Skip to content Skip to content

Site Report: Dutch Hbr-Mt. Ballyhoo 01

Site Name: Dutch Hbr-Mt. Ballyhoo 01
Address: Amaknak Island, Mount Ballyhoo Road, Unalaska, AK 99685
File Number: 2542.38.014
Hazard ID: 1349
Status: Active
Staff: Kathleen Iler-Galau, 9074512153 kathleen.iler-galau@alaska.gov
Latitude: 53.915912
Longitude: -166.513581
Horizontal Datum:WGS84

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

WW II era buildings, bunkers, gun mounts, etc., are deteriorating. Building debris is scattered over the area. Underground fuel tanks (USTs), transformers and batteries remain. Diesel fuel contaminated soil is present around some of the former USTs. This area on top of Mt. Ballyhoo was used as a harbor defense position during WWII. It was named Fort Schwatka. The gun mounts overlooked Unalaska Bay on Ulakta Head. The area is now part of a National Historic Landmark.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
8/23/1996 Interim Removal Action Approved ADEC received the 1996 Field Effort Workplan for Margaret Bay and Generals Hill UST Remedial Action and Pre-WWII Tank Farm Remedial Investigation, dated August 1996. While the workplan did not call for removing tanks on Mt. Ballyhoo, the work was added during the field effort and was generally done in accordance with the workplan. John Halverson
8/3/1998 Update or Other Action ADEC received the Workplan Addendum - UST/Pipeline Removals, Thermal Operations Plan, Other RI, IRA and SI Tasks, dated July 1998, describing FUDS work planned on the islands in 1998. John Halverson
8/5/1998 Interim Removal Action Approved ADEC received the final 1996 Removal Action/Investigation Report, dated August 1998. It documented that 13 underground fuel storage tanks were removed from the Mt. Ballyhoo area during 1996. Soil samples collected beneath 7 of the 13 tanks contained DRO above the matrix level B standards. Two additional USTs were located but not removed due to access limitations. John Halverson
8/25/1999 Update or Other Action ADEC received the final 1998 Report SI/IRA/RI Amaknak and Unalaska Islands, dated August 1999 (Jacobs Engineering). The 2 previously identified tanks were inspected and found to contain from 1 - 10 inches of fuel. Transformers were found in three subsurface vaults. Electrical line switching gear that may contain PCB oil remains in a vault near the top of a buried Parkway cable that connected Fort Schwatka to the rest of the military facilities on Amaknak Island. The location of one other UST was confirmed and two other suspected USTs were identified. Four lead acid batteries and a transformer were documented in an area west of and higher than Fort Schwatka (upgradient from a gate on upper Mt. Ballyhoo Road). These appear to be newer and may not be related to DOD activities. A fuel pipeline on Ballyhoo Spit was removed in 1998 and no contamination was identified along it. However, access to the area of the former Above Ground Tanks against the bluff was blocked by crab pots. Further investigation in the tank area is needed (tanks removed during 85-86 FUDS work). John Halverson
11/24/1999 Site Added to Database Diesel fuel contamination. John Halverson
2/11/2000 Update or Other Action ADEC reviewed and commented on a December 1999 draft Comprehensive Remedial Investigation Report. It summarized site characterization and removal action work done over the past three years under the FUDS program. Further site characterization and tank closures were recommended. ADEC requested the former fuel line from the above ground fuel storage tanks at the base of Mt. Ballyhoo to the airport area be investigated. John Halverson
6/5/2000 Site Characterization Report Approved ADEC received the final Comprehensive Remedial Investigation Report, dated May 2000, by Jacobs Engineering under contract to the Corps. The report recommends removal or in-place closure for remaining USTs, removal of transformers, and no-further-action at eleven area where USTs were previously removed. It also recommends further characterization work at the base of Mt. Ballyhoo, where the Corps removed two large ASTs in the 1980s. John Halverson
