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Site Report: Dimond Courthouse UST-Juneau

Site Name: Dimond Courthouse UST-Juneau
Address: 123 4th Street, Juneau, AK 99801
File Number: 1513.38.049
Hazard ID: 3857
Status: Cleanup Complete - Institutional Controls
Staff: IC Unit, 9074655229 dec.icunit@alaska.gov
Latitude: 58.301763
Longitude: -134.409684
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

In April 2002, DEC investigated the appearance of petroleum through openings in the north side basement wall of the Juneau Community Building. Investigation water well MW-3 was placed in the alley between the Community Building and the Dimond Courthouse Building. When 18 inches of free product was measured in the well MW-3, dye was added to the Courthouse UST to confirm that the source of the fuel release was indeed a failure in the UST-to-boiler supply piping. Protection of vital utilities forced the Courthouse UST piping to be closed in place and the 10,000 gallon UST was closed by removal and replaced by a 7,500 gallon above ground tank. Seventy cubic yards of contaminated material was identified and transported off-site and remediated. An adjacent structure (Davis Log Cabin) was demolished. Two additional investigation water wells were installed in the footprint of the UST. Over a period of four years, free phase hydrocarbons in MW-3 have declined from 1.5 to 0.02 feet. In 2012, DEC collected samples from three monitoring wells at the site and the analytical results indicate steady or declining levels of hydrocarbons above Table C regulatory screening levels. The objective of periodically monitoring the groundwater for contamination is document that over time residual petroleum contamination will decline by natural processes without interrupting normal facility operations. If an expansion of contamination is indicated then additional assessment and/or cleanup action is recommended to ensure the site does not pose a risk to human health or the environment.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
4/29/2002 Update or Other Action R&M Engineering Inc. observed 18 inches of free-phase petroleum hydrocarbons in MW-3 between the UST and the courthouse. Bruce Wanstall
5/24/2002 Site Added to Database Heating oil release. Site transferred from PERP. Bruce Wanstall
5/24/2002 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Petroleum appearing through a groundwater seep in the adjacent Community Building boiler room is what started the site investigation of the Courthouse UST system; source has not been determined. Bruce Wanstall
7/31/2002 Update or Other Action Email approval to transport contaminated soil to DOT's 7-mile yard given this date to Hart Crowser (contact is Frank Marley @301-4925). Soil is to be excavated beginning 8/2/02 in conjunction with pulling the old tank and supporting infrastructure. Fiber optic cables across the top of the piping is likely to require leaving some of the piping in place. Bill Janes
8/12/2002 Spill Transferred from Prevention Preparedness and Response Program Site Investigation into the source of oil seeping into the basement of the Community Building. A groundwater monitoring well was installed next to a closed in-place underground fuel storage tank (UST) at the north wall of the Community Building basement. GW appeared at 8.5' bgs & refusal at 14.5' bgs - no fuel was found in this well. Another soil boring and monitoring well were advanced next to four fuel lines that connect the Dimond Courthouse boiler to its 10,000gallon UST. Fresh fuel and saturated soil were found in monitoring well (MW-3). Dye was added to the 10,000gallon UST and it soon appeared in MW-3, confirming that at least one source of the oil spill was the 10,000gallon UST piping. Bruce Wanstall
3/5/2003 Update or Other Action DRAFT (minus attachments) Hart Crowser UST Removal and Groundwater Assessment Report dated October 2002 received from Dan Breeden at DOT. Holes below the mid-line were observed on the 10,000gallon dual-use UST that was closed by removal. The Report recommends additional monitoring well placement along Seward Street and periodic checking of MW-3 for free product. Bill Janes
12/15/2005 Update or Other Action Project oversight transfer from Janes to Wanstall Bruce Wanstall
1/31/2006 Update or Other Action Tracking the fate of the contaminated soil shipped off-site; 70 cubic yards was reportedly shipped to the 7-mile ADOT&PF Regional Shop - the shop manager has no recollection of that happening and no such soil is stored there now. Found RP contacts and consultant; requested Final Report by email. Bruce Wanstall
3/22/2006 Update or Other Action Current file has SA and RI Summary Form and UST Removal & Groundwater Assessment Report. Emailed request for a copy of the Hart Crowser UST Closure Final Report with all attachments. Bruce Wanstall
6/13/2006 Update or Other Action Received UST Removal and GW Assessment FINAL REPORT completed by Hart Crowser in 2002. Removal of UST piping to the Courthouse boiler room was limited by structures; DEC approved cleaning and closing some piping in-place. Contaminated material was excavated as structures and ground water would allow. Soil samples indicate elevated DRO concentrations remain in soil at the north and east ends of the UST excavation. Oily soil stored at the DOT Regional Facility was later shipped to WA and remediated. Groundwater level survey indicated that groundwater flows northeast toward Seward Street. MW-3 to the west could not be sampled in October 2002 because of free-phase petroleum floating in the well. The Hart Crowser Report recommends additional measurements to track seasonal variations in groundwater elevation and flow pattern. Bruce Wanstall
8/31/2006 Update or Other Action Groundwater Monitoring RFP drafted for review. Bruce Wanstall
11/20/2006 Update or Other Action Groundwater Investigation Monitoring Workplan approval and comments to preliminary conceptual site model were sent to contractor by electronic mail. Bruce Wanstall
12/12/2006 Update or Other Action Met with Caryn Orvis (Hart Crowser) at the site in Juneau to observe the sampling of three monitoring wells. MW-3 is located between the Community Building and the Dimond Courthouse; 0.2 inches of free phase product was detected on the groundwater, even after several purges of the well. As a result no sample was collected. Product source is likely residual from the UST system removed in 2002. Checked the adjacent Community Building boiler room groundwater seep; no evidence of petroleum has been observed by maintenance personell since the 2003 UST closure by removal. Bruce Wanstall
2/6/2007 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Baseline ranking for the UST piping where minor residual heating oil contamination is present. Over a period of four years the free phase hydrocarbon in MW-2 has been reduced by attenuation from 1.5 to 0.02 feet. Bruce Wanstall
2/12/2007 Update or Other Action Reveiw the 2007 GMR draft; lab data review checklist; draft & send GMR comment letter to Hart Crowser. Bruce Wanstall
2/26/2007 Long Term Monitoring Established February 2007 Ground Water Monitoring Report by Hart Crowser meets CS quality assurance standard and is approved. Long term cleanup oversight will be accomplished by periodic testing of well water and insertion of oxidation compound to promote natural attenuation of petroleum trapped under the building foundation. Bruce Wanstall
5/4/2007 GIS Position Updated GIS data update using ArcMap with aerial photograph and personal knowledge of the site features; Scale 1:1,000 and accuracy within 25 meters. Bruce Wanstall
