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Site Report: USPS - General Mail Facility

Site Name: USPS - General Mail Facility
Address: 5400 Mail Trail; , Fairbanks, AK 99709
File Number: 100.26.002
Hazard ID: 23793
Status: Active
Staff: Sophia Bracio, 9074511682 sophia.bracio@alaska.gov
Latitude: 64.815555
Longitude: -147.881614
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

Updated 6/19/2018: The site formerly included two 5,000-gallon underground storage tanks (USTs) adjacent to the USPS General Mail Facility located at 5400 Mail Trail Road in Fairbanks, Alaska. The USTs were removed in 1989, along with approximately 420 cubic yards of fuel-contaminated soil. With regard to soil, GRO, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), 2-methylnaphthalene and naphthalene have been detected above their respective DEC cleanup levels. Groundwater contamination at the site includes GRO, DRO, and BTEX.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
9/1/1987 Update or Other Action UPD; Tracer Research Corp. performed soil gas survey. Area of free product approximately 75 by 40 feet. Former Staff
3/23/1988 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Release Confirmed - Petroleum LUST Site created in CSP for source area ID 77750 ADD; Former Staff
3/23/1988 Site Added to Database Former Staff
8/1/1988 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Emergency Response IA; Static recovery of fuel by post office personnel using bailer. Recovered < 55 gallons as of 8/88. Former Staff
8/9/1988 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Corrective Action Underway RAPR; Montgomery Engineers contracted to develop remedial action plan for site as well as removal and replacement of tanks. Technical specifications developed for tank and soil removal. Former Staff
5/10/1989 Underground Storage Tank Site Characterization or Assessment SA1; Montgomery Engineers, Soil and Groundwater Assessment at the Fairbanks General Mail Facility. Results indicate shallow groundwater contamination and low TPH concentrations in soils. Review of sampling indicates contaminated zone of soils (4 to 9.5 feet below ground surface) was not sampled. Former Staff
8/29/1989 Update or Other Action REM; Earthmovers removed tank and contaminated soil. Shannon & Wilson monitored soil removal. Soil was spread on a liner and covered in the facility parking lot. Some soil which was not covered was later observed outside the treatment area. Free product on the water table in the excavation was recovered using a "rope mop". The excavation was left open and fenced. Approximatedly 420 cubic yards of soil were removed. Former Staff
8/16/1991 Update or Other Action UPD; R&M Consultants submitted preliminary work plan proposal for landfarming for U.S. Postal Service. Former Staff
12/31/1991 Release Investigation SI; Requested a status of groundwater conditions. Requested proposal to sample/treat water. Former Staff
12/31/1991 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Corrective Action Underway RAPR; Informed PRP that UST regs 18AAC78 apply. Former Staff
1/10/1992 Site Visit RECN; Met w/ADOT reps to discuss status of LUST site. Former Staff
3/24/1992 Update or Other Action TAS; Needs significant amount more of data before approval. Strongly sugest meeting. Former Staff
3/24/1992 Update or Other Action CORR; Former Staff
3/24/1992 Release Investigation RELR; Reviewed site assessment. Former Staff
6/1/1992 Release Investigation SA2; Thomas: Summary of site activities to date include well search information site chronology, site conditions, cleanup alternatives. Investigation summary forthcoming shortly. Former Staff
7/2/1992 Update or Other Action CORR; Sent reminder letter to USPS that revised plan for corrective action not rec'd yet, gave 30 day notice. Former Staff
8/10/1992 Update or Other Action CORR; Thomas sent letter to USPS outlining site visit and ADEC approval of 1992 sampling plan. Former Staff
8/18/1992 Update or Other Action MEET; Thomas meet w/USPS reps and contractor to inspect site and discuss treatment options. Former Staff
1/25/1993 Release Investigation SA2; Thomas: Received "Preliminary Assessment" report by R&M consultants for USPS. Appears to be reiteration of existing site data with additional and new site/area information. Will review and respond. Former Staff
2/25/1993 Update or Other Action CORR; Thomas request letter to Crowley for coordinated GW investigation effort between MarkAir, USPS, Crowley, and MAPCO. Outlined GW investigation parameters, and schedule. Requested response in 45 days, and meeting April 30, 1993. Former Staff
12/30/1993 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Initiated - Petroleum LCAU; Thomas reported: Manual free product recovery occurred during 1988-89, where a significant volume of product was removed. Also, in August of 1989, 420 yards of contaminated soil was relocated to a landfarming facility on USPS land near the tank site. Soils have been farmed since then. Insitu ground water contamination remains. : LCAU date changed DB conversion Former Staff
