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Site Report: USFEMA - KIFW Radio Station, Sitka

Site Name: USFEMA - KIFW Radio Station, Sitka
Address: 611 Lake St.; , Sitka, AK 99835
File Number: 1525.26.009
Hazard ID: 24529
Status: Cleanup Complete - Institutional Controls
Staff: IC Unit, 9074655229 dec.icunit@alaska.gov
Latitude: 57.057396
Longitude: -135.336059
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

In 1994 Shannon & Wilson conducted a regulated underground storage tank (UST) closure by removal site assessment on the eastern shore of Swan Lake at 611 Lake Drive in Sitka. The 1995 SA Report states that two USTs were found to have leaked gasoline and diesel contaminating surrounding soil and groundwater. The tanks formerly belonged to the Federal Emergency Management Agency; current land use is the KIFW radio station. Subsequent investigation by the Corps of Engineers of groundwater showed DRO impacted soil and GRO and DRO impacted groundwater - but Corps claimed that this was due to matrix interference on the sample results due to high peat content of underlying soils. Matrix affects aside, the fate of the large amount of fuel that leaked out of the two tanks remains undetermined.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
11/9/1994 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Release Confirmed - Petroleum LUST Site created in CSP for source area ID 77751 ADD; Active site. Investigating matrix interference from peaty soils. Tanks had obvious leaks upon closure. Former Staff
11/9/1994 Site Added to Database Former Staff
11/14/1994 Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Initiated - Petroleum LCAU; During tank closure of 2 regulated tanks contamination was encountered. Approx 40 cyds of contaminated soil was excavated, placed in supersacks, and transported to the Roosevelt Regional landfill in Washington State. An in-situ bioventing system was installed in petroleum impacted soil prior to backfilling with clean backfill. Former Staff
11/20/1997 Update or Other Action ADEC sends Notification of Intent to Cost Recover Letter to Current Owner: FEMA-FEDERAL REGIONAL CTR Former Staff
4/25/2000 Update or Other Action Letter to Ronald Toombs at U.S. Army Engineer District commenting on the technical memorandum received July 20, 1999. Bill Janes
10/2/2001 Update or Other Action Changed Project Manager from Paul Horwath to Bill Janes Cynthia Pring-Ham
1/25/2002 Update or Other Action Project tickler update - Left voice mail for Ronald Toombs asking about status of action items requesting in Horwath's April 2000 letter. Bill Janes
4/1/2002 Update or Other Action Talked to Mary Jemin at Corps about this site a couple of times over the course of the last few months. They do have plans to do additional work. Sent her a fax asking to fill me in on the details. Do not have an email address or phone number for her. Bill Janes
4/4/2002 Update or Other Action Mary Jemin responded to email. Installed an additional monitoring well and sampled the existing four in November. Waiting on the final chemical data report from the sampling, but attached a draft of the tank inspection report. In the Outlook/SPAR/CSRP/Fbx-Jnu site folder Bill Janes
11/1/2002 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other 4/02 Tech Memo from Corps rgd. 11/01 Gw sampling. Sheen and strong petro odor at one well. DRO at 4.62 ppm in one well. May be biogenic interference according to chromatogram. Lead at 0.0383 (cleanup level 0.015) Bill Janes
3/4/2003 Update or Other Action Sent project status check email to Mary Jemin at the Corps of Engineers Bill Janes
5/15/2003 Update or Other Action Reviewed Feb 2003 Corps Tech Memo regarding May and December 2002 sampling results. Sent email to Mary Jemin requesting a meeting to determine next steps. Bill Janes
12/11/2003 Site Visit Site visit with Mary Jemin and Bret Walters from Corps of Engineers. Site can probably go on reduced monitoring schedule at this time. Plume appears stable. See 1/16/04 email communication to Mary Jemin et al for details. Bill Janes
4/5/2004 Update or Other Action Reviewed March 2004 Tech Memo from the Corps. DRO has dropped significantly in AP-327. Benzene still elevated somewhat in other wells. I am directing the Corps to sample in June and then go to a two year monitoring schedule. Bill Janes
10/7/2004 Update or Other Action June groundwater monitoring report received. Bill Janes
10/21/2004 Update or Other Action Long term monitoring reduced to every two years. Next event scheduled for June 2006. Bill Janes
4/13/2005 Update or Other Action Comments sent to USACE on the draft final corrective action report. Bill Janes
11/2/2005 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Final corrective action report received on 9/7 reviewed. Site can possibly be closed with a notice of environmental contamination and periodic gw monitoring. Discussions with RP to ensue. Bill Janes
11/9/2005 Update or Other Action Telecon notes with Bret Walters and Mary Jemin - I will provide Mary and Bret with a model notice of environmental contamination. FEMA, through Mary's headquarters, and current landowner will review draft. Monitoring - To occur next June to document plume stability. This will complete the cycle we agreed to earlier. At that point we will evaluate next steps. If the plume is stable the next monitoring event will probably be in 2011. Bill Janes
4/21/2006 Update or Other Action Draft conditional closure determination sent out to the Corps and Steve Rhyner (KIFW Radio) for review. Bill Janes
1/30/2007 Update or Other Action Telecon with Bret Walters and Mary Jemin. BTEX data questionable due to lab error. Another round of sampling is scheduled for June 2007. Conditonal closure determination put on hold. Bill Janes
