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Site Report: NSB Point Hope Drum Storage Area

Site Name: NSB Point Hope Drum Storage Area
Address: South of NSB O&M Building, Across Ittivyaaq Avenue, Point Hope, AK 99766
File Number: 420.38.002
Hazard ID: 1630
Status: Active
Staff: Andrea Carlson, 9074515174 andrea.carlson@alaska.gov
Latitude: 68.346671
Longitude: -166.742000
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

100+ drums on pallets and stored near gas line. Many of which have no bungs, are leaking, damaged or unsafe. Soil contamination evident. South end of village next to gasoline line and adjacent to USDW auxiliary fuel line.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
7/22/1992 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = CORR - Correspondence (General)). Staff summarized site conditions viewed in 7-22-92 inspection. Requested waste disposal site assessment document. Cindy Thomas
7/31/1992 Site Added to Database Soil contamination Former Staff
7/31/1992 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RECN - Site Reconnaissance (CS)). Staff inspected and photo documented site conditions. Will send notice requesting action to NSB. Cindy Thomas
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
2/7/2005 GIS Position Updated Site was located using maps included in the file and matched to a rectified air photo. Georeferencing of air photo suspect due to poor quality of base data, which reflected by the accuracy value. Torsten Ernst
7/26/2007 Meeting or Teleconference Held ADEC staff met with NSB and their consultant to review open status village files and to propose responses to the ADEC's request for further information and characterization at this site. Bill O'Connell
9/7/2007 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Bill O'Connell
10/24/2007 Meeting or Teleconference Held Meeting today with NSB and their consultant to discuss current site status. Bill O'Connell
5/6/2008 Update or Other Action Meeting with NSB and their consultant and submittal of Contaminated SItes Review, Point Hope Alaska. Data QA/QC conducted. The report identifies 3 drum storage areas with 50-200 drums plus old ASTs. Surface staining noted. Soil samples contained DRO up to 4,610 mg/kg and RRO up to 13,100 mg/kg. Benzene was not detected however the VOCs 1,3,5- and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 4-isopropyltoluene, n-butylbenzene, and naphthalene were detected. Pesticides were not detected. Additional investigation is anticipated. These soil samples were collected in 2005 from test pits located at just one of the three areas - the area to the SE of the others. Bill O'Connell
3/6/2009 Update or Other Action 2003 sample collected south of O&M shop across the road had DRO at 923 mg/kg and RRO at 4,980 mg/kg Bill O'Connell
12/8/2011 Meeting or Teleconference Held Meeting today with NSB to discuss site status and potential future activities at the site. Investigation/delineation needed and perhaps a removal effort. Bill O'Connell
11/14/2012 Meeting or Teleconference Held O'Connell met with NSB to discuss site status and potential future activities at the site. 340 drums were removed from Point Hope in August 2012. Site observed by S&W in September. Plans for delineation of site once connex containers are removed and site is cleared. Keather McLoone
6/3/2013 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed work plan for DMS Drum Storage Area (aka O&M Former Conex Area). Boreholes will be advanced in the area of the former drum storage connexes using a hand or power auger and up to 20 samples will be collected to delineate the nature and extent of contamination. Bill O'Connell
8/12/2013 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Date on Work Plan Addendum, Site Assessment, NSB Point Hope Drum Storage Area received at DEC on 5/14/14. Keather McLoone
12/6/2013 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Date of receipt of Summary of Environmental Site Reconaisance letter report dated October 5, 2012. This report covers the USDW (Unified School District Warehouse) shop, Point Hope Clinic, and city Water Pump Connex. Areas covered within the USDW shop and surrounding areas were the Vehicle/Equipment and Former Drum Storage Yard, Connex Storage Area, Southeast Connex, and other Exterior Areas. The Southeast Connex area is the area reportedly associated, most specifically, with this site. No samples were collected. Field screening and observations reported. Stained soil was observed at the southeast connex. The other drum areas originally intended to be included in this site were included in the USDW Shop and Surrounding Areas - Vehicle/Equipment and Former Drum Storage Yard (PID readings up to 140 ppm and staining observed) and Connex Storage Area (oily water observed leaking out of connexes, PID up to 1.3 ppm). There were a few other issues identified in this area which included an uncovered tote labeled freon and containing refrigerator pumps with oily water overflowing, an uncovered pallet of batteries, and unlabeld transformers reportedly manufactured in 1994. An additional area, not yet on the database, was also identified at the clinic heating oil tank with odors and PID readings up to 72.2 ppm. Keather McLoone
1/2/2014 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Date of receipt of Site Assessment Report, NSB Drum Storage Areas for Point Hope. This report covers seven areas all within about 700 ft (0.1 mile) of each other (six are all in a NE or ENE direction from the lat/long listed as of this date. These areas are named the southeast drum storage area (DSA), Shop 1, South DSA, Connexes 1-19, Connexes 20-31, Nothwest DSA, and Storage Area. The areas where analytical samples were collected from were NW DSA, Connexes 20-31, S DSA, and SE DSA. Workplan covered only the (former) Connex 20-31. Out of the four areas that analytical samples were collected, two had results above cleanup levels. Connexes 20-31 had DRO up to 5,580 mg/kg and RRO up to 12,600 mg/kg. SE DSA had DRO up to 4,760 mg/kg and RRO up to 26,200 mg/kg. Of the areas not sampled, staining was noted at the Storage Yard and at the Shop 1 area. Staining was also noted at Connexes 20-31 including at sampling locations. Report recommends additional investigation of soil and suprapermafrost groundwater as well as removal of stained areas and prevention measures. Keather McLoone
