The former Unocal gas station property on Winslow Way was one of four Kitsap County properties added to the state’s Hazardous Sites List this week.
Sitting at Winslow Way’s intersection with the highway, the 1-acre property has for several years been hemmed by a fence decorated with murals and banners.
The property hosted a gas station from 1957 until 1989. It is currently joint-owned by the city of Bainbridge Island and Kitsap Transit. Three underground storage tanks — with one or more leaking — were removed in 1991.
The site could impact the stream in Winslow Ravine, which borders the property to the west.
Groundwater monitoring from 1993 to 2005 showed levels of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylenes and hydrocarbons from gasoline and diesel above state cleanup standards. In 2002, Unocal entered into the state Department of Ecology’s Voluntary Cleanup Program, but Ecology officials say more cleanup is needed.
The four Kitsap sites were inspected by county health district officials, who took soil and water samples and reported the results to Ecology. The four sites were ranked by Ecology on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst.
The Unocal property ranked a number 2.
For Kitsap Sun environmental reporter Chris Dunagan’s full report on the four sites, visit here.
