WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Officials with the Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center are grappling with what they describe as a “crippling expense” in the ongoing cleanup of a massive gasoline leak that forced the hotel’s evacuation and closure on Sept. 14.

Chuck Hill, vice president of real estate for Columbia Hospitality, said the company has spent well over $1 million for a remediation process that allowed the hotel to reopen.

The Marcus Whitman Hotel sold in December 2022 to an investment group called Marcus Whitman Holdings LLC with Columbia Hospitality as the manager and operator of the hotel.

“The cost to have all the equipment out there is tremendous,” Hill said. “We have our hands tied right now.”

The Chevron gas station at 7 E. Rose St., owned by Stillwater Holdings LLC, was discovered to be the source of the gasoline leak, coming from its regular unleaded underground storage tank. The tanks, which are single wall fiberglass underground storage tanks, were installed in November 1981 and has a manufacturer’s life expectancy of 30 to 40 years.

Clean Harbors, initially contracted by Columbia Hospitality, has been addressing the immediate dangers, but concerns persist as the hotel continues to navigate a lengthy and costly remediation process.

Ken Lederman, who is the environmental counsel for Columbia Hospitality and the Marcus Whitman Hotel, said Clean Harbors began to step back from its role as the situation downtown moved from an emergency to a cleanup process.

“They are still involved peripherally because of the pumping of the subbasement pump in the Marcus Whitman Hotel, but Clean Harbors role has been minimized now that the majority of the imminent explosion and health risk has been brought under control,” Lederman said. “Stillwater will be in charge of evaluating and eventually cleaning up the entirety of the gasoline spill.”

The primary challenges ahead involve the excavation of the failed underground storage tank holding gasoline and obtaining a discharge permit for the subbasement pump, Lederman said. The discharge permit is crucial for the financial recovery of the hotel, which is currently facing obstacles because of the equipment occupying the main parking lot, he said.

Ted Hawksford, general manager of the Marcus Whitman Hotel, said the subbasement pump has been disconnected. Now, the basement must be pumped on a regular basis, so it does not flood.

Hawksford said the red truck used to pump the groundwater out of the basement is an eyesore and is in the hotel’s main parking lot every day for at least an hour, blocking parts of the main entrance for guests.

Clean Harbors is on site at the hotel 24 hours a day, and Columbia Hospitality is paying for the labor, equipment, and monitoring of the basement. The Clean Harbors crew tests the air every four hours to make sure the readings are at a healthy level.

Hill said the expenses the hotel is facing for remediation could drop drastically if the permit goes through.

“If the city gives us the discharge permit, everything is simplified because all that goes away,” he said.

Hill confirmed that Columbia Hospitality is working with insurance carriers and Stillwater’s for damage claims and is exploring supplemental funding options with the Washington Department of Ecology to ensure the hotel’s recovery.

Ecology has permitted Stillwater Holdings Chevron to resume pumping diesel and regular unleaded gasoline from the premium gasoline underground storage tank that was determined not to be compromised. Meanwhile, hotel officials, including Lederman and Hill, have appealed to the Walla Walla City Council for an expedited permitting process, recognizing the urgency of the situation.

Hill, Hawksford, and Lederman emphasized that the complete assurance of the hotel’s safety hinges on the excavation and removal of the tank that was discovered to be leaking on the Chevron property.

“It (the removal) will give us the confidence to know that the original source was determined and that it will not be allowed to operate in a way that could cause further damage to the environment or the hotel,” Lederman said. “There are no options that are off the table at this point in terms of ensuring that the hotel remains an active and vibrant part of Walla Walla and its economy and culture.”