9/5/2001 Interim Removal Action Approved DEC received the final 2000 Island-Wide SI/IRA/RI report by Jacobs, dated August 2001. It documents that two transformers were removed from a vault ~75' south of "Building A" and PCBs measured up to 9 mg/kg in soil in the vault. A single transformer was removed from each of two vaults near "Building B" and "Building C". Low level PCBs (3-12 mg/kg) were present in soil samples from the vaults. Elevated DRO was also present in soil at the vault near "Building B". Test pits were dug at the suspected UST location by the "bomb shelter", but no tank or contaminated soil were found. Two USTs at "Building C" were emptied and closed in place due to safety concerns and historical significance (part of National Historic Landmark and removing the tanks would damage the building structure). Soil samples collected from 7-11 feet bgs did not indicate releases. A UST at "Building H" was closed in place for the same reasons. Three old drums were removed and disposed of off-site. Further action is needed at the transformer vaults and the UST location by "Building B". Further uphill on Ballyhoo a transformer, an oil-stained wood platform and several batteries were removed and disposed of off-site. Soil samples beneath the area contained up to 10,900 mg/kg DRO, 7.2 mg/kg PCB, and 6,000 mg/kg lead. John Halverson
11/26/2001 Update or Other Action DEC received the final 2001 Island-Wide SI/IRA/RI workplan by Jacobs, dated November 2001. The plan calls for cleaning out the three transformer vaults and collecting soil samples outside them, conducting further site characterization at the Building B former UST location. It also calls for further removal of contaminated soil beneath the former transformer and batteries further up Mt. Ballyhoo. John Halverson
7/3/2002 Update or Other Action DEC received the final 2002 Island-Wide SI/IRA/RI workplan by Jacobs, dated June 2002. It calls for further soil sampling beneath the former transformer and batteries on the upper portion of Mt. Ballyhoo. It notes that following the 2001 fieldwork additional contaminated soil and wood were removed, but that a confirmation sample still contained up to 24,000 mg/kg DRO. John Halverson
6/10/2005 Update or Other Action File number issued 2542.38.014. Aggie Blandford
5/30/2008 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed. Evonne Reese
9/14/2010 CERCLA Proposed Plan Proposed Plan #6 was received to ADEC electronically on this date. The plan recommends Alternative 1 (Corrective Action/Cleanup Complete with NDAI)for the Transformer vault Building A (BH-01). Remaining DRO contamination does not appear to be migrating, is fairly inaccessible, and is below the Method 3 ACLs. Meghan Dooley
10/31/2017 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 72327 WW II era contamination. Linda (Qi) Liu
7/1/2019 Update or Other Action Site location was updated on this date. Coordinates for this site are used to determine the presence and position of the site on BLM’s ANCSA Conveyed Land web map. Rebekah Reams
1/31/2024 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Per the review of the Draft Restoration Summary Report, Containerized Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste. Amaknak Formerly Used Defense Sites F10AK0841-13, -14, -15, -16, -18, -20, Unalaska Valley, Pyramid Valley-Port Levashef, Summer Bay-Humpy Cove, Margaret Bay-Airport, Mount Ballyhoo, and Little South America (2023), this site is anticipated for FY2025 contract. Cascade Galasso-Irish
9/4/2024 Meeting or Teleconference Held August 27, 2024 Qawalangin Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) Meeting USACE sites Several DEC staff attended the Qawalangin RAB meeting on October 27, 2024. Sites include Amaknak, Chernofski, Cape Wislow, Fort Learnard, and Ugadaga Bay FUDS. The meeting was both in person and virtual, and held at the Unalaska Public Library. In attendance was the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), ADEC, representatives of the Ounalashka Corporation, the RAB members, and several members of the public. The meeting focused on public comments regarding specific sites of concern and how sites are selected for upcoming seasonal work by the USACE. There is public concern regarding a site with contamination that could impact areas that have been cleaned, and questions regarding health issues of community members. The USACE listened to the public comments and answered questions. USACE will be working with the RAB to receive more public input, and they also agreed to meet with the Ounalashka Corporation. Kathleen Iler-Galau

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments

Control Type

Type Details

Requirements

Description Details

There are no documents for this site report.

No associated sites were found.

Missing Location Data

Because the GIS location data for this site has not been entered, we cannot direct you to its position on the map. Click "Continue" to proceed to the Contaminated Sites Web Map or "Close" to return to the site report.
Continue     Close