6/12/2007 Update or Other Action PERP staff notified Contaminated Sites that Carson Dorn discovered soil and ground water contamination on 3rd Street in conjunction with a project to waterproof the basement wall in front Community Building foundation. Bill Janes
4/2/2008 Update or Other Action The Dimond Courthouse and Juneau Community Building sites are in long term monitoring for residual soil and groundwater contamination on the two properties. An RFP is proposed for a 2008 sampling event of three monitoring wells. Bruce Wanstall
4/3/2009 Update or Other Action The Juneau Community Building and Dimond Courthouse sites are in long term monitoring for residual soil and groundwater contamination on the two properties. A sampling event of the monitoring wells is proposed for FY09 and will be completed when funding is available. Bruce Wanstall
5/7/2010 Update or Other Action Site Investigation monitoring wells were placed near the 10,000 gallon heating oil UST and at the supply/return lines entering the basement of the Dimond Courthouse. Over a period of four years, the free phase hydrocarbons in the monitoring wells have been reduced by attenuation from 1.5 to 0.02 feet. FY10 work will include a groundwater sampling event of the monitoring wells. Bruce Wanstall
7/2/2010 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other ADEC evaluation of the letter-report titled Groundwater Sampling, Dimond Courthouse, 123 4th Street, Juneau, Alaska by Shannon & Wilson finds the data meet field and laboratory quality assurance criteria. When stable conditions were reached after purging, a submersible pump was used to collect samples from MW1 and MW2 which are 4-inch diameter wells located near the former UST and MW3 which is a 2-inch diameter well near the building’s boiler system piping. The samples and a duplicate were laboratory analyzed for BTEX, GRO, DRO, & RRO. Concentrations of these analytes in the samples from MW1 and MW2 were below instrument detection. Concentrations of DRO (80.5 milligrams per liter) and RRO (2.07 mg/L) in the sample from MW3 exceed 18 AAC 75.345 Table C screening levels. GRO, benzene, ethylbenzene and xylenes were also detected in the MW3 sample in concentrations below Table C screening levels. Bruce Wanstall
1/5/2011 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Based on the results of well sampling in 2010, a new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 74832 USTs. Bruce Wanstall
3/31/2012 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Based on the results of analytical sampling in 2011,a new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 74832 UST Bruce Wanstall
9/5/2012 Site Visit Site visit to check the status of investigation derived waste (purge water) stored at the site from the two SOS sampling event in FY12 by Shannnon & Wilson. The IDW was not observed and well caps are secure. Bruce Wanstall
8/13/2013 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC received the final report for the Dimond Courthouse groundwater monitoring performed in 2012. Each sample from 2012 sampling event contained detectable concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons. However, due to method blank detections, many of the reported DRO and RRO concentrations are qualified as non-detect. As a result, only the samples from Well MW3 (primary and duplicate) had reportable detections. DRO in the project and duplicate samples is above the Table C cleanup level, and RRO in the primary sample exceeds the cleanup level. DEC had parallel set of samples prepared with silica gel cleanup to assess the potential biogenic contribution to the observed fuel levels. Analyses of the MW3 sample indicates that most of the DRO was retained after the silica gel cleanup, suggesting that the measured concentration in the unaltered samples are attributed to non-polar compounds (fuels) and not primarily to biogenic content. This interpolation is consistent with the laboratory note that the DRO/AK 102 chromatogram is “consistent with a weathered middle distillate.” In contrast, the results of the pre- and post-silica gel cleanup results for RRO suggest that a bulk of the measured RRO concentration may be from biogenic (naturally occurring) contributions. Bruce Wanstall
12/18/2013 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 74832 USTs. Contaminants of concern DRO and RRO concentrations are above Table C levels in samples collected from MW3 in 2012. Silica gel treatment did not reduce the concentration of DRO but did reduce RRO concentrations sufficiently to attribute the RRO to biogenic interference. CBJ Public Utilities provides drinking water to the site and the area and no potable wells are in use. Restriction against installing water wells is needed to eliminate potential future exposure. Bruce Wanstall
4/9/2014 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC approved the 2013 monitor well sampling report by Shannon & Wilson for final payment. Bruce Wanstall
4/11/2014 Site Visit DEC performed a site visit to inspect the condition of the monitor well caps and the contaminated soil removal site for the Juneau Community Building and the Dimond Courthouse sites. Provide notice in the determination letters for each site that GSA must close the wells in accordance with DEC guidance. Bruce Wanstall
11/3/2014 Institutional Control Record Established Institutional Controls established and entered into the database. Bruce Wanstall
11/3/2014 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 74832 Underground Storage Tank. Bruce Wanstall
12/15/2014 Cleanup Complete Determination Issued DEC has reviewed the environmental records for the former UST site. The decision letter attached to this site record explains the site history, cleanup activity and specific conditions required to effectively manage any remaining contamination. No additional remedial action is required as long as compliance with these conditions is maintained. Bruce Wanstall
12/17/2014 Institutional Control Compliance Review IC compliance review conducted and staff changed from Wanstall to IC Unit. Reminder system set to follow-up with the responsible party in 2019. Kristin Thompson
5/28/2020 Institutional Control Compliance Review IC Reminder Letter sent to the landowner on this date. Site is under 5 year compliance review, next letter will be due in 2025. Cascade Galasso-Irish
2/10/2023 Update or Other Action SPAR Prevention and Emergency Response (PPR) Program informed CS that a spill occurred on this property in fall 2022 during heating fuel dispensing (Spill #: 22119902801). Thirty gallons of heating fuel was spilled and about 22 gallons were recovered. The responsible party for this spill is Delta Western. This recent spill occurred in the same area as the historic remaining contamination associated with this site record. Soil borings, field screening, and sampling were done this past October. The screening focused on depths of 0.50’ below the ground surface (bgs) down to 2’ bgs. The contamination that was encountered at 2’ bgs was attributed to the historic contamination left in place in the early 2000s. The actual analytical sampling was done for depths of .50 feet bgs only because the consultant felt that specific depth would provide details about the contamination from the recent spill. This site location is between two buildings and difficult to excavate further because of numerous obstructions including buildings and other infrastructure. After reviewing the closure documents and the UST removal report from 2002, DEC agrees that the contaminated soil located at 2’ bgs is likely associated with the historic UST site. The PPR No Further Action document is attached to this database record. Evonne Reese

