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Site Report: St Law NEC Site 11 Fuel Storage

Site Name: St Law NEC Site 11 Fuel Storage
Address: Northeast Cape, Saint Lawrence Island, Savoonga, AK 99769
File Number: 475.38.013
Hazard ID: 217
Status: Active
Staff: Erica Blake, 9074512182 erica.blake@alaska.gov
Latitude: 63.311742
Longitude: -168.962600
Horizontal Datum:NAD83

We make every effort to ensure the data presented here is accurate based on the best available information currently on file with DEC. It is therefore subject to change as new information becomes available. We recommend contacting the assigned project staff prior to making decisions based on this information.

Problems/Comments

Site operated 1957-1972. There are 29 separate sites associated with the main facility not including the White Alice site (Site 31) which is uphill about 1/2 mile. Site 30 is the name given to the various background sampling areas. This site is located adjacent to Site 10 in the NE part of the Headquarters Area. Three 400,000-gallon diesel storage USTs were at the site. A spill of approximately 180,000-gallons occured in March 1968 when a dozer operator plowing snow punctured a small hole (~1"x 3") about half way up the tank. The spill effected the entire drainage from the source to the mouth of the Suki River. the site has DRO impacts to soil, sediment and groundwater. Low level PCBs have been detected in sediment. EPA ID # D981765894. DERP/FUDS. See 475.15.006 for additional information. (rpltr3.1) Last staff assigned were Noland, Ortelee, Markey, Kalu, Rutkowski and Brownlee. A Building Demolition/Debris Removal was completed in 2003. All the buildings, above ground structures and debris were removed including those at the White Alice site.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
3/1/2004 Site Added to Database Split out 17 new sites from main "Saint Lawrence NE Cape/DERP-Army", site, Reckey 198532X917901. Jeff Brownlee
3/1/2004 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Copied latest AHRM Score from main site, "Saint Lawrence NE Cape/DERP-Army", Reckey 198532X917901. Jeff Brownlee
11/24/2004 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Jeff Brownlee
9/15/2006 Update or Other Action Contaminated Sites staff reviewed and commented on a draft Feasibility Study for the Northeast Cape Formerly Used Defense Site on Saint Lawrence Island. No further action is proposed for 17 out of 30 sites at the facility. The study presents several remedial alternatives for the remaining sites including containment such as capping, insitu such as chemical oxidation and ex-situ treatments such as incineration or excavation and off site disposal. Limited actions such as natural attenuation, long-tem monitoring and institutional controls are also evaluated. The study does not attempt to choose specific alternatives, but evaluates the balancing criteria including cost for each individual site. Remedial alternatives will be chosen during development of the Proposed Plan. It is probable that many of the sites will have chosen remedies that are a combination of the presented alternatives for example excavation and off-site disposal combined with institutional controls and long-term monitoring Jeff Brownlee
1/25/2007 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites staff participated in a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting for the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) on Saint Lawrence Island. Participants at the meeting included Alaska Community Action on Toxins (ACAT), the RAB Technical Assistance Program representative, the COE Alaska District, the native corporation attorney, RAB members and DEC. Agenda items included discussion of the remedial actions that took place in Gambell during the summer season included a summary of the Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP) work. The Gambell NALEMP project is the largest in the nation with 290,000 pounds of buried debris removed in 2006. There was discussion on the groundwater sampling event at Site 5 which is several monitoring wells surrounding the village water supply well. There were detected levels of DRO and metals (lead, nickel, barium) in a couple wells, but well below the cleanup levels. We also discussed the Feasibility Study for Northeast Cape and the upcoming final of that document Jeff Brownlee
6/15/2007 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Jeff Brownlee
7/10/2007 Proposed Plan Final approved. Jeff Brownlee
7/24/2007 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites staff participated in a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting, public meeting and tribal meeting to introduce the proposed plan for the Northeast Cape FUDS. The meetings were held in Gambell and Savoonga and were well attended with high interest from the community. Alaska Community Action on Toxins (ACAT), the Technical Assistance Program (TAP) coordinator, corporation attorney, and Corps of Engineers were represented at the meeting. The proposed plan outlines the preferred remedies for the 34 sites at the facility Jeff Brownlee
1/8/2008 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites staff participated in a Restoration Advisory Board meeting for the Formerly Used Defense Sites on Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska. The meeting was held in Savoonga and attended by members of the RAB and community, Corps of Engineers, the COE contractor, Alaska Community Action on Toxins, the attorney for the native corporation, and the Technical Assistance Program advisor for the RAB. Agenda items included a discussion of the geophysics results of the investigation at the Site 7 Landfill, Responsiveness Summary for the Northeast Cape Proposed Plan and the changes to the plan that are resulting from those comments Jeff Brownlee
