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Site Report: Begich Towers

Site Name: Begich Towers
Address: 100 Kenai Street, Whittier, AK 99693
File Number: 2114.26.002
Hazard ID: 23228
Status: Cleanup Complete
Staff: No Longer Assigned, 9074655229 dec.icunit@alaska.gov
Latitude: 60.772182
Longitude: -148.685053
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

During the removal of one 15,000 gallon diesel underground storage tank on September 25, 1999, DRO contamination was encountered up to 4,080 mg/kg. Approximately 218 tons of contaminated soil was excavated and treated at Alaska Soil Recycling in Anchorage. Groundwater was not encountered. The tank was replaced with an AST. Updated 11-15-06 Alyce Hughey.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
11/23/1999 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Initiated - Petroleum The ADEC reviewed SA Report Begich Towers Condominium dated November 1999 submitted by Oil Spill Consultants. A 15,000 gallon diesel UST was removed by South Fork Construction. During the UST removal, a grayish colorand petroleum odor was noted at the depth of the excavation at 11 ft. bgs. Additional soil was excavated in efforts to remove contaminated soil. About 300 cubic yards of contamintated soil was removed and stored on site. Confirmation samples taken from the depths of the excavation contained DRO up to 4,080 mg/kg. GW was not encountered. Former Staff
11/23/1999 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Release Confirmed - Petroleum LUST Site created in CSP for source area ID 77645 (Added by System) Former Staff
11/23/1999 Site Added to Database Former Staff
12/10/1999 Update or Other Action ASR recieved 92.81 tons of petroleum impacted soil form Begich Towers on this date. It was thermally treated on May 8,2000. Grant Lidren
6/30/2000 Risk Assessment Workplan Approved The ADEC approved a Corrective Action Work Plan for additional investigation. However, the department feels that it is unlikely that this approach will successfully remediate the full extent of soil or groundwater contamination and that further investigation into the horizontal and vertical extent may be necessary. Lynne Bush
9/13/2000 Update or Other Action ASR recieved 125.20 tons of petroleum impacted soil form Begich Towers on this date. It was thermally treated on September 25, 2000. Grant Lidren
12/21/2001 Update or Other Action Site transferred to Sundet. Former manager Lynne Bush Lynne Bush
7/21/2005 Update or Other Action Reviewed file and sent a letter requesting a project status update and copies of missing reports. Donald Seagren
11/8/2005 Update or Other Action ADEC contacted Laura Noland, of the Shaw Group, to Request copies of missing documentation for ADEC files. She was unfamiliar with the site, but would research the former IT manager files. A copy of the ADEC file will be sent to Laura for reference. Donald Seagren
1/17/2006 Update or Other Action ADEC sent a registered agent of Begich Towers a letter requesting copies of missing reports and project status. The association president was CC’d Donald Seagren
1/30/2006 Update or Other Action ADEC spoke with the former President of the Begich Towers Association, Ken Hurt about site status. He intended to pass on a letter from the ADEC to him to the new President. Donald Seagren
3/21/2006 Update or Other Action After file review, the ADEC has received no response from previously sent letters. Certified letters were resent to the registered agent and board members and directors. Donald Seagren
3/22/2006 Update or Other Action An ADEC communication with Galen Grandsbury, the registered agent, indicates the IT group has site records. He plans on trying to locate copies of the reports. He indicates that according to the PM Lance Raymore cleanup was complete. ADEC needs to contact Mr. Raymore. Donald Seagren
4/3/2006 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other The ADEC received 1999 & 2000 post treatment reports from ASR. The reports show that ASR received and successfully treated 92.81 tons of contaminated soil in 1999 and 125.2 tons in 2000. Donald Seagren
4/4/2006 Update or Other Action An ADEC communication with a previous consultant, Gregg DuBois, indicates additional site assessment work is required to determine extent of remaining plume. Mr. Dubois intends to send ADEC copies of reports. Donald Seagren
