Accident Closes Grain Elevator

While grain elevators around the region are getting ready for harvest, an accident in Almota, Wash., has at least temporarily closed one elevator.

A cement tank at the Almota Elevator Co., on the Snake River southwest of Pullman, gave way Friday afternoon.

“It did not explode,” said Gary Berhymer, general manager of the elevator. “It just failed. Nobody knows the cause.”

He said the tank is 105 feet tall, 60 feet in diameter and was holding soft white wheat. Berhymer did not disclose how much wheat was stored.

“(The grain) ran out like water and filled the port facility,” he said.

The three people who witnessed the event said the grain made a loud whooshing sound as it poured out, he added. It covered the port area and even moved a 1988 Chevy Baretta a number of feet. No one was injured.

On Monday, insurance agents and a local contractor were examining the site to determine how much, if any, of the wheat can be saved.

The tank, which was holding last year’s grain, was 24 years old.

Winter wheat harvest in the area is just starting and should be in full swing in the next few weeks.