Page 8 - Nov/Dec Vol34 No5

STATEWIDE
From Tanks to Treasures
In past years, downtowns were vibrant
and busy with shoppers, tourists, and
specialty stores. This changed as people
were drawn to the suburbs, malls, and
longer commutes. The nostalgia of the
downtown and what it has to offer is now
being realized again. However, many of
the abandoned buildings in the downtown
and along the key corridors are hampered
from redevelopment due to their former
uses. One common detriment is from
former businesses that required use of
underground storage petroleum tanks. The
Tennessee Department of Environment
and Conservation is working with local
partners to transform these abandoned,
potentially contaminated sites to new and
exciting venues.
TDEC’s Division of Underground Stor-
age Tanks is working in a concerted effort
statewide under the leadership of Director
Stan Boyd to provide assistance to revital-
ize properties and return them to economic
vitality. These sites are typically associated and products. All food sold in the store
with community blight and have real or
perceived contamination along with a host
of potential legal liabilities. The Division
of Underground Storage Tanks has staff
located in eight environmental field offices
for convenient processing of permitting
and technical assistance requests. TDEC’s
regional approach offers exemplary, conve-
nient service to customers while allow-
ing staff to be easily accessible for project
management, cleanup, and oversight.
According to Boyd, “The Tennessee UST
program is glad to see former petroleum
sites being reused as beneficial new busi-
nesses. Many times these former sites have
been vacant for years and are unproduc-
tive. Now they are providing local jobs and
income to the tax bases of their home cities
and counties.”
JONESBOROUGH
Tennessee’s oldest town, Jonesborough,
is nestled in the northeast corner of Ten-
nessee. Located in the historic downtown
area, a property which was once an Exxon
gasoline and service station from the 1930’s
until 2003 became an unwanted property
that was eventually placed on the real estate
market. This resulted in three gasoline
USTs to be deemed temporarily out of
service.
Due to the prime location, town leaders
8 TPW November/December 2016
By Jan Compton
were interested in purchasing the unused
parcel and developing the site into an
epicenter for downtown activity and com-
merce. The problem, however, was that the
owner wanted to sell the property and the
tanks all together, resulting in the buyer
purchasing not only the land, but the three
out of service gasoline tanks and any liabili- grants, utility relocation, and site as-
ties that may come with them. Through
careful planning and education on the
process of such a purchase, the Town of
Jonesborough purchased the property in
2011 and registered the USTs for the pur-
pose of permanent closure. In March 2013,
the tanks were subsequently closed with
assistance and oversight by the Division of
Underground Storage Tanks.
Following the UST closure, and after
much effort and fundraising, the former
Exxon gas station was transformed into
a year-round retail store. Boone Street Mar-
ket opened for business in October 2014
and began selling locally produced foods
is guaranteed to be produced within 100
miles of Jonesborough, ensuring the best
local foods are made available to shoppers
while simultaneously supporting local
economies and farmers.
JOHNSON CITY
Also in Washington County’s vibrant
downtown of Johnson City, the Yee-Haw
Brewing Company was located on a site
with abandoned USTs, a former Free Ser-
vice Tire business. Four petroleum USTs
were operated at this facility from 1965 un-
til 1988, when the tanks were taken out of
service permanently and filled with foam.
Ten years later, the property was being
considered for condemnation and possible
demolition for commercial development.
A Phase II Environmental Assessment was
conducted on the property, which indi-
cated petroleum contaminant concentra-
tions in the soil which exceeded the most
stringent of cleanup levels at that time. The
Division of Underground Storage Tanks
required a soil/groundwater classification
by the property owner. It was determined
that due to the date the tanks were taken
out of service, continued remediation
activities would fall under the authority
of the TDEC’s Division of Solid Waste
Management’s State Remediation Section
(now part of the Department’s Division
of Remediation). Subsequent activities by
TDEC and the property owner determined
no additional action was required.
The City of Johnson City collaborated
with the Yee-Haw Brewing Company to
assist with building renovation through
sessment and development consultation
with the Washington County Economic
Development Council (WCEDC). In
addition, the former ET&WNC railroad
right-of-way between Johnson City and
Elizabethton had been converted into a 10-
mile linear trail called the Tweetsie Trail,
which parallels existing trails at Sycamore
Shoals State Park in Elizabethton. Today,
the Yee-Haw Brewing Company Taproom
and White Duck Taco Shop occupy the
refurbished location.
NASHVILLE
The State’s Capital, Nashville, has also
seen economic stimulus through new busi-
ness opportunity sparked by the transition
from a former gas station. The new busi-
ness, opened by John McDougal, actually
embraced the past by naming the new craft
beer bar “The Old Gas Station.” Located
in a prime location in a west Nashville
neighborhood called the Nations, the
restaurant will have a simple menu and for
starters, 12 craft beer taps available along
with 30 types of beer in bottles and cans.
One of the main draws to the 1,300 square
foot facility will be the additional space of
a large covered patio designed to be child-
and dog-friendly.
On the east side of Nashville in Hermit-
age, the former Daily Market facility was
revitalized into a retail store and medi-
cal office. Five 10,000-gallon USTs were
removed during the spring of 2000. Two
new USTs were installed when the site
was still actively operating for business.
Following Phase II assessments in 2000
and 2013, confirmed groundwater benzene