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Site Report: UAF Bristol Bay Campus Spill

Site Name: UAF Bristol Bay Campus Spill
Address: Seward Street; Northwest of the D Street Intersection, 10' from Admin. Bldgs. and 15' from Daycare Center, Dillingham, AK 99576
File Number: 2540.38.008
Hazard ID: 2464
Status: Cleanup Complete
Staff: No Longer Assigned, 9074655229 dec.icunit@alaska.gov
Latitude: 59.040824
Longitude: -158.464606
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

Approximately 375 gallons of diesel spilled from a 1,000 gallon heating oil AST on 12/6/95 at 11:00 AM (spill # 95269934001). Apparent improper installation caused the spill. The spill covered a 20 by 20 foot area located 20 feet to the east of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Rural Education Building. The spill was responded to one day after discovery in December 1995. A drum was placed under the AST to collect diesel fuel until the leakage could be stopped and absorbent pads were placed on the ground. The absorbent pads along with contaminated snow were placed in plastic bags and recovered free product was secured in drums and disposed of in 1996. Currently, the spill area is under the foundation of a new UAF building completed in 2006.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
5/15/1996 Update or Other Action The AST was disconnected and relocated in May 1996. Contaminated soil was excavated and transported offsite to the Dillingham Construction and Equipment Company Property located 1/3 mile to the north. Removal of soil was limited due to the proximity of underground utilities and frozen ground. Soil samples collected from the sidewalls and excavation bottom to a depth of 3.5 feet below ground surface (bgs) contained detectable concentration of contaminants, but below cleanup levels. Grant Lidren
6/15/1996 Update or Other Action Further excavation work occurred in June 1996. Soil was excavated below the former AST area to the groundwater interface at 10 feet bgs. The soil was put into a separate stockpile at the Dillingham Construction and Equipment Company Property. Petroleum contamination was noted at the groundwater interface. The excavation was brought back to grade with clean fill. To determine the extent of contamination, ten testpits were advanced to the groundwater water interface, which averaged 10 feet bgs. Three soil samples were collected from test pit TP-9 only. TP-9 was located down gradient 40 feet west of the excavation; adjacent to the former Naanguaq daycare center. The deepest soil sample, collected at a depth of 6.7 feet bgs at the groundwater interface, contained DRO at 7,900 mg/kg. Grant Lidren
11/4/1996 Site Added to Database Diesel contamination. Shah Alam
6/26/1997 Cleanup Plan Approved (Old R:Base Action Code = RAPA - Remedial Action Plan Approval). Approved a remediation Work Plan dated March 30, 1997, with ADEC's letter dated June 17, 1997, and Coble Geophysical's letter dated June 23, 1997. Also requested to submit a schedule within thirty (30) days from June 26, 1997, for carrying out the tasks stated in the work plan and the follow-up letters. Shah Alam
7/15/1997 Update or Other Action In efforts to remediate hydrocarbons to prevent migration to groundwater, an infiltration gallery was installed at the former AST area in 1997. The system was installed 4 feet bgs and microbes were introduced to promote bioremediation. Grant Lidren
11/20/1997 Update or Other Action ADEC mailed a letter to Evergreen Landscaping to report on work done on summer 1997 and a work plan to remediate contaminated soil stockpile. Shah Alam
12/12/1997 Update or Other Action ADEC received a letter from Evergreen Landscaping. The letter discussed a plan to remediate stockpiled contaminated soil thermally. Shah Alam
4/23/1998 Update or Other Action ADEC received a "Field Data Collection and Numerical Modeling Final Report." Shah Alam
6/8/1998 Update or Other Action ADEC reviewed corrective actions at this site and issued a letter to Evergreen Landscaping on 6/8/1998. Data collected in the summer of 1997 indicates that the downgradient City Well #4 was not impacted, contaminated groundwater plume has moved past monitoring well #5 and contaminants at monitoring well #1 have decreased to non-detectable levels. DRO contamination at monitoring well #5 (290 ppb) is below the ADEC proposed cleanup level of 1.5 ppm. Cushing Engineering's Corrective Action Progress Report dated 7/30/1996, (page 6) identified elevated levels of DRO contamination in soils (deeper than 4.5' below grade) based on field screening and noted that it extended down to the groundwater. The excavation was backfilled without soil samples being collected for laboratory analysis to confirm the contaminant concentration. The Report also identified (page 6) a deeper contamination plume between 6.5' to 10.0' that was not characterized. In addition, Test Pit Nine (TP-9) contained DRO concentrations of 7900 ppm at 6.7' depth. Hydrogeologic considerations suggest that DRO contaminants are present within the capillary fringe located above the groundwater. DRO concentration of 7900 ppm in soil is significantly higher than the cleanup level (ADEC Matrix Level "B"; DRO at 200 ppm) established for this site. ADEC is concerned with adverse health effects on day care users because of the potential petroleum vapor emanating from this contaminated soil plume. The Naanguaq Day Care Center has not reported any fuel odors inside the crawl space of their facility (personal communication, Bob Dreyer and Kathy Hanner, 6/5/1998) but concerns exist related to the possible vapor migration and health risks if these soils are excavated at a future date. The contaminated soil stockpile is past the maximum time of two years allowed by ADEC. Shah Alam
