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Home My WebLink AboutDERR-2025-005383Page 1 of 5 MEMORANDUM TO: Chris Howell, RA LPST Section, Manager THROUGH: Mark Crim, RA LPST Section, Project Manager THROUGH: Morgan Atkinson, PST Branch, Manager FROM: Marisa Heiling, Assistant Attorney General DATE: July 3, 2025 RE: Responsible Party and Cost Recovery Status Wonder Block - 2557 Grant Ave. Ogden, UT 84415 Facility Number 1200029, Release OLZ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _______ The former bakery located at 2557 Grant Avenue, Ogden, UT 84415 (Subject Property) was first constructed in 1908 and expanded over the years to the entire Ogden city Block 19 (Lots 1, 2, 3, part of 4, and 10). 1 See Figures 1 and 2. Out of the 5 lots, the lot that most likely housed the four USTs related to release OLZ is Lot 4 based on plats, maps, and aerial images. However, for purposes of this memo all five lots will be explored for possible responsible parties, with a focus on Lot 4. Likewise, the timeframe in question is 1974-1998 because while there are no notifications of tank installation for the four USTs, records estimate installation in 1974 or 1975, and the tanks were closed in-place with no releases detected on November 6, 1998. 1 https://www.wasatch-environmental.com/projects-hostesswonderbread Page 2 of 5 Figure 1 Figure 2 A. TANK AND OWNERSHIP HISTORY Lots 1, 2, and 10 were owned by Continental Baking Company (Continental) (or its parent companies)2 during the 1974-1998 period.3 Parts of Lots 3 and 4 were also owned by Continental (or its parent companies) from 1974-1998—including the suspected location of the 4 USTs. Continental purchased another Part of Lot 4 from the personal representatives of Kimyo Takahashi upon Kimyo’s death in 1981.4 In 1991, the “PST Fund Application” identified Continental as the owner of the four USTs. Additionally, in March 1993 and 1995, the Leak Detection Inspection Checklist listed Continental as owner of the four USTs. Continental was purchased by Interstate Brands Corporation (Interstate) sometime in 1995. Continental’s foreign corporation business entity registration with Utah was renewed through September 18, 1995 and is now listed as “inactive” due to a merger. However, in August 1996, the Leak Detection Inspection Checklist still listed Continental as the owner. 2 Interstate Bakeries Corporation was announced in 1930. In 1969, Interstate Bakeries Corporation changed its name to Interstate Brands. In 1975, Interstate Brands was acquired by Data Processing Financial (DPF). In 1981, DPF changed the name back to Interstate Bakeries. In 1988, Interstate Bakeries became a privately held company and changed its name to IBC Holdings. In 1991, IBC Holdings went public and changed its name back to Interstate Bakeries. In 1995, Interstate acquired Continental Baking Company. Continental Baking Company started in 1900. Continental Baking Company was previously purchased by ITT in 1968 and Ralston Purina in 1984. In 2004, the public Interstate Bakeries Corporation filed for bankruptcy. It emerged as private Interstate Bakeries Co rporation in 2009. Later in 2009, Interstate Bakeries Corporation changed its name to Hostess Brands, but its subsidiary, Interstate Brands Corporation, remained. In 2012, Hostess Brands filed for bankruptcy again. It ceased plant operations and intended to sell off assets and liquidate. In 2013, Flowers Foods bought the bread brands, 20 bakeries, and 38 depots but not this environmental liability. Flower foods is still active. Interstate Brands Corporation was registered in Utah as a Foreign Corporation effective 1956 and was last updated in 2016, now it’s inactive. Its RA is Corporation Service Company and is still active. 3 It is unknown when Interstate Brands Corporation first owned Lot 10, Lot 1, and parts of Lots 2, 3, and 4. It is assumed that these records escaped the 80-year Title Search because the bakery allegedly existed beginning in 1908. 4 Letters of Administration included in Title Report. Page 3 of 5 In April 1997, DERR received a PST Financial Responsibility Declaration that the facility owner was now “Interstate Brands (formerly Continental Baking)”. Interstate purchased the other Part of Lot 3 from Lucy Donaldson5 as the living trustee of the Mattie Felton Trust (Trust) on August 21, 1998. Mattie Frazier (a/k/a Mattie Felton) had owned the other Part of Lot 3 up until 1994 when she conveyed the land to the Trust with herself as a joint trustee until her death in 1997.6 A March 17, 1998 letter from DERR to Continental said that UST owners and operators had until December 22, 1998 to upgrade, replace, or permanently close USTs that do not meet the requirements for protection against overfill and corrosion. The Closure Plan identified Continental as the owner of four 10,000-gallon diesel tanks to be closed. The four 10,000-gallon diesel USTs were closed in-place on November 6, 1998. The tanks were all closed “in ground” and filled with a concrete slurry. There was no evidence of leaks detected, and no groundwater samples were taken. On November 23, 1998, the compliance