Milltown Mall clean, owner says

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, June 20, 2001

By Janice Podsada

Herald Writer

EDMONDS — Milltown Mall in downtown Edmonds will undergo a major renovation this summer.

A recent environmental cleanup that removed contaminated soil from the mall "is complete," said Connie Strader with Lorig Property Management.

"We’re going to have a fresh new look by the end of summer," she added.

But the final environmental report certifying that the cleanup was done to state standards has yet to be delivered to the state Department of Ecology, said Curt Hart, an agency spokesman.

"We want to see that the contamination was properly identified, its extent determined, and that it was cleaned up to state standards in the right manner," Hart said.

In March, soil samples, taken from a crawl space inside the mall, revealed high concentrations of petroleum and heavy metals. The findings didn’t come as a surprise to some storeowners. Milltown is a former bus repair barn, which was converted into a retail mall in 1973.

The levels were high enough that the Ecology Department ordered that the site be cleaned up.

In a show of good faith, the mall’s owners entered the department’s voluntary cleanup program — a boon to taxpayers, Hart said.

"When property owners take responsibility for the contamination, then the public doesn’t have to foot the cleanup bill."

Lorig hired Kane Associates, a Seattle firm, to determine the extent of the contamination, do the required cleanup and prepare a final report.

"We still haven’t received a copy, as far as I know," Hart said. "We haven’t checked off anything. We haven’t issued any kind of ‘No further action’ letter."

The air quality report has been completed, said Bob Bliss, a industrial hygienist.

"We did find extremely low levels of relatively common vapors. Some of them would be associated with petroleum products, or what you would find in Magic Markers — toluene and acetone and isopropyl alcohol."

But the levels were far below the state Department of Labor and Industry’s occupational standards, Bliss said.

"Could these levels cause headaches? That’s a good question. Nobody can answer it. Some people might be more sensitive than others, just like some people can take perfumes and others can’t," Bliss said.

Storeowners were also relieved to learn that two open oil pits, located in the mall crawl space, were lined with concrete and not dirt, Bliss said.

"It wasn’t like the sumps (pits) had direct contact with the soils underneath the building."

Nor were there water or soil pathways for the contaminants to disperse.

"There wasn’t any contaminated groundwater people were drinking, or a way for people to get at the soil. There didn’t appear to be much in the air samples," said Bliss, who wrote the air quality report.

Strader, the property manager, said she expects to receive the final report from Kane in the next two weeks.

Sharon Shannon, owner of Ambience and president of the Milltown Merchants Association, said tenants are looking forward to the renovation, which involves painting the facade, installing a new awning and replacing electrical wiring and plumbing.

Shannon said she and other storeowners are looking forward to fewer empty retail spaces.

"People should expect new tenants, new stores by the end of the summer," she said.

You can call Herald Writer Janice Podsada at 425-339-3029 or send e-mail to podsada@heraldnet.com.