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments
DRO > Table C Groundwater Groundwater in well MW-3 located between the buildings had DRO in concentrations above 1.5 milligrams per liter
DRO Between Method 2 Migration to Groundwater and Human Health/Ingestion/Inhalation Soil DRO is present under the Seward Street sidewalk utility corridor in concentration of 5,300 milligrams per kilogram dry weight

Control Type

Type Details
Signed CS Determination DEC has determined remaining contamination at the property poses no unacceptable risk to human health or the environment as long as the contamination is managed in accordance with institutional controls stated in the decision document. State of Alaska Department of Administration Division of General Services (DGS) must agree to the terms and conditions of institutional controls place on the Dimond Courthouse property, dated November 4, 2014. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the determination may result in DEC reopening this site and requiring further remedial action in accordance with 18 AAC 75.380.

Requirements

Description Details
When Contaminated Soil is Accessible, Remediation Should Occur Sub-surface soil contamination remains on the property under the sidewalk and vehicle parking adjacent to Seward Street east of the AST. If these structures and buried utilities are removed and the underlying soil becomes accessible, the soil must be evaluated and contamination addressed in accordance with an DEC approved work plan.
Groundwater Use Restrictions Installation of groundwater wells requires DEC approval. Existing water wells must be decommissioned in accordance with DEC guidance standards and a report submitted to DEC for approval by June 30, 2015.
Excavation / Soil Movement Restrictions Any proposal to transport soil or groundwater off-site requires DEC approval in accordance with 18 AAC 7.325(i).
Restricted to Industrial / Commercial Land Use Any future change in land use may impact the exposure assumptions cited in this document. If land use and/or ownership changes, these management conditions may not be protective and DEC may require additional remediation and revised conditions. Therefore the State of Alaska Department of Administration Division of General Services (DGS) shall report to DEC every five years to document land use is unchanged, or report as soon as DGS becomes aware of any change in land ownership and/or use, if earlier. The report can be sent to the local DEC office or electronically to DEC.ICUnit@alaska.gov.
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.

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State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

P.O. Box 111800
Juneau, AK 99811-1800
Phone: 907-465-5066
Fax: 907-465-5245
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