Rod Smiths family has been involved with the fuel business since 1947. But they had never attempted to tackle a challenge as daunting as renovating and opening their Conoco gas station in downtown Yakima.
Smith said that the construction of the project was difficult because of the many challenges involved in financing it and cleaning up fuel leaks.
He suggested that an alternative site was one that is vacant and would be a blight to North First Street.
Smith, vice president of Grandview-based RH Smith Distributing Company Inc. showed off the newly reopened station at North First Street and Lincoln Avenue in the middle of Thursday. Feb. 24,The Yakima Herald-Republic.
Oct. 1, saw the reopening of six fueling stations. 2021,With a convenience store that doubled its size. Sharvan Khullar, a manager at Conoco station, stated that customers have enjoyed the new features and variety. Sharvan Khullar worked there before it closed in 2017.
It has been a very positive response. They are happy to be here, happy to have the hot food now, and happy they don’t need to travel as far. It’s convenient, Khullar stated, adding that pizza pockets are the most popular new food item.
Smith said that Smith did not mention the obvious changes made to 301 N. First St. by the addition of convenience stores, a large beer cooler and a newly-opened kitchen. Underground is where the most important, expensive and difficult changes are made.
Our family has been in fuel business since 1947. Smith said that the industry has seen many difficult times. Smith noted that RH Smith owns Reliable Hauling Services. This service serves customers in the Tri-Cities, Yakima valley, and Ellensburg. The company also owns or operates service stations, including Smittys at Third and Mead avenues.
Conoco at North First & Lincoln was built in 1982. The Smith family purchased it from Conoco in 1988.
Smith stated that fuel tanks had been incorrectly installed until 2017 and there was a lot of contamination. It was necessary to close the facility because the fuel tanks were leaking.
Trevor Belch fills his truck with gas at the newly renovated Conoco station on North First Street and Lincoln Avenue, Thursday February 24, 2022, Yakima, Wash.
Constructing a project
Because it was close to downtown Yakima, the family decided to rebuild and renovate the station.
Because of its location, we saw an opportunity with this piece. He stated that there aren’t any other gas stations in the area. It is now much more difficult to open a new convenience store or gas station downtown than it was in the past.
Smith stated that renovations and environmental cleanups would not be cheap or easy. The entire project would be more than $3 million. While insurance covers some of it, additional funding sources are needed.
He said that insurance, money (money) from Washington, Conoco, and family investments were all necessary to make it all possible.
Joye Redfield Wilder, spokesperson for the state Ecology department, stated that the Pollution Liability Insurance Agency offers low-interest loans to companies and companies performing voluntary cleanups of fuel leaks or other environmental issues.
Ecology may inspect PLIA projects to make sure that cleanup is complete. But they are different from mandated cleanup locations such as the four former Tiger Mart locations within Yakima. Redfield-Wilder stated. The 301 N. First St. Conoco site is not one of those sites.
Rod Smith’s 2020 photo shows excavation work at Conoco station at Yakima’s 301 N. First St.
Cleanup
Smith stated that his family was granted a loan of $406,000 over 30 years at 2% interest to fund environmental remediation. It was able to clean up contaminated soil to 20 feet deep, but it didn’t completely remove the fuel contamination.
The property’s northeast corner houses an air sparging device. It continues to work. Smith explained that the system sends air into groundwater, sucking it back and removing contaminants through a carbon canister.
We were trying to get rid of any gasoline volatiles. He said that it would likely take another couple of years. This has to be as clean as possible as before there was a station.
Two parking spaces near the filtration system will eventually be used as DC fast charging stations for electric cars. Smith stated that settlement money from the Volkswagen dieselgate scam will eventually pay for two 150 kilowatt chargers. These chargers will allow electric vehicles to travel between 150 and 180 miles depending on the model.
After all the planning and financing was completed, renovations were scheduled to begin in March 2020, the start of the COVID pandemic with its accompanying restrictions.
Smith stated that all contractors had to comply with all the rules and extra precautions required to stop construction for a few more weeks. We had to wait longer to receive some equipment and supplies, just like everyone else.
The final piece of equipment arrived in December after it had been ordered in April 2021. It was the fryerhood for the new kitchen.
Smith stated that we believe we built a very good facility for the property we have. The gas (sales), volume has increased significantly and we are building back the stores volume.