4/4/2006 Underground Storage Tank Site Characterization or Assessment The ADEC reviewed the Corrective Action Report for Facility No. 3308, dated October 2, 2000 submitted by the IT Group and received by ADEC on this date. In August 2000, remaining contaminated soil was excavated from the area of the former UST and a trench was excavated to evaluate the extent of contamination. At the former UST, where soil contamination was visually observed at approximately 6 feet bgs., 100 cubic yards of contaminated soil was removed. To evaluate if soil contamination continued off property, a trench was excavated 15 feet away from the area, perpendicular of the former UST. Soil contamination was encountered down to 12 ft. bgs. Excavation was stopped at 12 feet bgs. due to the size of the excavator and its inability to remove a compacted soil layer. It was not determined whether the compacted soil layer represented the beginning of bedrock or a glacially compacted soil layer. Soil samples taken from stockpiles created during excavation activities from the area of the former UST and the trench contained DRO up to 2,390 mg/kg. The soil stockpile was later treated offsite. No confirmation analytical soil samples from the depths of the investigation were taken. Groundwater was not encountered. Grant Lidren
11/15/2006 Update or Other Action Using the Figures 1 and 2 from the Release Investigation Work Plan, from IT Group, dated March 30, 2000, in conjunction with TopoZone Pro and the DNR Recorders, entered the coordinates for this site. Metadata includes No Topo Basemap, Black and White Aerial Photo, TopoZone Pro Street Maps, on a Medium Size Map, View Scale 1:9,840, Coordinate Datum NAD83. High degree of confidence in accuracy of location. Alyce Hughey
5/14/2008 Update or Other Action Site/file Transferred from Don Seagren (retired) to Anchorage where it will be reassigned. Alyce Hughey
9/25/2008 Update or Other Action Site assigned to Grant Lidren as ADEC project manager. Linda Nuechterlein
10/3/2008 Update or Other Action ADEC contacted Galen Gransbury of BTI for status on site. Grant Lidren
11/3/2008 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 77645 name: ust Grant Lidren
11/6/2008 Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter PRP letter sent to Begich Towers, Inc. on this date Grant Lidren
12/8/2008 Meeting or Teleconference Held ADEC staff met with Mr. Comiskey of BTI discussing various options to bring the site to closure. Grant Lidren
3/19/2010 Update or Other Action Pacific Rim Properties terminated management contract with the Homeowners Association September 1, 2009. The Association has not been able to find a new management company and is operating as a self managed Association as of March 19, 2010. Grant Lidren
6/16/2010 Site Visit Upon ADEC site visit, the Begich Towers Heat Plant and AST were located. A dirt parking lot covers the area of the former UST. Grant Lidren
3/26/2015 Update or Other Action On this date, ADEC sent a contact letter to Begich Towers attorney regarding outstanding contamination at the site. Grant Lidren
4/9/2015 Meeting or Teleconference Held Meeting held with responsible party representative and BTI Engineer to discuss site status and requirements for closure. Joshua Barsis
7/5/2016 Update or Other Action Compliance Letter send on this day. Work plan for further characterization due September 1, 2016. Joshua Barsis
11/1/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the Work Plan for Release Investigation, dated October 19, 2016 for the Begich Towers site. Soil and potentially water samples will be collected from four soil borings advanced. Joshua Barsis
2/20/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the report titled Release Investigation, dated January 31, 2017 for the Begich Towers site. The requested field effort was completed on November 22, 2016 and consisted of advancing four soil borings (B1 through B4), three of which were completed as temporary groundwater monitoring wells (TWM1, TMW2, and TMW3), and collecting soil and water samples as appropriate. A temporary well was not installed at the location of Boring B4, the upgradient well, because groundwater was not encountered to a depth of 27 feet below ground surface (bgs). Groundwater was encountered in the other wells at about 18 feet bgs. Analytical soil and water samples were submitted for one or more of the following: gasoline range organics (GRO), diesel range organics (DRO), residual range organics (RRO), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and/or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The soil samples collected from borings B1 through B3 exhibited levels of DRO between 365 mg/kg and 1,940 mg/kg, all of which exceed the soil