5/11/2015 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Date of document entitled Point Hope Drum Storage Areas, Site Characterization Work Plan. This effort will include removal and characterization of waste stored in these areas located near the southwest corner of this community. Site characterization efforts will include the Northwest, South, and Southeast DSAs as well as Connexes 1-19, Connexes 20-31, and the Storage Yard. Also, soil borings will be advanced with soil samples collected and analyzed for GRO/DRO/RRO/VOCs/metals with about 10 percent analyzed for PCBs, glycol, and PAHs. Later in the season when conditions are more thawed - groundwater, surface water, and sediment samples will also be collected. Groundwater will be analyzed for GRO/DRO/RRO/VOCs/metals unless PCBs, glycol, or PAHs are indicated in soil results. Keather McLoone
12/30/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the draft Site Characterization Report, dated December 5, 2016 for the NSB Point Hope Drum Storage Area site. The site characterization field effort was completed between May and September of 2015 and consisted primarily of soil boring and monitoring well installation, and soil and groundwater sampling as appropriate. Additional activities included waste characterization and management of drums, batteries and battery totes, connexes, compressed gas cylinders, and other stored chemicals. A majority of the waste items, as appropriate, were combined by like waste streams and disposed of offsite. For the purpose of this characterization effort, the site was broken out into 7 separate identifiable locations: Northwest Drum Storage Area (DSA), Storage Yard, Connexes 1-19, Connexes 20-31, South DSA, Shop 1, and Southeast DSA. A total of 273 soil borings were advanced between the sites; 21 of which were completed as groundwater monitoring wells. Generally, two soil samples were collected from each boring, the first from 0 to 2 feet below ground surface (bgs) and the second from 2 to 7 feet bgs, where the highest field screening result was observed. Of the 21 monitoring wells, 6 were dry or purged dry and were not sampled. Groundwater flow direction was measured to be generally northwest at a gradient of 0.00056 feet/foot (relatively flat). All soil and water samples were analyzed for one or more of the following: gasoline range organics (GRO), diesel range organics (DRO), residual range organics (RRO), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) metals, ethylene and propylene glycol, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Analytical results revealed that levels of GRO, DRO, and RRO remain in the surface and subsurface soils up to 243 mg/kg, 2,070 mg/kg, and 5,430 mg/kg, respectively, all of which exceed Method One soil cleanup levels. None of the soil samples exceeded Method Two soil cleanup levels. DRO was identified above the Table C groundwater cleanup level of 1.5 mg/l in Monitoring Wells MW-06 (1.65 mg/l), MW-08 (5.16 mg/l), and MW-15 (2.85 mg/l). RRO was present in MW-08 at 2.66 mg/l, which exceeds the cleanup level of 1.1 mg/l. None of the other wells exhibited levels of DRO or RRO above the applicable groundwater cleanup level. ADEC agrees with the report recommendations for further groundwater monitoring, delineation to the north of shop 1, and additional assessment of the area near MW-08; and requested a work plan by March 1, 2017. A final version of this report was received on January 30, 2017. Joshua Barsis
1/17/2017 Update or Other Action Letter sent to NSB on this day detailing the current status/progress of 22 active contaminated sites, including this site. Joshua Barsis
11/20/2017 Update or Other Action Letter sent on this day as a follow up to the last version of this letter, dated January 17, 2017, and as a follow up to a meeting with NSB on November 17, 2017. This letter details the current status/progress of 23 active contaminated sites, including this site. Joshua Barsis
11/16/2018 Update or Other Action Letter sent on this day as a follow up to the last version of this letter, dated November 20, 2017, and at the request of the North Slope Borough (NSB). This letter details the current progress of 24 active contaminated sites, including this site. Joshua Barsis
2/19/2020 Enforcement Action Notice of Violation issued to NSB on February 18, 2020. See file for more information. Joshua Barsis
7/6/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the 2023 Site Characterization Report revision, submitted to DEC on May 15, 2023. The September and October 2022 site characterization work was completed to further delineate the contamination in the areas near the groundwater wells that had samples exceeding the CULs in 2015. NSB’s contractor installed seven soil borings, completing five as groundwater monitoring wells, and collected soil and groundwater samples for laboratory analysis from two areas of the site (Site/Area 1 and Site/Area 2). Analytical soil sample results from three of the soil borings in Site/Area 2 indicated that gasoline range organics (GRO), DRO, RRO, seven volatile organic compounds (VOCs), two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and one metal (arsenic) were present in site soils above the applicable CULs. Additionally, groundwater samples collected from three monitoring wells in Site/Area 2 had analytical results above applicable CULs for naphthalene in each of the wells, DRO in two wells and ethylbenzene, xylenes, 1,2,4-trimethyllbenzene, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenznene in one well. The extent of impacted soil and groundwater has not been fully delineated at the site, specifically Site/Area 2. The report recommends that a second round of groundwater samples be collected from the monitoring wells and based on the results, further delineation of both soil and groundwater may be warranted. Andrea Carlson
3/20/2024 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed and approved a workplan for collecting a second round of samples from the groundwater monitoring wells. The plan proposed sampling wells MW-24, MW-25, and MW-26 located in Site/Area 2 and submitting them for laboratory analysis of gasoline range organics, diesel range organics, residual range organics, volatile organic compounds, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Andrea Carlson

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.

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