The first of four abandoned gas station buildings that have been a blight on the community for years was torn down on Monday.

The former Tiger Mart building at 24th Avenue and West Nob Hill in Yakima was the first to be demolished. After years of legal wrangling, the City of Yakima purchased the properties and is working with the state Department of Ecology to clean up the locations. After clean up, the city will sell the prime commercial sites to private developers.

Ecology crews have removed more than 16,000 gallons of gasoline that had leaked into surrounding soil, but still need to clean up more than four thousand gallons of free floating fuel that still exists underground.

Our news partner, KNDO-TV was at the scene Monday.

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