Environmental Assessment: "no further remediation recommended"

Today I received a really thick document from Thrasher Engineering with one line in it that really mattered: "Based on the results of the tank closure assessment, no further work or onsite remediation is recommended."

Davis Riverwalk's site has an industrial history that includes railroad tracks, train maintenance, and parts of a lumber mill operation. The town's Riverfront Park next door had the bulk of the lumber mill operations on it. As it turns out, a century later these operations pose no environmental threat. On the other hand, Carmen DiBacco owned a gas station there starting in the mid-1980's, and gas stations of that era are infamous for contaminating soil and water.

Last Spring Thrasher Engineering was retained to perform a Phase One Environmental Site Assessment of the Davis Riverwalk tract. At the same time Tri-State Petroleum was hired to do the removal of Underground Storage Tanks and related waste from the old Blackwater Auto Care site. Thrasher Engineering studied the site surface without taking samples and did an in-depth study of the industrial history of the site. Particularly facinating were the old Sanborn Maps snapshotting Davis at various points throughout the lumber boom.

Thrasher reviewed the site and various reports before and after the removal of gas tanks, providing oversight of the removal and remediation work being done by Tri-State Petroleum Services. In addition, the WV Dept of Environmental Protection oversaw the remediation. After Tri-State completed its work and the WVDEP approved its work, then Thrasher completed its study, and thus the big document on my desk. You would think that with all these entities involved, there would have been some incompetence or belligerence, but it seems to have been a model of professional execution all around.

It was risky buying the land with the storage tanks still in the ground and no definitive "bill of health," but the site history suggested there would be no problem. It is great to be able to to assure the community of downtown Davis and those who care for the Blackwater River that the site has been cleaned up in accordance with WVDEP standards and that it warrants no further environmental review or cleanup.