In a letter dated Dec. 5 to Sanden and Sons, Riverside County has officially closed its investigation and case regarding the underground storage tanks located at the Shell station, also known as Village Food and Fuel.
This step has been anticipated for about year as the county’s Department of Environmental Health has been overseeing the work necessary to end this project, which began in November 1998, when the first monitoring well was installed. Eventually, 14 more monitoring wells were installed at or near the site.
In his letter to Sanden, Steve Van Stockum, DEH director, thanked the company for its cooperation during the 15-year project and stated, “… this agency finds that the site investigation and corrective action carried out at your underground storage tank(s) is in compliance with the requirements of [the state’s Health and Safety Code] and no further action related to the petroleum release at the site is required.”
Strawberry Creek water was sampled at three locations in 2008 and the tests for multiple hydrocarbons were below the detection limits. Also, monitoring wells on the south side of Ridgeview Drive were tested in 2013 and did not detect any chemicals.
At the Chevron site, DEH approved the proposal from R.M. Environmental Inc. of Calimesa to install two more monitoring wells, which will be sampled and monitored on a quarterly basis for the next 12 months. Both will be installed slightly west of the former Ferrellgas office.
