Gasoline tanks safely removed from site for Town Creek daylighting project

The City of Murfreesboro took another step closer to the beginning of the Daylighting Town Creek project. The City project will unearth the creek that runs in a culvert from Murfree Springs wetlands at Discovery Center to Cannonsburgh Village along NW Broad Street.

During the week of Nov. 18-22, engineering and environmental consultants with Griggs & Maloney oversaw the removal of gas tanks along NW Broad Street. A CityTV newsbreak story is available to view on YouTube https://youtu.be/_85udMsNlxw

Engineers had discovered that a gas station operated on the property in the 1940s. Four buried gas tanks needed to be removed. The tanks were filled with sand in the 1970s and have collected rainwater over the years.

"We sampled the water in the tanks previously a month or so ago. To make sure, we sent the results to the sewer department," said Donnie Sheumaker, Professional Geologist.

The water in the tanks revealed low levels of petroleum, but well below the commercial cleanup levels that the State of Tennessee allows for the rainwater to be directed into the sanitary sewer for treatment. Getting the sand-filled tanks out of the ground posed a challenge excavators due to the sheer weight. It took a couple of days to remove all four tanks.

"One they get the tanks out, they'll take all the backfill which is the material around the tanks out of the pit," Shuemaker said, "I'll sample all four corners and then in the middle of the tank pit as well as the material removed from the tank pit being stockpiled. That will determine if they can put the material back in the hole or not. If it's below a certain level then they can put it back in the hole."

The findings from all the dirt samples were well-below commercial cleanup levels which meant all the dirt could be returned back to the tank pit. The next step in this process is to demolish the old Longhorn Liquor building in January 2025. Other buildings along Broad Street were removed over the summer as part of the project to develop a linear, urban park. Construction on the daylighting project is anticipated in February.

The Murfreesboro City Council voted in September to authorize the closing of a small segment of Hickerson Drive to vehicular use in 2025 for the Town Creek daylighting project. With the project set to commence construction, the portion of Hickerson Drive will not be accessible to vehicular traffic beginning in the Spring of 2025 just north of West Castle Street.

Town Creek is an underground stream that originates in Murfree Spring at the Discovery Center and flows to Cannonsburgh Village before emptying into Lytle Creek. Completion of the Town Creek Phase II project will provide walking and biking trail connectivity from the Discovery Center and Murfree Springs to Cannonsburgh Village and the Greenway Trail System.

For more information on daylighting Town Creek Stream, e-mail Assistant City Manager Sam Huddleston at [email protected].

For City News online, visit www.Murfreesborotn.gov.