Additional testing by Kitsap Transit shows pollution under control at Waypoint park property

Recent testing has once again shown that contamination on the former Unocal gas station property continues to fade away.

The results of the tests were presented to Kitsap Transit officials earlier this week.

“In my opinion, the sample results indicate a continued degradation over time of residual petroleum, and also that contamination is bound up near existing hot spots and no evidence indicates it is moving off site,” said project manager Bill Webb in a letter to Kitsap Transit.

Kitsap Transit is a co-owner of the property with the city of Bainbridge Island, and work has started to turn the high-profile property — and eyesore at the entrance to the island — into a public park called The Waypoint.

Councilwoman Anne Blair presented the letter to the city council at a recent meeting.

“It shows that the conditions continue to degrade and that nothing is moving out into the Puget Sound,” Blair said.

The testing of the former gas station property follows some concerns that the property poses a hazard to nearby environmentally sensitive areas.

Recent testing, however, has confirmed that the underground pollution left over from the site’s past use as a gas station is degrading as expected, deep underneath the ground, and is not moving off site.

“It’s nice to have the confirmation,” Blair said. “It’s important for the community to know.”

Officials with Aecom, an environmental management service, tested six monitoring wells on the property and found that contaminants in the soil were doing what nature intended — fading away.

The Waypoint is currently under construction on the corner of Winslow Way and Highway 305. Park officials aim to complete the park before the end of the year.

Contact Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer Richard D. Oxley at roxley@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613.

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