8/20/1998 Update or Other Action Coble Geophysical Services submitted a report on groundwater monitoring and an explanation of "contaminated soils left in place." Shah Alam
8/26/1998 Update or Other Action Evergreen Landscaping wrote to ADEC requesting no further action at the site and to address stockpiles soil only. Shah Alam
11/25/1998 Update or Other Action ADEC wrote to Evergreen Landscaping. Analytical data indicate that ground water contaminant levels do not exceed the ground water cleanup standards proposed in the draft 18 AAC 75 regulations. In addition, the Coble report clarified that all contaminated soils (above the established cleanup level) were removed during the June 1996 excavation activities. Therefore, the only remaining issue at this time is the status (and contaminant concentrations) of the contaminated soil stockpile. Shah Alam
1/11/1999 Update or Other Action ADEC received a letter from Evergreen Landscaping about stockpile soil sampling. Shah Alam
6/21/1999 Update or Other Action Staff contacted Evergreen's consultant, Coble Geophysical, to enquire the status of the remediation of stockpiled soil. Shah Alam
12/28/1999 Update or Other Action Staff contacted Evergreen's consultant, Coble Geophysical, to enquire the status of the remediation of stockpiled soil. Staff asked to respond by the end of January 2000. Shah Alam
12/29/1999 Update or Other Action Teleconference with Coble Geophysical Services (Geoff Coble), attorney Grant Watts. Discussed possible remediation options for the stockpiled soils. Asked for a remediation workplan by the end of February 2000. Shah Alam
6/20/2005 Update or Other Action Sent letter to Responsible Party requesting project status update. If stockpiles have not been sampled, a stockpile closure sampling plan must be developed and approved prior to sampling. Sampling under the piles also required to ensure that contamination has not spread. Donald Seagren
10/27/2005 GIS Position Updated Using Figures 1 and 2 from a Modeling and Field Work Final Report UAF Bristol Bay Campus Fuel Oil Spill, from Coble Geophysical Services, dated April 11, 1998, in conjunction with TopoZone Pro, entered the coordinates for this site. Metadata includes USGS Topo Map 1:63K, on a Medium Size Map, View Scale 1:24,000, Coordinated Datum NAD83. Moderate to High degree of confidence in accuracy of location. Alyce Hughey
5/3/2006 Update or Other Action Have received no response to the update request letter sent in 2005. Sent a second letter requesting project status update and stockpile sampling reports be submitted within 30 days of the receipt of the letter. If nothing futher has been done, a stockpile sampling plan is required prior to closure sampling of the stockpiles. CC to UAF , City of Dillingham and Coble Geophysical Services. Donald Seagren
6/5/2006 Update or Other Action Received a response from the City of Dillingham. Neither the City nor the landfill has received any contaminated soil from the UAF Bristol Bay Campus Spill. Donald Seagren
6/6/2006 Update or Other Action Received a response from the RP to the request for project update. The response included a 2February 04 Soil stockpile Characterization report conducted by S&W. The stockpiles are still contaminated with DRO (322 - 4220 mg/kg). Remediation options were presented to Robert Fink in the report. S&W has been contacted to prepare cost proposals and remediation time frames for completion of the work. A phone call to Evergreen Landscaping, Inc. to discuss the matter found that Robert Fink sold the business several years ago and just uses it as a mail drop. He has a nursery business in Montana. However, Mr. Fink still signs his letters as Evergreen Landsacaping, Inc, but not on company letterhead. Waiting to see what he proposes for remediation. Donald Seagren
1/11/2007 Update or Other Action Talked to Haydar Turkar of S&W. They have been hired by Mr. Fink to develop a work plan for sampling the stockpiles. They plan to go to the site in the spring of 07 to sample the stockpiles. The Department may allow the stockpiles to be landspread and fertilized at the same time to enhance degredation of the remaining hydrocarbons. Donald Seagren
2/12/2007 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Reviewed and approved work plan for assessment and remediation of 2 soil stockpiles resulting from site cleanup. Donald Seagren
2/12/2007 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Donald Seagren
3/10/2008 Update or Other Action Telephone call with Hydar Turker, S&W. The report on the 07 stockpile sampling is being finalized. The larger stockpile (approximately 110 cubic yards) is slightly over the cleanup levels, with DRO at 322 mg/kg. The smaller stockpile (approximately 15 cybic yards) also exceeds cleanup levels with DRO at 4,220 mg/kg. The stockpiles will be re-sampled during the summer of 08. It is anticipated that the stockpiles will be below cleanup levels at that time and the site can be closed. (Action updated 11-12-09 by Pam Clemens to reflect stockpile sizes and DRO results) Donald Seagren
