New drilling and temporary road closures planned in WW next week, hotel reopens
By Dan Thesman on Wednesday, October 11th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
News release from city of Walla Walla
WALLA WALLA – Throughout today (Wednesday), Clean Harbors continued to recover contaminated groundwater from two of the monitoring wells and pumping operations continued in the sumps of the Marcus Whitman Hotel and the 106 N. 2nd Ave. building.
Ventilation continues to mitigate volatile organic compounds from the affected buildings.
Filtered water is constantly being discharged to Walla Walla’s wastewater treatment system at a rate of about 15 gallons per minute. The discharged water is being metered, and totaled just over 52,890 gallons as of this afternoon.
Additional drilling operations are scheduled to take place next week. Please note this will likely require new temporary closures of sections of streets in the area, including Rose Street.
Staff from Washington Department of Ecology, Clean Harbors, and Aspect Consulting (the contractor hired by the owner of the Chevron station) met today to discuss further courses of action to be done by each agency and their responsibilities and goals moving forward.
City staff received the following statement from the Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center’s PR firm today, regarding the hotel’s plans to reopen for guests on Thursday afternoon:
“The Marcus Whitman is excited to announce our reopening on Thursday, October 12. Upon reopening, The Marc Restaurant, the Vineyard Lounge and lobby are currently closed. All private events and catering will proceed as scheduled.
“Thank you to our guests, our team members, and the local community for your patience and understanding during this time. We would also like to thank the City of Walla Walla, the Walla Walla Fire Department, Clean Harbors, and the Department of Ecology for your partnership as we worked to ensure the health and safety of our community.”
This update is based on information provided by Washington Department of Ecology, Walla Walla Fire Department, and GreenRubino staff. City staff will continue to provide these updates on the City website (https://www.wallawallawa.gov/gasoline) as we receive additional details.
