| Action Date |
Action |
Description |
DEC Staff |
| 5/16/2000 |
Update or Other Action |
BLM issued a Notice of Noncompliance to the RP, requiring that the RP clean up and restore the Kolmakof Mine site within 30 days of receipt of the letter. On 5/16/00, the BLM notified ADEC that a work plan is forthcoming for site work to be done in June 2000. |
Eileen Olson |
| 6/13/2000 |
Site Added to Database |
Batteries, waste oil, caustic processing chemicals, and mercury tailings. |
Eileen Olson |
| 7/16/2004 |
Update or Other Action |
File number issued 2404.38.014 |
Aggie Blandford |
| 2/7/2008 |
Exposure Tracking Model Ranking |
Initial ranking with ETM completed for the Ball Mill area. The site was divided into the Camp Area, the Ball Mill area, and the tailings pile. |
Kim DeRuyter |
| 4/4/2008 |
Meeting or Teleconference Held |
Staff met with BLM project manager Larry Beck to discuss remedial options for the site. DEC requested that BLM conduct a background study of soil and sediment at the site. Cleanup levels need to be determined, and the Solid Waste program will be consulted in hopes of attaining a landfill permit for demolition debris. BLM would like to tear down the cabins and mill buildings early this summer. |
Kim DeRuyter |
| 4/23/2008 |
Meeting or Teleconference Held |
Marty Brewer and Kim DeRuyter met with Larry Beck (BLM) to discuss characterization of the Kuskokwim River water and sediments to determine if the tailings pond could be impacting human and ecological receptors at the site. |
Kim DeRuyter |
| 4/24/2008 |
Site Characterization Report Approved |
March 2008 Removal Site Inspection Report Approved. ADEC comments to the draft report were incorporated into the final document. |
Kim DeRuyter |
| 6/13/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Met with the BLM project manager, and term contractors to conduct a site visit of the mine. Two of the cabins and the managers house had been burned down by site visitors this spring. Multiple species of small birds were active in the underbrush and bird nests were seen in some of the site areas. It will be important not to remove brush from the area while young birds are still in their nests. An additonal small building was located near the top of the pit area. It was difficult to tell naturally occuring rock from tailings on the river bank, but from the top of the pit looking down toward the river a large area of loose fine grained soil was visible which could be processed ore. Soil/rock along the river bank near the mine area is visibly more red in color than the areas up and downstream. |
Kim DeRuyter |
| 9/19/2008 |
Site Characterization Workplan Approved |
Reviewed and approved an abbreviated site characterization work plan for the BLM Kolmakof Mine Site. Due to funding constraints and the delayed date of awarding the contract, the scope of work for this field season was reduce to background sampling at the 4 areas of concern, soil sampling for explosives residue at the former explosives shed, a geophysical survey of the former mine pit, a limited hazardous waste removal, and an asbestos/lead based paint survey. A separate work plan will be submitted prior to the 2009 field season which will address characterization of source areas, and surface water and sediment sampling to evaluate the impacts of the tailings pile on the Kuskokwim River. |
Kim DeRuyter |
| 9/15/2011 |
Site Characterization Workplan Approved |
EE/CA work plan approved this date. AMEC plans to implement the field work later this month. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 6/26/2012 |
Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other |
DEC provided comments to BLM on the draft EE/CA this date. DEC did not concur with the preferred removal alternative of excavation and creation of an on-site landfill. BLM plans to investigate shipping out some of the metal debris and non-soil items in FY13 as part of an interim action. Finalizing of the EE/CA is on hold. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 12/21/2012 |
Site Characterization Report Approved |
EE/CA report approved this date. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 12/21/2012 |
Cleanup Level(s) Approved |
Cleanup levels approved this date. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 6/10/2013 |
Cleanup Plan Approved |
Cleanup plan approved this date. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 5/30/2014 |
Interim Removal Action Approved |
BLM is conducting the cleanup action in two separate phases, due to available funding. In 2013, BLM demolished on-site structures. They excavated and disposed of 60 cy of metals-contaminated soil and 400 cy of non-hazardous debris. A petroleum-contaminated soil landspread treatment area was constructed on-site and 23 cy of soil was moved to this area. Additional cleanup will occur in 2014. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 7/28/2014 |
Cleanup Plan Approved |
Staff approved a cleanup plan addendum this date for the field work that will be conducted in summer 2014. In August, BLM will remove contaminated soil from the Ball Mill Chute and the Retort Mound, and send it out of state for disposal. The petroleum contaminated soil that was landspread at the site last summer will be sampled. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 1/21/2015 |
Interim Removal Action Approved |
An approval letter for the 12/2014 interim removal action report was sent this date. The report documents activities conducted in 8/2014. Contaminated soil was excavated from the mill area (6 cy) and the retort mound area (94 cy), and disposed of at Columbia Ridge Landfill in Oregon. Confirmation samples show that contamination remains and additional work is needed. Sampling of the petroleum contaminated soil in the landspread area shows that the approved cleanup levels were met and no further action is needed in regards to those soils. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 5/25/2015 |
Cleanup Plan Approved |
A cleanup plan was approved this date. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 12/8/2015 |
Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other |
The Final Site Characterization and Limited Removal report was approved this date. This report documents field activities from June 2015. Work was conducted at both the Mill Area and Retort Mound Area. The contaminated soil at the Mill Area was excavated and the confirmation samples met the cleanup levels; thus, no further cleanup is needed at this area. A small volume of contaminated soil was excavated at the Retort Mound Area; however, contamination above the cleanup levels remains. Additional work is needed at the Retort Mound Area. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 8/23/2016 |
Site Characterization Workplan Approved |
A limited characterization work plan was approved this date. BLM plans to conduct additional characterization to define the extent of remaining contamination at the site in Sept. 2016. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 3/3/2017 |
Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other |
DEC approved the characterization report for the delineation of the remaining contamination at the retort mound. New cleanup levels were approved based upon the 2016 revised regulations. |
Anne Marie Palmieri |
| 1/12/2024 |
Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter |
BLM was sent PRP letter. |
Kelly Ireland |
| 3/8/2024 |
Cleanup Plan Approved |
DEC approved a BLM workplan to excavate up to 500 CY of mercury-contaminated soils and ship them out of state for disposal. Excavation boundaries to be confirmed by XRF and rush-turnaround analytical samples. |
Nick Waldo |
