Two area sites make state's hazardous list

It's commonly accepted that a rich or spicy Mexican meal can cause some "toxic" after-effects, but still it seemed odd that the La Bamba restaurant site in Union Gap was listed on the state Department of Ecology's newest list of hazardous sites.

Alas, the food served by the now-closed restaurant has nothing to do with it. The list, which Ecology released Wednesday, includes the La Bamba site at 3202 Main St. because of groundwater contamination from the gas station that used to sit there.

"That's really typical for old service-station sites," agency spokesman Seth Preston said in a telephone interview.

The traces of petroleum products were found in samples taken back in 2003. It only now made the state's list because there's a long investigatory process, Preston said.

The next step, now that it's on the list, will be tracking down the people who owned the property when the contamination occurred. That could take some effort, because it has not been a gas station since before 1990 and it operated as a gas station for more than 20 years. If it had more than one owner during that period, it could be difficult to pinpoint responsibility for the contamination.

Ecology generally pushes those responsible to pay for cleaning up hazardous sites, with the state only covering expenses if responsibility can't be determined.

"We do have some capability (to fund cleanup)," Preston said. "Obviously, our intent is to make the polluter pay."

Enrique Navarrete, the property owner listed by the Yakima County Assessor's Office, likely didn't even know about the contamination and would not be held responsible, he said.

Also on the new list of hazardous sites is the McAllister Flying Service site, at 2000 S. 16th Ave. in Yakima, which now houses the McAllister Museum of Aviation. Underground airplane fuel storage tanks have contaminated the soil and groundwater at that site, according to an Ecology report.

Roberta DeLaHoussaye, a bookkeeper at the McAllister Museum, said Wednesday that nobody involved in its operation knew anything about the Ecology investigation.

"To my knowledge they haven't contacted anybody," she said.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

• The Classified Marketplace
• • Announcements
  • Public Notices
  • Legal Notices
  • Merchandise
  • Yard Sales
  • Animals
  • Finance

• Newspaper Ads
  View All