3/14/2007 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Indoor air pathway may need further evaluation. Bill Janes
12/10/2010 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 77751 Diesel USTs. Bruce Wanstall
12/30/2011 Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter DEC potential responsible party State Interest letter was sent to Department of Homeland Security to advise the agency that a contaminated site has been identified on the eastern shore of Swan Lake at 611 Lake Drive in Sitka, Alaska for which the agency may be financially responsible. Alaska Statute Title 46 authorizes the State to respond to this pollution incident and to take appropriate action to minimize damages to human health, safety and welfare or to the environment. Under Title 46, the owner or operator may be held financially responsible for any actions taken by the State. The Corps of Engineers have undertaken response actions approved by the department in accordance with 18 AAC 78.230 – 18 AAC 78.280 and 18 AAC 78.600 – 18 AAC 78.625. Bruce Wanstall
6/1/2012 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 77751 Diesel USTs. Bruce Wanstall
6/6/2012 Site Visit DEC held a meeting with the KIFW Station manager to describe the historical UST release that was identified in November 1994 by the operator FEMA and the ensuing cleanup process and groundwater monitoring that followed. The objective of the meeting was to discuss the potential for closing the site cleanup and that may require restricting the installation of water wells on the property. DEC walked through the site and collected photographs of the current conditions. Bruce Wanstall
6/29/2012 Cleanup Complete Determination Issued Contamination remains on site above established default cleanup levels; however, DEC has determined there is no unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. Therefore this site will be issued a Corrective Action Complete subject to Institutional Controls. This determination is in accordance with 18 AAC 75.276(f) and does not preclude DEC from requiring additional assessment and/or cleanup action if future information indicates that this site may pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. Bruce Wanstall
6/29/2012 Institutional Control Record Established Institutional Controls established and entered into the database. Soil contamination less than human health levels is located under the generator shed. When the building is removed and/or the soil becomes accessible, the soil must be evaluated and contamination addressed in accordance with a DEC approved work plan. Bruce Wanstall
6/29/2012 Institutional Control Periodic Reporting If land use and/or ownership changes, current ICs may not be protective and DEC may require additional remediation and/or ICs. Therefore the KIFW Radio Station or Alaska Broadcast Communications shall report to DEC every three years to document land use, or report as soon as KIFW Radio Station becomes aware of any change in land ownership and/or use, if earlier. Bruce Wanstall
7/3/2012 Institutional Control Update Mr. Richard Burns the landowner representative for Alaska Broadcast Communications must return the signed original agreement page for the ICs specified in the Corrective Action Complete Determination within 30 days of receipt of the letter; due in August 2012. Bruce Wanstall
7/13/2012 Institutional Control Update Notice of Environmental Contamination filed at the Recorder's Office. Evonne Reese
7/30/2012 Update or Other Action Project manager changed from Bruce Wanstall to IC Unit. Evonne Reese
7/30/2012 Institutional Control Update Received the signed original agreement page for the ICs specified in the Corrective Action Complete Determination from the responsible party. IC Unit
5/17/2013 Institutional Control Compliance Review IC compliance review conducted. Reminder system set-up to contact responsible party in 2015. Kristin Thompson
7/6/2015 Institutional Control Update An IC reminder letter was issued to the responsible party on this date. Kristin Thompson
7/21/2015 Institutional Control Update The IC reminder letter was re-issued to an updated contact at FEMA on this date. Kristin Thompson
8/6/2015 Institutional Control Update Documents received from FEMA regarding the future liability of the property. Evonne Reese
8/20/2015 Institutional Control Update FEMA informed ADEC that they are coordinating closure of the monitoring wells. They have a subcontractor in the area that should be able to mobilize to the site once the station grants them access. FEMA will keep us updated of the schedule. Reminder system reset to follow-up in one month. Kristin Thompson
9/28/2015 Institutional Control Update FEMA informed ADEC that their field team in Anchorage will be visiting the site on October 2, 2015 to investigate and come up with the monitoring well construction details in order to develop a work plan for decommissioning the wells. Reminder system reset to follow-up in one month. Kristin Thompson
1/13/2016 Institutional Control Update Reviewed the groundwater well decommissioning report. All five wells present on this property were decommissioned in the fall of 2015. Evonne Reese
1/15/2016 Institutional Control Update Issued a letter on this date confirming that the monitoring wells have been closed on this site. I also updated the Closure/IC Details information with this detail. Evonne Reese
3/29/2019 Institutional Control Compliance Review IC compliance review conducted and a letter was issued to Alaska Broadcast Communications to remind them of the site history, remaining contamination, and IC requirements. Evonne Reese
5/16/2024 Institutional Control Compliance Review IC compliance review completed on this date. An IC reminder letter was issued to the landowner. The next review will be in three years' time. Gaige Robinson

