WSDOT will share information and "gather community feedback on potential scenarios and tradeoffs associated with their efforts to preserve the Montlake Market building, as well as discuss ideas being evaluated for preserving the market building and review their contractor's current construction plan for the SR 520 Montlake Project."
The Laurelhurst Community Club has been closely monitoring this issue, attending the public meetings, as well as those that have to do with the "Rest of the West," the next phase of SR520 construction already underway, from the Montlake Interchange, near Laurelhurst, to I-5.
The Montlake Community Council recently published this information on their Blog about the Montlake Boulevard Market:
An independent assessment of WSDOT’s environmental testing of the Montlake Market and gas station properties has some good news for the community ahead of WSDOT’s open house on Wednesday.
The report’s author observed WSDOT’s environmental testing conducted in December, took split samples of the drilling materials, reviewed WSDOT’s sampling results, and has assessed the potential risks of the contamination levels on the property.
Based on the sampling to date, there is no environmental justification for demolishing the market or closing the gas station to clean-up the contamination that WSDOT has identified. The levels of gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons exceeding Model Toxics Control Act Method A clean-up levels are “limited to the Gas Station Parcel.”
The assessment concludes that, based on existing data, it appears clean-up techniques routinely employed in gas station contamination clean-up actions can be used here to remediate the soil and groundwater contamination under state law, while leaving the existing buildings intact, the Market in operation, and even avoiding closure of the gas station, except perhaps on a short term basis.
A copy of the report’s executive summary follows below, and a copy of the full report is here.
The environmental contamination WSDOT has identified should have no bearing on whether WSDOT can save the Market, the Market property’s cell towers, and even the gas station from the department’s SR 520 construction plans.
WSDOT has indicated they will provide a “property soil-testing update” at Wednesday’s open house, in an attempt to “be as transparent as possible.” They will also be providing design scenarios for avoiding the market and limiting construction impacts on the property in an effort to adhere to the Washington State Legislature’s directive for the department to preserve the market “to the maximum extent practicable.”
More information on tomorrow's meeting is here.
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