system is expected to be operational by September 30 to treat impacted water that has been recovered.
The Department of Ecology is now working to determine the next steps in the cleanup process.
