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Site Report: Minto School

Site Name: Minto School
Address: Laker One St, PO Box 81, Minto, AK 99758
File Number: 770.38.002
Hazard ID: 161
Status: Active
Staff: Stacee Henderson, 9072628202 stacee.henderson@alaska.gov
Latitude: 65.152157
Longitude: -149.348142
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

10,000 gallon heating fuel tank located within 10' of school water well leaked estimated 6,000 to 7,000 gallons in winter of 1984. Fuel followed thaw cylinder around well which was heat traced through a layer of permafrost. Pure fuel came from school water taps. The well was abandoned, and the school was hooked up to the community water system. The extent of contamination is unknown, and the file states that a gymnasium was later built in the area of this spill. Approximately 2,500 gallons of fuel oil was recovered from the well as of 11/89. A 600 to 800 gallon fuel release was reported in November 1987. The School Principle reported a leak in the fuel line next to the building. The fuel line was repaired, but most of the lost fuel was beneath the school and could not be recovered. Cross reference file 770.02.001 and 770.02.002. Well approximately 80 feet deep. Water samples ranged from 30% to 100% fuel. New gymnasium built on spill site. Per Stan Read in 12/90, power company is going to pump product from former city well. On April 3, 1990 a PRP letter was sent to Yukon Koyukuk School District (YKSD) from Doug Dasher (ADEC NRO). The letter states that the school well was abandoned and the pipe and pump were removed. "Several feet of oil were observed floating on the water in the well." This contamination is thought to be from the 1984 spill at the school. The letter goes on to say that the school well should be perforated and that "the school needs to begin static recovery of the free product. The school district needs to provide the department with quarterly progress reports. In addition, the school district's consultant needs to evaluate the recovery operation and provide recommendations for long-term remediation." No reports are in the file, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and/or a Consent Order (CO) referenced in this letter were not found. 2/2/07 staff met with the YKSD Superintendent Christopher Simon and Director of Facilities John Christian to discuss contaminant issues at the YKSD schools. [*NOTE: John Christian is working with the Yukon Flats School District as Facillities Manager (12/08).] They indicated that all of the YKSD schools have received new ASTs in the last year or two. Currently the school district does not have funding to decommission the old tanks in Minto. 4/20/09 Discussed site with staff and determined that a site assessment is needed for soil and groundwater data. 8/25/09 Spoke with David Pratt with YKSD, the Facilities Manager, who said that the school does not use the contaminiated well from the 1990's - they are on a community water system. The new AST farm is functioning. The old tanks are still there and no sampling had been done this summer. He asked that ADEC call him in December 2009 to see what YKSD can do next summer. The current Superintendent is Kerry Boyd.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
3/1/1984 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = FI - Field Inspection (General)). Water sample collected 2/22/84 showed 5.8 ppm weathered gasoline. Subsequent sample indicated fuel was not gasoline, but #1 diesel. Former Staff
3/30/1984 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = FI - Field Inspection (General)). Site visit by R. Cormack and D. Dasher. Well has been abandoned and school is receiving water from city system. Rich Cormack
4/1/1984 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RAPR - Remedial Action Plan Review (CS)). D. Kane hired by school district and recommended perforating well casing above water table and removing fuel from well if significant quantities accumulate. Former Staff
4/10/1984 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = F - Site Treatment, Soil/H2O). Alaska Offshore, Inc. recovered approximately 2500 gallons of fuel oil by April 10, 1984. Former Staff
11/17/1989 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = SI - Site Investigation). Harding Lawson Associates inspected and videotaped well. Several feet of petroleum product were still found in the well. Former Staff
6/5/1990 Site Number Identifier Changed Old Reckey 1984110170301. Changed to reflect correct region and Julian date. Former Staff
11/20/1990 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Initial ranking. Former Staff
9/8/1992 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RPL2 - Site Information Request Letter). ADEC staff sent PRP-CS Database Notification Letter to RP requesting update and more environmental information concerning the contaminated site. As of this "complete date" I have not received response. Jeff Peterson
1/25/1994 Site Added to Database Heating fuel. Former Staff
3/6/2001 Update or Other Action File number updated from 770.02.001 to 770.38.002. Mitzi Read
12/3/2003 Update or Other Action Little information on site. Will review and update with current information. Mike Jaynes
2/10/2004 Update or Other Action CIP Funding may be available for site research and assessment. Forming a proposed RFP at this time. Mike Jaynes
2/11/2004 Update or Other Action Sent Larry Johnson (Fairbanks Field Ops) copy of CIP proposal FYI since we will be sampling near the AVEC tank farm. Mike Jaynes
3/2/2004 Update or Other Action Site may be included in Yukon Koyukuk SD area wide assessment program. Mike Jaynes
12/14/2006 Update or Other Action Reviewed the file, updated the problem statement and wrote up a site summary for future project managers in the event that funding is attained to assess current conditions at the site. Saved a draft request for proposal to the electronic file. Kim DeRuyter
2/2/2007 Meeting or Teleconference Held Met with the YKSD Superintendent Christopher Simon and Director of Facilities John Christian to discuss contaminant issues at the YKSD schools. John had 'as builts' of the Minto School which indicate that the old school well is (or was) located next to the gymnasium and may still be accessible for assessing current groundwater conditions at the site. John and Christopher also indicated that all of the YKSD schools have received new ASTs in the last year or two. Currently the school district does not have funding to decommission the old tanks. Kim DeRuyter
7/27/2007 Update or Other Action Site transferred from Oelkers to Frechione. Shannon Oelkers
4/15/2008 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed. Bill O'Connell