1/14/1994 Update or Other Action RPL2; Peterson sent PRP-CS Database Notification Letter to RP requesting update and more environmental information concerning contaminated site. No response has ever been rec'd as of this "complete date". Former Staff
6/6/1994 Update or Other Action CORR; Wingerter sent letter informing RP of their financial liability under new ADEC cost recovery policy. State is authorized, under Section 9003(h) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to take action on this LUST facility. Former Staff
9/16/1998 Underground Storage Tank Site Characterization or Assessment SA/Closure report for removal of 500 gallon Diesel UST. (Tank # ) Former Staff
10/9/2002 Update or Other Action URS submitted workplan to sample landfarm. Material is spread approximately 2 feet deep on a liner. An additional pile of impacted material, reportedly from a heating oil tank spill at the Nenana post office, will also be assessed. Informed consultant that additional monitoring/assessment is needed for the groundwater impacts. Last results were reported in 1994. Janice Wiegers
9/2/2003 Update or Other Action Land farm evaluation report submitted by URS. Janice Wiegers
10/29/2003 Update or Other Action ADEC sends letter to USPS approving reuse of the stockpiled soil in the land farm. However, sampling beneath the stockpile liner and additional groundwater plume monitoring is required. Discussed with Sydney Randell of USPS. Janice Wiegers
4/27/2004 Update or Other Action Workplan for groundwater monitoring approved. Janice Wiegers
6/28/2004 Update or Other Action Site transferred to Sharon Richmond. Janice Wiegers
9/24/2004 Site Visit Staff met with RP's consultant to document that several missing monitoring wells could not be located. This is the 2nd time CS staff has attempted to find these wells. MW1 through MW4 could not be found. These wells were in a grassy area that gets regularly mowed and if still present, should have been easy to find. MW9 was located and filled with bentonite. MW 10 is broken and will be properly decommissioned. MW-11 is a flushmount in the parking lot. It was covered with snow during a previous attempt to locate it. Sharon Richmond
1/10/2005 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Contaminated Sites staff reviewed the Draft Summary Report for the General Mail Facility and Vehicle Maintenance Facility at the Fairbanks Airport Post Office. Leaking underground storage tanks resulted in diesel and gasoline contamination in soil and groundwater. Work performed during the summer of 2004 incuded removal and disposal of stockpiled soil, installation of additional monitoring wells, decommissioning damaged wells, and two rounds of groundwater sampling. In general, groundwater concentrations of contaminants continue to decrease with remaining contamination focused near the source area. Low levels of benzene were detected in two samples beneath the former landfarm. Continued groundwater monitoring and additional soil sampling is recommended. Sharon Richmond
9/27/2005 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed Addendum to Summary Sampling Report received July 2005. Groundwater sampling will continue semi-annually until three consecutive sampling demonstrate that cleanup levels have been met. Sharon Richmond
11/3/2005 Long Term Monitoring Established Discussed LTM with USPS consultant. Groundwater sampling frequency will be reduced to annually until 3 consecutive samplings show contamination does not exceed cleanup levels. Will sample for GRO/BTEX. Other contaminants have consistently below cleanup levels. Sharon Richmond
5/2/2007 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed and approved annual groundwater monitoring report. Concentrations of GRO and BTEX increased substantially. USPS proposed to continue annual groundwater monitoring and install an additional monitoring well upgradient of the known source area. Sharon Richmond
9/13/2007 Update or Other Action approval to transport contaminated soil and groundwater to OIT for treatment Sharon Richmond
3/5/2008 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking completed. Sharon Richmond
4/21/2008 Underground Storage Tank Site Characterization or Assessment reviewed and approved 2008 work plan. Groundwater will be sampled for GRO and BTEX. Sharon Richmond
8/11/2008 Offsite Soil or Groundwater Disposal Approved DEC approved via email the transport of petroleum-contaminated IDW (purge water) to OIT for treatment and disposal Sharon Richmond
10/22/2008 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other 2008 monitoring report received 8/27/08; report under review Sharon Richmond
12/11/2008 Site Characterization Report Approved Reviewed 2008 groundwater monitoring report and provided comments. Groundwater concentrations of BTEX increased substantially. Concentrations of all BTEX compounds exceed MCLs and screening levels for vapor intrusion and possibly outdoor air inhalation. USPS project manager contacted by email and phone; meeting planned for early 2009 to address these concerns. Sharon Richmond
12/19/2008 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 77750 leaking gasoline and diesel USTs. Sharon Richmond
4/17/2009 Meeting or Teleconference Held phone call/telecoference/ email with PM to discuss 2009 field sampling plan for vapor intrusion assessment, contaminant delineation. groundwater sampling Sharon Richmond