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments
Benzene > Table C Groundwater
DRO Between Method 2 Migration to Groundwater and Human Health/Ingestion/Inhalation Soil

Control Type

Type Details
Notice of Environmental Contamination A 1994 underground fuel tank system closure by removal and cleanup addressed the majority of contamination resulting from a historical fuel release; however a small volume was left under the generator building. Soil and groundwater investigations since then indicate that remaining hydrocarbon contamination is limited. Groundwater monitoring shows that levels have steadily declined and the only contaminant remaining above criteria as of 2007 is benzene at 0.010 mg/L in well AP-328 at the point of compliance near Swan Lake, and a soil concentration of 740 mg/kg DRO near the generator building. A site figure of the property is included as Attachment A designating the area of residual soil contamination.

Requirements

Description Details
Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site. Standard condition.
When Contaminated Soil is Accessible, Remediation Should Occur Soil contamination is located under the generator shed. When the building is removed and/or the soil becomes accessible, the soil must be evaluated and contamination addressed in accordance with a DEC approved work plan.
Other Any future change in land use may impact the exposure assumptions cited in this document. If land use and/or ownership changes, current ICs may not be protective and DEC may require additional remediation and/or ICs. Therefore the KIFW Radio Station shall report to DEC every three years to document land use, or report as soon as KIFW Radio Station becomes aware of any change in land ownership and/or use, if earlier.
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) Standard condition.

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
TDD: 800-770-8973
Physical Location: 410 Willoughby