EPA put out a press release yesterday on the Route 66 Initiative to deal with abandoned gas stations along the Mother Road in Navajo County, AZ. The initiative has been covered here previously.

Here’s the upshot:

EPA and the Arizona DEQ had a couple of public meetings yesterday and today — one at the incomparable La Posada in Winslow and one at the Navajo County fairgrounds in Holbrook — to discuss initiative.

The idea behind the program is to clean up the underground gas tanks, which pose a threat to the environment by leaking fuel into the water supply. Such cleanups are extremely expensive, and the property owner often gets stuck with the bill, which scares off a lot of roadies who otherwise might buy a historic gas station and restore it the way preservationists have done in Odell and Mt. Olive, IL, and Chandler, OK.

According to the press release:

In June 2004, ADEQ launched its Route 66 Initiative to investigate and clean up leaking underground tank sites. … Nearly 100 sites, or 28 percent, still need further investigation or cleanup.

Redevelopment at many sites has been slow and many abandoned gas stations remain idle. The EPA and ADEQ have partnered to explore viable options to stimulate redevelopment along Arizona’s Route 66 corridor. …

“The Route 66 Initiative is an excellent example of how partnerships can make a significant difference in the underground tank cleanup program,â€? said Cliff Rothenstein, the EPA’s national director for the underground storage tanks program. “I am pleased that EPA Region 9 and Arizona, along with other stakeholders – tank owners, industry, and community members – will work together to identify viable cleanup options for historic Route 66’s blighted sites and make them safe so communities can productively reuse them.â€? …

Arizona’s State Assurance Fund provides monetary assistance for assessment and cleanup at leaking underground storage tank sites in small communities located along Route 66. Property owners must report releases and apply by June 30, 2006 to be eligible for state funding.

According to the press release, ADEQ has focused on Winslow, Holbrook and Joseph City because those communities have had a lot of problems with groundwater contamination from underground petroleum tanks.

The whole press release can be read here.

… but Route 66 News will be in good hands at that time with Emily, who’s eastern vice president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association.

She knows about as much about Route 66 as I do, maybe more. This is evidenced by two of her sites: Route 66 Motels and Spring Break 66. She also runs the mostly non-Route 66 but charming blog, Red Fork Hippy Chick.

Because Emily is experienced with both Route 66 and blogging, don’t think that you can con her like you would a substitute teacher. So behave yourselves.

In the meantime, I’ll see you down the road.

I just got an e-mail from Richard Randals of the New Mexico Property Group in Tucumcari, N.M. He just told me the Blue Swallow Motel, one of the most historic and best-preserved properties on Route 66, is under contract with a potential buyer. This Web page also confirmed the Blue Swallow as being under contract.

I’ll have more details as I have them …

UPDATE: The Blue Swallow’s co-owner, Dale Bakke, is asking me to keep details under wraps because the sale isn’t yet final. If things go well, he said they should have something to announce within a few weeks.

UPDATE: In case you aren’t familiar with the Blue Swallow Motel, check here, here, here and here to give you a taste.