Walla Walla Post Office Now Affected by Marcus Whitman Fumes

The mystery of the fumes in Walla Walla appears to be closer to being solved, but now it's affecting the post office.

  Walla Walla Post Office rerouting mail via West Richland

Monday afternoon the City of Walla Walla received word from the USPS they were temporarily closing the Walla Walla Post Office due to the detection of what city officials say are "elevated levels of volatile organic compounds" in the post office basement.

The office was closed due to what official said was an abundance of caution.

Customers can still bring outgoing mail to the College Place Post Office,  Walla Walla deliveries will be rerouting their mail that will come from West Richland. No service disruption is expected.

  Are fumes from gas station storage tanks?

 An earlier update from Sunday indicated cleanup crews discovered what was said to be pure gasoline in a ten-foot deep sump (drain) in the basement of the Marcus Whitman hotel. There is no connecting pipeline between the Chevron Station across the street and the hotel. Officials did not say if the 10,000 gallon underground tank leaked, but it has since had all its fuel moved to another tank.

Work continues in the area as samples are taken, and officials try to determine if the gasoline in the Marcus Whitman sump (drain) came from the gas station across the street.

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Clean Harbor, the contractor, continues to drain water from the sump under the hotel to determine where it is coming from, and possibly locate the source of the gas as well.

The issues began in the early evening of Thursday, September 14th, when the Marcus Whitman hotel was evacuated and closed due to the growing smell of strong vapors or odors throughout the facility.