11/7/2008 Update or Other Action Contaminated Sites staff reviewed a draft Decision Document for the Northeast Cape Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) on Saint Lawrence Island. There are several sites at the former surveillance station and White Alice Site to be remediated. The Headquarters Area has extensive diesel range organics impacting soil and groundwater. An insitu chemical oxidation pilot test will be done at a portion of this area to assess effectiveness for treating the larger contaminant mass. The drainage and wetlands below the Headquarters Area is planned for dredging or excavation of the more highly impacted sediments. There are several sites that will be excavated for petroleum and Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) soil contamination. There will be institutional controls on several areas including two landfills, areas with residual petroleum impacts and shallow groundwater use controls Jeff Brownlee
2/3/2011 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 71197 name: Spill from former AST (diesel) Bianca Reece
10/13/2015 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff participated in the semiannual Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting which was conducted in Savoonga, AK on Saint Lawrence Island. Participants included representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers, ADEC, Savoonga residents and RAB members, the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, and the University of Alaska, Anchorage (UAA). The agenda included presentations by the Army Corps which summarized the 2014 and 2015 remedial efforts and results. The Army Corps conducted the last major removal and offsite disposal actions in 2014 and conducted groundwater monitoring at the Main Operations Complex in 2015; the 2015 draft report is pending. Dr. Frank von Hippel of UAA presented a summary of the results from a multi-year fish tissue sampling and analysis study to evaluate PCBs in Nine-spine Stickleback and AK Blackfish in the Suqi River; the drainage of which flows through the Northeast Cape FUDS. Curtis Dunkin
1/9/2017 CERCLA Removal Action Report ADEC received the Final 2014 Northeast Cape Removal Action Report (which is dated May 2016), and submitted final approval of the report to the Army Corps of Engineers. Site characterization and removal action requirements that are outlined in the 2009 Decision Document were conducted in consecutive years since 2009 and were completed in 2014. Future and ongoing work planned within the current five-year review period (2014-2018) includes monitoring as well as follow-on sampling and analyses of surface waters, sediments, groundwater, and soils; including the development and implementation of land use controls, and notices of environmental contamination with the landowner. Curtis Dunkin
2/15/2019 CERCLA ROD Periodic Review CERCLA Five-year Review Questionnaire Submitted: ADEC completed its responses to the questionnaire (5 pages) for the prospective draft Second CERCLA Five-year Review for the Northeast Cape FUDS sites and submitted its responses to the Army Corps of Engineers. Scheduled distribution date of the draft review report is May 2019. Curtis Dunkin
6/16/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other ADEC reviewed an additional second round of responses to comments for the draft 2022 Work Plan and submitted review determinations and approval to finalize the work plan document to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Curtis Dunkin
8/2/2022 Site Visit ADEC staff traveled to Northeast Cape and conducted three days of field inspections and site visits in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers' implementation of the 2022 Work Plan effort that includes site 28 sediment removal and various follow-up actions at multiple sites from the Second Five-year and Periodic Reviews. The field team's mobilization to the site began in mid July and field work is anticipated to continue through the month of August. Additional site characterization is being conducted at site 8 and removal actions are occurring at the sites 15 and 28. Curtis Dunkin
8/18/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided review comments for two draft Explanation of Significant Differences (ESDs) to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The two ESDs were for multiple sites at Northeast Cape FUDS. The documents discuss the need to place covenants on several sites with remaining contamination. DEC recommended the covenants be completed, and signed prior to finalization of the ESD documents. Erica Blake
1/31/2024 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided comments for the "Draft Visual Site Inspection Work Plan Northeast Cape Formerly Used Defense Site Remedial Action – Operations, Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska (dated January 2024)" to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The work plan describes proposed visual inspection activities as part of the Third Periodic Review for multiple sites at Northeast Cape on Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska. Erica Blake

Contaminant Information

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Description Details

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