migration-to-groundwater (MTG) cleanup level of 230 mg/kg. Additionally, naphthalene was present in the sample collected from Boring B2 at 0.0472 mg/kg, which slightly exceeds the cleanup level of 0.038 mg/kg. The samples collected from Boring B4 did not exhibit contaminant concentrations in excess of ADEC cleanup levels. DRO was identified in all of the groundwater samples between 10.5 mg/l and 31.5 mg/l, all of which are above the Table C groundwater cleanup level of 1.5 mg/l. The sample collected from TMW3 exhibited a level RRO at 3.97 mg/l, above the cleanup level of 1.1 mg/l. The sample collected from TMW1 was analyzed for PAHs and exhibited levels of benzo(a)anthracene, benozo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene, and naphthalene above the Table C groundwater cleanup level. ADEC requested a work plan for further characterization by May 1, 2017. Joshua Barsis
4/24/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the Work Plan for Additional Release Investigation Activities, dated April 13, 2017 for the Begich Towers site. Proposed activities include advancing two soil borings that will be completed as groundwater monitoring wells, and collecting soil and groundwater samples as appropriate. Joshua Barsis
4/30/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the report titled Additional Release Investigation Activities, dated March 14, 2018 for the Begich Towers site. The 2017 field effort consisted of advancing three soil borings, all of which were completed as groundwater monitoring wells, and collecting soil and water samples from the borings and wells as appropriate. Boring B5 (Well B5MW) was completed within the former UST excavation area. Borings B6 and B7 (Wells B6MW and B7MW, respectively) were installed downgradient of the former excavation, across Kenai Street. Concentrations of diesel range organics (DRO) was present in Boring B5 up to 648 mg/kg, which exceeds the Method Two Migration-To-Groundwater (MTG) soil cleanup level; however the water sample collected from Well B5MW had a concentration of DRO at 454 µg/l, which is below the Table C groundwater cleanup levels. None of the samples collected from Borings B6 or B7 exhibited contaminants in excess of applicable ADEC cleanup levels. There was not sufficient water in Wells B6MW or B7MW to collect a water sample. ADEC requested a work plan to sample Wells B5MW, B6MW, and B7MW semi-annually during the 2018 field season; once in the spring and again in the fall. Joshua Barsis
6/15/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the Work Plan for Groundwater Monitoring, dated June 05, 2018 for the Begich Towers site. Proposed activities include biannual groundwater monitoring at three monitoring wells (B5MW, B6MW, and B7MW). Joshua Barsis
12/19/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the report titled Groundwater Monitoring, dated December 17, 2018 for the Begich Towers site. Groundwater monitoring was completed in July and again in September 2018 at three planned wells (B5MW, B6MW, and B7MW). Wells B6MW and B7MW could not be sampled because of the lack of water in the wells. Well B5MW, which is installed in the source area, was successfully samples during both events. The samples were submitted for analysis of DRO, RRO, and PAHs. All results were below the Table C groundwater cleanup levels. This report is approved and this site will be evaluated for closure. Joshua Barsis
1/10/2019 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 77645 ust. Joshua Barsis
1/22/2019 Cleanup Complete Determination Issued Soil and groundwater contamination at the site have been cleaned up to concentrations below the approved cleanup levels suitable for residential land use. Soil contamination remains above MTG cleanup levels, but the concentration of remaining contaminants are not impacting groundwater above Table C GCLs. This site will receive a “Cleanup Complete” designation on the Contaminated Sites Database, subject to the following standard conditions. Joshua Barsis

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments
DRO Between Method 2 Migration to Groundwater and Human Health/Ingestion/Inhalation Soil

Control Type

Type Details
No ICs Required

Requirements

Description Details
Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site.
Movement or use of contaminated material (including on site) in a manner that results in a violation of the water quality standards is prohibited (18 AAC 70)

No associated sites were found.

Missing Location Data

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