Dump site owners to pay for cleanup

GRANDVIEW, Wash. -- The owners of a farm where an illegal pesticide dump site was found have agreed to pay for both its cleanup and the investigation of a possible second site.

An agreement between Double H Farms and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency clears the way for contractors to begin hauling away illegally buried pesticide containers and soil contaminated by farm chemicals, oil and other hazardous materials.

In March, state and federal environmental officials found more than 100 containers of farm chemicals and used motor oil, as well as household waste, furniture, car batteries -- even a golf cart -- buried in a vineyard and cherry orchard at 1501 Bethany Road north of the
Wal-Mart Distribution Center.

Tests found elevated levels of pesticides and herbicides in isolated samples of soil and water, but investigators do not believe they have spread.

Meanwhile, the EPA is testing three nearby domestic wells, but only as a way to ease neighbors' minds. Officials say they expect negative results.

Double H Farms is a limited partnership of George and Edith Higgins, who now live in Sunnyside, and their daughter, Linda Hansen, and her husband, Jim Hansen. The Hansens live at the farm.

The legally binding agreement also requires the family to investigate a second reported dump site at the corner of Bethany and East Stover Road at the southern edge of the farm, where a shop with hazardous waste may have been located, said Andy Smith, the on-scene coordinator for EPA.

An entire car body might be buried there, Smith said.

Smith, the environmental contractors and an attorney hired by the family all anticipate the work will be completed before the end of summer.
The family will pay for it.

Ron Hicks, a Yakima environmental consultant hired by the family, said his firm will first run more tests to determine the extent of the problem.

"We don't know exactly how much ... soil is contaminated," he said.

Hicks said he expects to haul hazardous waste, such as the containers, and a couple dump truck loads or less of soil to a hazardous waste landfill in Arlington, Ore. Non-hazardous waste will be taken to a conventional landfill, such as Yakima County's Terrace Heights facility.

Mike Gillett, a Seattle attorney representing the property owners, said he did not know how much the clean-up would cost.

The agreement doesn't mean the family admits any guilt, Gillett said.

"The (agreement) doesn't represent any admission of anything," Gillett said.

However, the agreement document alleges the Higgins and the Hansens "arranged for disposal of hazardous substances" at the farm.

Gillett said those claims come from an anonymous accuser.

"We're not able to respond to an anonymous statement," he said.

State Department of Ecology records show that an unnamed former employee told investigators the containers and waste were buried at the direction of the farm owners as recently as October 2008. Some of the containers were known to be full, according to the documents.

The state departments of Agriculture and Ecology are still investigating.

* Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com.