A Puyallup cold storage facility burned years ago. When will the debris be cleaned up?
Those who frequent East Pioneer in Puyallup may notice rubble, still, at the site of the cold storage facility that burned in 2021.
It has been over two years since a fire ignited at 240 15th St. SE in August 2021, at the former site of Washington Cold Storage. Residents nearby had to evacuate for hours due to the potentially toxic smoke. A Central Pierce Fire & Rescue statement at the time said the building had 1,000 pounds of a chemical called anhydrous ammonia, used for refrigeration. No one was injured. More recently, The News Tribune reported that a vacant fish smoking business at the property burned in August.
Cleanup has started at the site, according to the state Department of Ecology’s website. The department has not issued a “no further action determination” yet, as cleanup work is ongoing.
A no further action determination indicates the cleanup has met the Model Toxics Control Act, which is the state’s environmental cleanup law for sites contaminated by hazardous substances.
Cheryl Bishop, the toxics cleanup program spokesperson, said the property owner enrolled the site in the ecology department’s expedited voluntary cleanup program.
There are several different chemicals onsite, Bishop said, and each chemical has a different cleanup requirement.
There is no schedule yet for site redevelopment, Bishop wrote in an email.
Asked if there’s a deadline for the cleanup work, Bishop said: “We don’t give deadlines for sites in the (voluntary cleanup) program. The fact that they paid to enter the expedited (voluntary cleanup program) does show they are highly motivated.”
The ecology department did not provide funding for the cleanup. The property owner paid the department an initial fee of $3,000. In addition to the initial fee, Bishop said: “There are fees for our technical assistance.”
City spokesperson Eric Johnson wrote in an email that the city issued a demolition permit for one of the buildings onsite.
An 1,800-square-foot office building east of the site will be demolished, according to the city’s demolition permit. The city issued the permit Oct. 27. It expires June 1.
The demolition plan also appears to include the removal of what’s left of the fish smoking business that burned in August.
Johnson referred The News Tribune to the property owner for details about the cleanup.
The property owner listed on the city application materials for the demolition is CREF3 Puyallup Owner LLC. A land-use planner and associate principal who spoke to The News Tribune about the project in January was not immediately available for comment.
The News Tribune reported earlier this year that a developer plans to construct a warehouse at the site. The warehouse will be about 135,900 square feet with truck-loading bays and parking spaces, according to the developer’s permit application materials submitted to the city.
Central Pierce Fire & Rescue Chief Dustin Morrow was not immediately available to provide an update about what investigators believe caused the fire at the cold storage facility.