checklist for the December 22, 1998 deadline was completed for Interstate. On November 28, 1998, the Closure Notice for the four USTs was sent to Interstate. On December 28, 1998, Interstate was identified as the Owner in the Financial Responsibility Declaration. On January 7, 1999, DERR issued a letter to Continental that the Closure Notice for the four tanks requires “no corrective action . . . at this time” but leaves open that “[c]orrective action may be needed in the future if contamination is found that threatens human health or the environment.” In 2009, Interstate (trustor) conveyed a Deed of Trust for All of Lots 1, 2, 3, and 10 and Part of Lot 4 to First American Title Insurance (Trustee) and Silver Point Finance, LLC (Beneficiary). Interstate’s foreign corporation business entity registration with Utah was renewed through February 28, 2017 and is now listed as “inactive” with no reason provided. However, research shows that Interstate, via its parent company Interstate Bakeries Corporation, filed for bankruptcy in 2004, which returned as Hostess Brands in 2009 only to file for bankruptcy again in 2012, which is when the Ogden factory closed permanently. Hostess Brands came out of bankruptcy owned by Flowers Baking Co. of Ogden (Flowers). Flowers’s Utah business registration as an LLC was last renewed through July 31, 2024 and is now inactive through voluntary termination. Additionally, the permitted exceptions between Interstate and Flowers for the property included “environmental regulations by any governmental body provided that such regulations have not been violated.” Since the date of the release is 1998, Flowers would not have taken on the liabilities in 2013. The site is now being redeveloped from a Wonder Bread Factory to condominiums. The four tanks were permanently removed sometime between 2015-2019 during the demolition of the on- site building. The excavation was left open. On February 2, 2024, contractors during 5 Lucy Donaldson died November 17, 2016. https://myers-mortuary.com/obituaries/lucy-donaldson 6 Death Certificate included in Title Report. Page 4 of 5 redevelopment of the site discovered a void that produced water. Work stopped and the location was excavated. The excavation revealed a tank that was previously unknown. The tank was removed without informing DEQ or the local health department on February 7, 2024. Samples confirmed diesel at the site. This was Release OJY. It is believed that the tank discovered on February 2, 2024 was missed during the 2015-2019 demolition. On October 22, 2024, DERR gave Release OLY “no further action” status. However, a diesel release in groundwater was discovered and reported during the orphan tank investigation for Release OJY. Subsequent testing showed the groundwater impacts discovered in February 2024 were not attributable to OLY, but to the four USTs that were closed in-place in November 1998 and removed sometime between 2015-2019. Thus, the release date for Release OLZ is November 6, 1998. OLZ is the only remaining open release at the site. Additionally, Ogden Lodge No. 7197 owned another Part of lot 4 prior to 1992 when they sold the land to the State of Utah DFCM. State of Utah DFCM conveyed the Subject Property in 2023. This part was never owned by any iteration of the baking companies. See Figure 3, northwest most Parcel No. 10170016. The four USTs are not believed to be in this section of Lot 4. Thus, neither the State of Utah DFCM nor Ogden Lodge No. 719 are responsible parties. Figure 3 B. CONCLUSION 7 Golden Spike Elks Lodge 719 is inactive and was administratively dissolved on September 16, 2024. https://businessregistration.utah.gov/EntitySearch/BusinessInformation. Page 5 of 5 Based on the title report and independent research, there are no potential responsible parties for release OLZ. Any owners of the four USTs on Lot 4 between 1974-1998 are either inactive business entities or without liability or persons who have passed away. *As a final note, this title report was an extremely difficult set of documents and information to work with. It included lots that were not the Subject Property including many documents that were in a completely different town and township than the Subject Property. For example, there is also a Block 19, Plat A in North Ogden in Section 28, Township 7N, Range 1W. Instead, the Subject Property is Block 19, Plat A in Ogden in Section 28, Township 6N, Range 1W. This made tracking and following the change of ownership for the Subject property very difficult and time-consuming (i.e. the whole first page of the Title search was for completely different parcel numbers not within the same city or township). I would recommend requesting narrower and more specific title searches in the future to avoid superfluous information that only complicates the research required for RP memoranda. Alternatively, to have the title searcher eliminate the elements that are irrelevant or do not accurately describe the chain of title for the subject property. Additionally, I would recommend having title companies perform the title search rather than a consultant.