Residents are trying to fight plans for a Sumner gas station. Here’s why they’re worried

Plans for a gas station at the southeast corner of Main Street and Valley Avenue in Sumner have some residents asking the city to restrict where future ones can be built.

The city received an application in October to construct a 3,616 square-foot 7-Eleven convenience store and fuel station on a vacant lot at 15012 Main St. E. During the City Council’s first meeting of 2022, a resident expressed her concerns about it.

“My concern is my children,” Rachel Oberg told The News Tribune. “They sleep here every night. … I can’t live somewhere where my kids are unsafe.”

Oberg is a stay-at-home mother who has been living in Sumner for about four years. She is the acting chair of the Sumner Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance, which is a group urging the city to establish a “public health safety zone” for new gas station sites.

The alliance wants the city to make an amendment to its zoning regulations, ensuring that gas stations are at least 500 feet away from homes and 1,000 feet away from schools, Oberg said.

Jason Rush from PM Design Group, Inc., an architecture and engineering firm handling the project, said plans for the proposed gas station are still under review and that health concerns are being addressed.

The Sumner alliance created a petition, detailing the health effects people can get from being exposed to chemical compounds such as benzene. Benzene is a natural part of gasoline, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 250 people have signed the petition so far. It was publicized in early December.

The proposed gas station is less than 100 feet from Oberg’s backyard, she said. It is also within 500 feet of many homes and is close to Sumner High School. Houses within 500 feet of gas stations are at risk of exposure to benzene emissions, she said.

“The seriousness of poisoning caused by benzene depends on the amount, route and length of time of exposure, as well as the age and preexisting medical condition of the exposed person,” the CDC’s website says.

If a person is exposed to benzene for more than a year, it can decrease their red blood cells, which are cells that help transport oxygen within the body. Long-term exposure to benzene can also cause cancer, according to the CDC.

A study by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that people can be exposed to toxic chemicals from gas stations “beyond the setback distance of 300 feet.”

“The ultimate goal is to create an amendment to the zoning regulations to protect families of Sumner in general because it’s the right thing to do,” Oberg said.

‘Cleaned up with development’

Monica Hilliard, a designated broker who lives in the Sumner area, shared the same concerns as Oberg. Hilliard grew up in Sumner, and her family has lived in the area since the 1970s.

Hilliard said she does not live within 500 feet of the proposed gas station but is still concerned about those who will be living near it.

“We need to be mindful of what’s going on in our city and make sure to take care of each other,” Hilliard said.

There is already a Fred Meyer fuel center at 1201 Valley Ave., which is also within 500 feet of Oberg’s home.

The amendment the alliance is urging the council to consider would not affect existing gas stations, which Oberg said is: “a battle way too big to fight.” It would only affect gas stations that have yet to make their way to Sumner.

“We should care about our community members and our neighbors,” Oberg said. “Once it goes in, it’s too late.”

City spokesperson Carmen Palmer said if the city were to consider adding the zoning amendment, it would only affect gas stations that have yet to submit an application. The proposed gas station would still be operating under the city’s existing municipal code, she said.

Palmer said there are contaminants found in the soil of the vacant lot from an old underground storage tank, which means it must be “cleaned up with development,” she said.

“If you try to stop a development based on potential health concerns, you might actually also hinder the cleanup of health concerns that are already existing on that site,” Palmer said.

The vacant lot used to be Sumner Auto Repair Petrosave, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology’s database of contaminated sites. Remedial investigation or cleanup work has started at the site, according to the agency.

“Why are we putting another gas station?” Hilliard said. “Obviously there is a hazard there and now you’re having to do cleanup to put another gas station in?”

The proposed gas station is allowed to be constructed at the vacant lot under the city’s zoning code, Palmer said. Although the project has made it far into the permit process, the public will still have a chance to share their concerns with the city.

Residents can keep an eye on the city’s public notices page online to find opportunities to comment, Palmer said. People can also choose to receive public notices via email.

Oberg said she hopes at some point in the permitting process the city will reconsider.

“If the 7-Eleven goes in … the community of Sumner is going to be disappointed and feel like they haven’t been heard and feel like their health is not a priority to people making decisions for us,” Oberg said.

Construction is expected to begin in April and end in November, according to city documents.