Gas tanks removed from Cheney station that sat vacant for months

By BECKY THOMAS

Staff Reporter

The claim “Coldest beer in town” is dubious any day, but especially when the message is posted on a gas station that's been closed for months.

The former Conoco station at First and I streets in Cheney sat empty through the winter, until a few weeks ago when heavy machinery began pulling into the lot, removing gas pumps and giant tanks. Its former owner, Gull Industries, received the property back after its most recent owner went out of business.

William Low, senior vice president of real estate with Gull, said the company received the title back in the past 30 days and immediately began coordinating to remove the gas station implements from the property.

“The age of the tanks were such that we needed to remove them,” he said.

Low said Gull, which had owned dozens of gas stations throughout Washington, got out of the business in the early 2000s. The Cheney station was one of the last they sold in 2005. A company called PKH Corporation owned the property from 2006 until the gas station went out of business last year.

“The operators just couldn't stay in business,” Low said. Efforts to contact PKH Corp. were unsuccessful.

Last week, a crane pulled out a 20,000 gallon below-ground gas tank at the property. Lance Peterson of CDM, Inc., which was overseeing the removal of the gas implements, said four above-ground and four underground tanks were removed from the property. The Department of Ecology will also test the soil and groundwater under the tanks' former locations; Low said the testing was required for all former gas stations.

Low said the building would be offered for lease or sale.

Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].