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55 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, September 10, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 6, 2004 Workers on a Central Avenue streetscape project in Medford unearthed this 6,300-gallon tank full of oil. It�s the 41st underground tank Medford Urban Renewal Agency contractors have found since the agency began renovation projects years ago. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Tanks for the memories Yet another long-forgotten fuel tank beneath downtown Medford temporarily halts excavation By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Crews on an urban renewal project in downtown Medford unearthed an unwelcome surprise Wednesday. A 6,300-gallon, 6-by-30-foot underground oil tank — full of oil — was uncovered next to the Southern Oregon Historical Society building at 106 N. Central Ave. during excavation work for new storm drains. Found as part of Medford Urban Renewal Agency’s major streetscape project along Central Avenue, the tank was a fuel source for a boiler that heated the old JCPenney building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. SOHS now occupies the building. The recent discovery is the 41st underground tank MURA has found since its downtown renovation projects began several years ago. The agency is awaiting lab results required by the Department of Environmental Quality to determine if it’s safe for the tank to stay put. If oil shows up in the soil, that means the tank and the soil beneath it have to come out — a costly proposition MURA hopes to avoid. Advertisement Robert Coffan, senior hydrologist with Cascade Earth Sciences of Medford, is in charge of the environmental cleanup. Coffan anticipates the tests will show the surrounding soil is not contaminated. Once the oil is removed today, he’ll be able to fill it with concrete, cover the site and the project can resume. Coffan said the tank has been there a long time. "The tank clearly was put in before the ’70s and in my opinion before the ’50s," he said. MURA Senior Planner Eric Iversen said it’s the third tank found on this project alone. "One has been removed, one has been decommissioned," he said. Removing this particular tank might disturb the historic building it used to heat, so they’re keeping their fingers crossed. The cost to remove tanks so far has run between $2,000 and $20,000, Iversen said. Whether they were used for heating oil or car fuel, underground tanks are all over downtown Medford. "We found three gas tanks under the parking lot at Ninth and Central," he said. When a property owner unearths tanks like these, the financial responsibility is their own. "That’s one of the hidden benefits of urban renewal is we’ll clean it up" if it is found as part of a MURA project, he said. MURA Director Kurt Olsen said most of the tanks downtown have been found intact. But eventually they will fail. Because no one kept track of most of the old tanks that haven’t been found, there’s no way to know where they might be. The tank found at SOHS adds two or three days to the Central Avenue streetscape project, which is scheduled to be completed in December. MURA also has removed 1,600 tons of petroleum-polluted soil from the Evergreen parking structure project at Main, Fir and Eighth streets. The soil is taken to the Dry Creek landfill where it is spread for aeration. Coffan said the situation in Medford is not unusual — cities everywhere find similar problems lurking underground. Coffan said MURA has had a good attitude all along by including subsurface cleanup in downtown’s renewal. "It’s under our feet, but it’s part of Medford," he said. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities