Site cleared for groundwater monitoring

The city of Whitefish will no longer be required to monitor groundwater at its parking lot at the corner of Second Street and Spokane Avenue.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has cleared the site for groundwater monitoring. The city purchased a portion of the lot in the mid-2000s from the former Big Mountain Tire in order to own the entire half block, where the parking lot now sits. The parking lot as it is today was constructed in 2009.

City Manager Chuck Stearns said ground water monitoring has been occurring for about 10 years on the site and DEQ felt the site no longer merited monitoring.

“After a certain time period then they can release the site,” he said.

When the city purchased the site there were leaking underground storage tanks on the site and the city inherited the obligation to remove the tanks and monitor the groundwater for contamination.

Stearns estimated that monitoring has cost the city under $10,000. It will cost the city about $6,6000 to remove the five groundwater monitoring wells from the parking lot, which is set for this fall.

The city’s tax increment fund has paid for all the costs associated with the wells including installation, monitoring and abandonment of the wells. The TIF fund also paid for the purchase and development of the parking lot.

Stearns said the city may be able to get a refund on some of its costs from the state’s Petroleum Tank Release Compensation fund.

Ground water monitoring was actually taking place at the site of the former Big Mountain Tire prior to the city purchasing the property, according to a 2005 article in the Pilot. Underground storage tanks removed from the site contained gasoline and waste oil.