4/8/2010 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with the USPS and their contractor to discuss the 2010 groundwater sampling. They propose to collect groundwater samples bi-annually in hopes of obtaining enough data to prove that groundwater concentrations are stable or declining. Samples will be collected in June and September. In addition, they will collect soil vapor during the fall sampling event in the source area, and between the source area and the building. If soil vapor concentrations indicate further evaluation is warranted, outdoor air and subslab sample collection will follow. The USPS has indicated that they will install mitigation measures such as subslab deppression if the data indicates that indoor air could be impacted from the release. Kim DeRuyter
6/2/2010 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Workplan approval and Sulfolane sampling request sent to USPS. Kim DeRuyter
4/25/2012 Site Characterization Report Approved Approved the groundwater monitoring report documenting groundwater sampling in July and September of 2010. Groundwater samples were analyzed for GRO and BTEX. Results show GRO, and all BTEX compounds above the applicable cleanup levels. One groundwater sample in the July 2010 event was also analyzed for sulfolane. The sulfolane result was non-detect. In addition, 18 soil gas samples were collected and analyzed for BTEX to evaluate the potential for vapor intrusion. Benzene exceeded the screening criteria in one sample, collected within the source area. There were no other exceedences in the soil gas survey. Melody Debenham
7/2/2012 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Approved the final work plan to install six soil borings around the perimeter and within the former UST excavation area to delineate the horizontal and vertical extent of remaining soil contamination. Soil and groundwater samples will be collected and analyzed for gasoline, diesel, and residual range organics; benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xyelenes; and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Melody Debenham
11/14/2012 Site Characterization Report Approved Approved the final 2012 characterization report documenting soil and groundwater sampling results. Soil sample results show that BTEX, GRO, DRO, and PAHs are present above the DEC cleanup levels. Groundwater sample results show benzene above the cleanup level at three of the wells, and GRO and DRO above the cleanup levels at two of the wells. Melody Debenham
6/18/2013 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Approved final work plan to characterize the extent of remaining contamination. Up to 10 soil borings will be installed around the perimeter of the previously investigated areas. Four of the borings will be completed as groundwater monitoring wells. Soil and groundwater samples will be collected and analyzed for GRO, DRO, RRO, and BTEX. Melody Debenham
10/11/2013 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Approved the final site characterization report describing the installation of 10 soil borings and 4 monitoring wells. Soil and groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for GRO, DRO, RRO, and BTEX. Soil samples results show for borings with contaminants above the cleanup level. Groundwater sample results from 4 of the 7 on-site monitoring wells show contaminants above the cleanup levels. The extent of the groundwater contaminant plume has not been delineated. Melody Debenham
10/7/2014 Cleanup Plan Approved Approved final corrective action plan describing installation of ozone sparge system to remediate petroleum contaminated soil and groundwater. Melody Debenham
4/16/2015 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Approved final First Semiannual 2014 Groundwater Monitoring and Ozone Sparge System Installation Report. The ozone sparge system consisting of 11 ozone sparge wells and an ozone generator was installed and has been operating since August 2014. Groundwater monitoring results show benzene above the cleanup level in 3 monitoring wells and toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and gasoline and residual range organics above the cleanup level in 1 monitoring well. Melody Debenham
9/8/2015 Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter Melody Debenham
9/15/2015 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Approved final 2014 Second Semiannual Groundwater Monitoring Report. Results show benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, gasoline range organics, and residual range organics above the cleanup level. Melody Debenham
10/22/2015 Site Visit Site visit to observe groundwater monitoring and ozone system. Melody Debenham
1/25/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Approved final 2015 groundwater monitoring report. Results show BTEX, GRO, and DRO above the cleanup levels. Melody Debenham
5/4/2016 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 77750 leaking gasoline and diesel USTs. Melody Debenham