6/10/2008 Update or Other Action File transferred from Don Seagren to Linda Nuechterlein per Linda Nuechterlein. Alyce Hughey
11/6/2009 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Received S&W report dated June 30, 2009, titled: Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Impacted Soil Characterization and Remediation, Dillingham, Alaska; Reckey Number 1995250134001. Report under review. Site transfered from Linda Nuechterlein to Pam Clemens. Pam Clemens
11/10/2009 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the S&W report dated June 30, 2009, titled: Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Impacted Soil Characterization and Remediation, Dillingham, Alaska; Reckey Number 1995250134001. The two stockpiles (approximately 125 cubic yards, total) located at the Dillingham Construction and Equipment Company property were characterized for remediation purposes and their potential use as backfill. Based on analytical results of the sample collected in November 2003 the 15 cubic yard stockpile was split into two landfarming cells on July 13, 2007. The soil was spread to a depth of less than ten inches on a liner, and then it was tilled with an application of enzymes, nutrients and bacteria to aid in remediation. The landfarming cells were tilled five times in 2007 and 2008. Post treatment samples (SP1 and SP2) were collected from the treatment cells on August 19, 2008. GRO and BTEX constituents were not found in the samples from the treatment cells above cleanup levels. DRO was found up to 2,270 mg/kg in the treatment cell samples. The remaining 110 cubic yards (in the stockpile that was not landfarmed) was sampled (SP3) and showed that GRO and BTEX were not detected; and that the DRO level up to 65.1 mg/kg, was well below ADEC cleanup criteria. Pam Clemens
11/23/2009 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed in 2007 for source area id: 73441 name: heating oil tank; but not recognized by the database until today. Pam Clemens
12/4/2009 Update or Other Action Letter to Mr. Fink requesting information about landspreading and the monitoring wells. Pam Clemens
12/17/2009 Update or Other Action Received letter sent to Mr. Fink in Kalispell, MT as "Not Deliverable as Addressed, Unable to Forward, Return to Sender" will try to verify address. Pam Clemens
4/2/2010 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Received and reviewed the letter report from Coble Geophysical dated 3-15-10. This letter discusses the monitoring wells (MW#) only not the stockpiles remaining at Dillingham Construction's gravel pit. In the letter the wells are described as "low profile with the ground surface...in the case of the wells next to the building the well caps were buried under 6-inches or more of sod and organic material. (e)ach well was also secured with a J-plug...then locked in place with keyed master locks". Other points listed in the letter: "1) They were hand -augered shallow water table wells. 2) The 'casing diameter' was four inches, and the 'drilling' took place inside this casing using different 3-inch stainless auger bits and extension rods. 3) The depths below land surface...MW1 10 feet, MW2 10 feet, MW3 7 feet, MW4 14 feet, MW5 negligible. 4) MW5 was extremely shallow being in the wetland. 5) MW4 was...augmented with a stainless steel drive point. 6) The wells terminated in silty medium sand which was flowing during augering and well emplacement, which is why a 4-inch casing was required to install three of these wells. 7) The flowing medium silty sand is where the first occurrence of the shallow unconfined aquifer resides, with possible exception of MW4 and MW5". The letter also states that "silt would eventually fill the small diameter wells, and in the sense of abandoning a well, this is a good thing". The attached diagram titled Figure 2.; shows the spill area, approximate plume geometry and groundwater flow direction and the monitoring wells placement. Pam Clemens
5/21/2010 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed and approved work plan for decommissioning the remaining monitoring wells submitted by Coble Geophysical Services. Pam Clemens
5/27/2010 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed and approved the report by Coble Geophysical Services for the decommissioning of three monitoring wells that were found on site. One monitoring well had been removed during the construction of the addition to the UAF Campus, and the final monitoring well was lost in the wetland area downgradient of the site. Pam Clemens
10/24/2011 Update or Other Action On this date, ADEC recieved land spread photos. The stockpiles were land spread on the Dillingham Construction property in 2011. Grant Lidren
12/13/2011 Cleanup Complete Determination Issued The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), Contaminated Sites Program, has completed a review of the environmental records associated with the UAF Bristol Bay Campus Spill. Based on the information provided to date and the administrative record, the ADEC has determined that the contaminant concentrations remaining on site do not pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment; therefore this site is closed. Grant Lidren
8/7/2015 Update or Other Action This file has been archived at Alaska Archives Barcode: 896980 Box 414 Susan Carberry

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.

No associated sites were found.

Missing Location Data

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