Testing underway at former Olympia Brewery. What does it mean for the property?
The City of Tumwater announced on Wednesday morning that crews collected soil samples at the former Olympia Brewery property located at 100 Custer Way SW. A social media post from the city said the work will help determine if any environmental remediation is needed on the property before any future redevelopment.
According to the city’s post from 10:13 a.m. on July 1, the city received an Environmental Protection Agency grant to complete soil sampling at the site’s north side near the former paint shop. City spokesperson Jason Wettstein told The Olympian on July 2 that sampling was completed on June 25.
He said the tests will search for contaminants such as pesticides, total petroleum hydrocarbons such as diesel and heavy oil, polycyclic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc.
The property operated as a brewery for 70 years and was the largest private employer in the South Sound region. According to the city’s post, the former brewery is one of Washington’s most complex brownfield sites. A brownfield is a property “where redevelopment may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of environmental contamination,” according to the post.
Wettstein said the city does not have results from these tests yet and will likely hear back within a few months.
The city’s post said the property is privately owned and is for sale. It said the city currently has no plan to purchase the property.
The Olympian reported in February that the House of Representatives passed House Bill 1742, which was aimed at helping communities redevelop distressed urban properties, including the former brewery site in Tumwater. However, the state Legislature failed to pass the measure this year. Little has transpired at the brewery since its closure in 2003.
The bill would establish the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Urban Design within the state Department of Ecology to support building and landscape design projects.
Chandulal Patel of Tumwater Development LLC owns the property, The Olympian has reported. He initially hoped to bring a boutique hotel to the region, but told The Olympian last year that it’s been challenging to address issues on the property.
According to previous reporting from The Olympian, in early 2019, a transformer on the brewery property was damaged by vandals and spilled oil containing a low concentration of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, which can accumulate in bodies of water and reach harmful levels in fish.
Tumwater Development LLC later agreed to a $2.3 million settlement with the state because of the spill.
According to previous reporting from The Olympian, Patel said on Sept. 25 that anything is for sale, for the right price, regarding the potential sale of the brewery property.
The Olympian reported in 2023 that the city received a grant of $500,000 to assess if the brewery buildings and soil are contaminated, and come up with a plan for cleaning it up so the site can be redeveloped. The grant allows the city to take the lead on assessing the site and decide what to do with it in the future.
The funds also will go toward conducting more community outreach and to get more ideas on what the site should look like, as well as about the Capitol Boulevard corridor project near the brewery. It’s the first step in a lengthy process, and it’s unclear just how much money will be required to make the site open to the public again. It will require years of cleanup, possible demolition and construction, according to previous reporting from The Olympian.
Regarding questions on the price and property prospects, Wettstein directed The Olympian to a representative of the property owner, Mike Cole. Cole could not be immediately reached for more information.
.jpg)