4/20/2009 Update or Other Action Updated Affilates tab and problem statement. Reviewed file with other staff. Pam Clemens
4/23/2009 Update or Other Action Contact with David Pratt with the Yukon Koyukuk School District. They have a project for this summer to start soil remediation and testing at Minto School. He will let me know when he is able to schedule a meeting to discuss this site. I have requested the work plan. Pam Clemens
5/27/2009 Update or Other Action Spoke to David Pratt with YKSD, sent him information on Village Safe Water and requested information on the old school tanks. Pam Clemens
8/25/2009 Update or Other Action After speaking with him today I have set a Task Tracker reminder to call David Pratt about Minto and the remaining budget the Yukon Koyukuk School District (YKSD) has for removing the tanks. He said that after the audit in September - October 2009 and before January 2010 he will have a better idea of what they can do in Minto next summer. Kerry Boyd is the Superintendent of YKSD now. Updated Problem Statement. Pam Clemens
10/30/2009 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed old VHS tape of the drinking water work done at the Minto School in 1989. Pam Clemens
2/14/2014 Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter Sent PRP Letter on this day. I attempted to contact the RP and let them know. Joshua Barsis
12/30/2015 Update or Other Action File review completed; no new information. See file. Joshua Barsis
1/28/2016 Update or Other Action Reviewed the file for this site and sent a letter to the Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD) with a site history and request for contact by March 15, 2016 to discuss steps forward. SITE HISTORY: The former YKSD tank farm consisted of two vertical above ground storage tanks (ASTs); one 15,000 gallon and one 6,000 gallon. Based on the information that we have on file, the tanks are no longer in use, but both tanks still stand and have not been decommissioned or moved from their original location. According to our records, two major releases have occurred from the former YKSD tank farm. The first release occurred in the winter of 1984. An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of heating oil spilled and migrated to the surface and subsurface soils, and into the schools drinking water well. Approximately 2,500 gallons of product was reportedly recovered from this release; however, disposal documents were not provided to ADEC. The school well was reportedly decommissioned and is no longer is use. The second release was reported in November of 1987. A buried fuel line caused a release of about 600 to 800 gallons. A majority of the released product migrated beneath the school and was not recovered. As of this day, ADEC does not have any reports pertaining to characterization or cleanup of this site. Joshua Barsis
5/23/2016 Update or Other Action Spoke with YKSD on phone. They do not have any plans for characterization or cleanup at this time. The old above ground storage tanks (AST) will be removed from the site this summer. Erin Gleason
4/27/2017 Update or Other Action Sent work plan request letter to YKSD. Erin Gleason
1/9/2019 Update or Other Action Received email from YKSD. Tanks and piping were removed in summer 2018. The liner is left in place. They removed the chain link fence. Next step is characterization. They are awaiting proposals for cost estimates. Hoping for characterization in 2019 or 2020. Erin Gleason
1/3/2020 Update or Other Action Sent letter to Yukon Koyuk School District with an inventory of all their sites, including the minto school. Erin Gleason
12/15/2022 Update or Other Action A representative from YKSD called the DEC office to inquire about how upcoming upgrades to the Minto School might be affected by the existing contaminated site. Contaminated Sites Staff recommended that YKSD submit a work plan or waste management plan by a QEP before beginning construction. Nortech, on behalf of YSKD, submitted a Public Records Request on 12/15/2022. YKSD is planning to conduct soil sampling in mid-January 2023. Records will need to be reviewed by DOL staff before releasing the records due to ANCSA lawsuit. There are no records in the site file indicating characterization or cleanup has ever been done on the site. Naomi Mason
1/10/2023 Site Characterization Workplan Approved The revised Minto School Expansion Initial Site Characterization Work Plan was received on December 30, 2022. DEC has reviewed the report and it is now approved. Site work will involve 10-20 soil borings depending on site accessibility and will assess only the areas anticipated to be impacted during site expansion projects. After area is characterized, a soil removal and groundwater waste management work plan will be submitted if soil concentrations exceed cleanup levels. Naomi Mason
4/7/2023 Risk Assessment Workplan Approved Approval letter sent on this date for the revised "School Expansion Initial Site Characterization Report & Additional Site Characterization Work Plan." Site characterization was conducted on January 15-16, 2023. A total of 25 soil borings were advanced in the areas of the proposed expansion project, 12 laboratory analytical samples were collected and analyzed for DRO, GRO, VOCs, and 10% for PAHs. All soil concentrations were below ADEC migration to groundwater cleanup levels except for in one boring (BH-21, near the planned gym expansion) which had a concentration of DRO up to 1,190 mg/kg and naphthalene up to 487 mg/kg. The area around the 100-gallon heating oil tank was unable to be accessed by the drill rig due to overhead power lines and the steep slope. However, this will be further investigated during construction in the spring. No groundwater was encountered, soil borings were advanced to 7 feet bgs. Approximately 190 cubic yards of contaminated soil will be excavated, field screened and sampled, then stored on-site covered on a liner to be shipped out to a thermal treatment facility within the next 2 years. Future characterization efforts are not intended to delineate contamination at the site. Naomi Mason
6/2/2023 Update or Other Action Unexpected revision submitted to ADEC on this date from NORTECH. YKSD has decided that Alaska Resources and Environmental Services, LLC (ARES) will complete the remainder of site work under the NORTECH work plan. Naomi Mason
6/2/2023 Offsite Soil or Groundwater Disposal Approved TDD form for the disposal of 190 cubic yards of soil contaminated with diesel range organics (DRO), naphthalene, and 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene at US Ecology/NRC in North Pole approved by ADEC. Naomi Mason

Contaminant Information

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