Kelowna Corporation, the owner of a Chevron gas station in Cheney, received a $315,000 fine for a 2023 incident in which diesel-contaminated water was illegally discharged from a containment tank at the station into a stormwater system that led to a nearby creek and wetlands.
The Washington Department of Ecology traced the spill to the station after the Cheney Fire Department reported a visible sheen and diesel odor in Minne Creek on July 19, 2023.
Ecology’s investigation found that diesel-contaminated water was discharged from an underground containment vault directly into a storm drain leading to Minnie Creek. The vault had been modified to bypass its original filtration system, discharging runoff into the stormwater system. Inspectors also found inoperable alarms, no ventilation, roof drains rerouted to the vault, and signs of long-standing water.
An estimated 1,058 gallons of red-dyed diesel reached the creek and wetlands, while another 77 gallons spilled to soil. Surface oil was observed along a 75-yard stretch of the creek. Although no oiled wildlife was found, the spill may have affected sensitive habitats within Minnie Creek and channeled scabland area, just north of Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, a critical migration corridor and breeding ground for over 100 bird species, and home to wetland, steppe, and ponderosa pine ecosystems.
Kelowna Corporation has 30 days to appeal the penalty to the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board