Ecology says Olympia brewery owner owes it $11.37 million for oil spill cleanup
The state Department of Ecology has delivered a $11.37 million bill to the owner of the former Olympia brewery in Tumwater for the cleanup of a 2019 oil spill from the brewery property.
The owner of the property, Tumwater Development LLC, now has 30 days to appeal that amount and a penalty to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board. The Olympian was unable to reach a contact associated with the owner.
In addition to the $11.37 million, which would be used to replenish the state’s oil spill response fund, the brewery property owner also faces a $14,000 penalty and a natural resources damage assessment. That amount is still being determined, according to Ecology.
Ecology spokesman Ty Keltner said the $14,000 penalty and the amount still to be determined would support grants issued by the agency.
Ecology responded to an oil spill from a vandalized transformer at the former Olympia brewery site on Custer Way in February 2019. About 600 gallons of oil spilled into storm drains, the nearby Tumwater Falls Park and the Deschutes River, which flows into Capitol Lake and Puget Sound. The cleanup lasted until September 2019.
Although the brewery owner had nothing to do the vandalized transformer, state law is clear that if you’re the property owner, it is your responsibility, Keltner said about the damaged equipment.
Tumwater police did not develop any leads on suspects in connection with the vandalism and the case is now inactive, Police Lt. Jen Kolb said. However, new, credible information about the incident could change the case’s status, she said.
The cleanup removed more than three miles of oil-contaminated shoreline vegetation and excavated PCB-contaminated soil from Tumwater Falls Park, Ecology officials said in a news release.
The spilled oil also sank into the lake bed sediment of Capitol Lake.
“Cleaning up this oil that sank and contained PCBs was incredibly complex, time intensive and required tremendous resources,” said Dave Byers, Ecology’s spill response section manager, in a statement. “Testing of sediments in Budd Inlet showed that our quick response did not allow PCBs to migrate into Puget Sound, preventing further environmental damage.”
Ecology says its immediate action prevented Capitol Lake, Tumwater Falls Park and adjacent private property from becoming formal toxic cleanup sites that would have taken years to clean up at a far greater expense.
The $11.37 million bill is the latest challenge for Tumwater Development LLC and its primary member, developer Chandulal Patel, who bought the brewery property in December 2015. The brewery closed in June 2003. Patel is believed to split his time between India and California.
Since 2015, the brewery property has been damaged by fire and fallen into disrepair, finally causing Tumwater city officials to step in and demand more care-taking responsibility from the owner.
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 1:45 PM.