6/14/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Approved final 2nd annual groundwater monitoring report documenting October 2015 groundwater monitoring activities. GRO, DRO, and BTEX remain above cleanup levels in groundwater. Melody Debenham
12/8/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Approved final report documenting groundwater monitoring in June 2016. Results show GRO, DRO, and BTEX above cleanup levels in the groundwater. Melody Debenham
8/25/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Approval of September 2016 Semiannual Groundwater Monitoring Report Jamie McKellar
1/22/2018 Update or Other Action REPORT RECEIVED: 2017 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Mail Trail. Comments sent to USPS on 2/1/2018. Jamie McKellar
2/28/2018 Update or Other Action RTCs RECEIVED: Responses to Comments for 2017 Groundwater Monitoring Report received. Jamie McKellar
3/15/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other REPORT APPROVAL: 2017 Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report, USPS General Mail Facility. Dated March 2018. Prepared by HDR. Jamie McKellar
6/19/2018 Update or Other Action WORK PLAN RECEIVED: Draft Work Plan Addendum, USPS General Mail Facility. Prepared by HDR. Dated June 2018. Jamie McKellar
6/25/2018 Update or Other Action COMMENTS SENT: DEC to USPS, Draft Work Plan Addendum, USPS General Mail Facility. Prepared by HDR. Dated June 2018. Jamie McKellar
8/21/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other WORK PLAN APPROVAL: RTCs were received from USPS on 8/21. Draft Work Plan Addendum, USPS General Mail Facility. Prepared by HDR. Dated August 2018. Jamie McKellar
9/17/2018 Site Visit Site Visit during groundwater sampling. DEC observed that MW-12 was broken with signs of frostjacking. The sampler indicated that he had picked a specific point on the broken casing as his reference point; however, DEC has concerns about how that reference point will be located and how data collected from this well will be interpreted and used in the future. Followup email sent to USPS on 9/18 requesting information about the last professional survey for both the GMF and FLS sites; how MW-12 was capped following yesterday's sampling event; and whether there are plans to repair MW-12 and any other broken well casings this season. Jamie McKellar
12/5/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other REPORT REVIEW: On 11/30, USPS submitted a Draft 2018 Groundwater Monitoring Report for the USPS General Mail Facility. DEC provided comments to USPS on 12/5/2018. Jamie McKellar
1/29/2019 Meeting or Teleconference Held A teleconference was held with USPS on Friday, January 25, 2019 to discuss the following USPS Sites: General Mail Facility (Fairbanks), Cantwell Post Office, Dutch Harbor Post Office, Former Lease Site (Fairbanks; also known as Former Air Cargo HOT), Iliamna Post Office; and Point Lay Post Office Site. A general status update was given for all six sites. Action items from the meeting include: 1) USPS to take a more active role in reviewing documents submitted to DEC by its contractors 2) USPS and DEC to exchange documents about Dutch Harbor Post Office releases 3) USPS to identify the property owner for the former Pt. Lay Post Office site and 4) USPS staff will coordinate with DEC regarding 2019 site visits. Jamie McKellar
1/29/2019 Meeting or Teleconference Held A teleconference was held with USPS on Friday, January 25, 2019 to discuss the following USPS Sites: General Mail Facility (Fairbanks), Cantwell Post Office, Dutch Harbor Post Office, Former Lease Site (Fairbanks; also known as Former Air Cargo HOT), Iliamna Post Office; and Point Lay Post Office Site. A general status update was given for all six sites. Action items from the meeting include: 1) USPS to take a more active role in reviewing documents submitted to DEC by its contractors 2) USPS and DEC to exchange documents about Dutch Harbor Post Office releases 3) USPS to identify the property owner for the former Pt. Lay Post Office site and 4) USPS staff will coordinate with DEC regarding 2019 site visits. Jamie McKellar
2/15/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other REPORT APPROVAL: Revised 2018 Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report, USPS General Mail Facility, Fairbanks, Alaska. Prepared by HDR. Dated February 2019. Jamie McKellar
12/24/2020 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Draft 2020 Annual GW Monitoring report, by HDR, Inc, dated December 2020. Comments sent 1/12/2021. 8/23/2021. Request for missing final report. 7/27/2022: Request sent to RP for RTC for this report, as well as a final copy. Shonda Oderkirk
7/18/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Draft WP received. 7/27/2022: comments sent. 8/23/2022: Final approval sent. Shonda Oderkirk
5/25/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Draft work plan received. 6/7/2023 comments sent. 9/5/2023 Final work plan approved. Shonda Oderkirk

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments

Control Type

Type Details

Requirements

Description Details

There are no documents for this site report.

Hazard ID Site Name File Number
26816 FIA - Sitewide PFAS 100.38.277

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