| Action Date |
Action |
Description |
DEC Staff |
| 2/11/2009 |
Site Added to Database |
A new site has been added to the database |
Deborah Williams |
| 5/20/2009 |
Brownfields Award |
FY 2010 State of Alaska Capital Improvement Project (CIP) funds $143,378 awarded to DNR-Southcentral Regional Office for a property assessment and cleanup plan at the Old BIA School Copper Center. NTP# 18-9028-10019. Current status: Project complete.
|
Cascade Galasso-Irish |
| 7/22/2009 |
Update or Other Action |
Notice to proceed was awarded to BGES through SPAR term contract. Project managed under Reuse and Redevelopment Program. |
Deborah Williams |
| 7/31/2009 |
Meeting or Teleconference Held |
DEC held a stakeholder meeting for the former Copper Center School in Copper Center. Participants of the meeting included DNR (landowners), BGES (consultant for the project) and DEC. The purpose of the meeting was to clarify the objectives for the work at the site (Property Assessment and Cleanup Plan) and to provide an opportunity for the consultant to ask any questions pertaining to the field visit. |
Deborah Williams |
| 8/25/2009 |
Site Visit |
BGES, the consultant representing DEC conducted a site visit to collect information for a Phase I and limited Phase II Site Assessment Report. |
Deborah Williams |
| 4/20/2010 |
Update or Other Action |
DEC received a Phase I and Limited Phase II Environmental Site Assessment for the Former BIA School site in Copper Center. Based on a review of historical aerial photographs, it appears that the subject property has contained structures at least as early as 1950. A water-supply well was located in the basement of the abandoned school building. A former heating oil AST had been previously located adjacent to and west of the former generator bldg. One soil sample collected from approximately 1.5 feet bgs, from below the center of the former AST, between the AST concrete support columns exhibited DRO concentrations of 1,170 mg/kg. GRO, RRO and BTEX levels were below DEC cleanup levels. Buried fuel-delivery pipelines were observed extending from the former location of the AST towards the abandoned school building and between the utility connection points located to the north of the abandoned school building. One soil sample collected from a coupling located adjacent to the eastern concrete AST support column exhibited a DRO concentration of 1,360 mg/kg. The consultant recommends that these pipelines be properly decommissioned and the soil sampled. A vertical pipe protruding approximately 4 feet above the ground was identified in the NW portion of the property. As soil sample collected from the vicinity of that pipe did not indicate levels of contamination above cleanup levels. |
Deborah Williams |
| 6/23/2011 |
Site Visit |
During a trip to the Copper River Valley to attend a public meeting, DEC staff made a site visit to the Old BIA Copper Center School to walk the site and take photographs of current conditions. Staff observed that the building has been secured with plywood covering the doors and windows, preventing access to the public, and signage has been placed on all structures warning of the hazards of asbestos and prohibiting access. These measures were taken by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources during the summer of 2010. Attendees at the public meeting noted they were pleased that the building had been secured as they had been concerned about it posing a health and safety hazard to the community. |
Sonja Benson |
| 1/30/2015 |
Update or Other Action |
DNR reportedly submitted a DEC Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup form to assist it in furthering their evaluation of site conditions. |
John Carnahan |
| 6/28/2019 |
Update or Other Action |
Letter provided to BIA providing a list of 31 sites where BIA is a PRP and requesting a meeting to discuss long-term planning for cleanup at these sites. |
Gretchen Caudill |
| 3/16/2020 |
Update or Other Action |
Site file reassigned to Contaminated Sites on this date. FKA 245.57.001. |
Cascade Galasso-Irish |
| 5/16/2023 |
Meeting or Teleconference Held |
DEC met with Brownfields contractor team, EPA, and local stakeholders to discuss upcoming Brownfields assessment work at the site. Informed that site is currently underwater due to breakup flooding. |
Nick Waldo |
| 9/11/2023 |
Site Characterization Workplan Approved |
Approved a Quality Assurance Project Plan for Phase II Site Assessment, prepared on behalf of the EPA Brownfields program. Site work with include soil, surface water, and groundwater samples for petroleum constituents and lead, where applicable. |
Nick Waldo |
| 10/10/2023 |
Offsite Soil or Groundwater Disposal Approved |
DEC approved transport of one, partially full, 55-gallon drum of purge water from the temporary monitoring wells and one, 55-gallon drum of soil boring waste to Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington for disposal. The soil boring waste contained arsenic concentrations consistent with background concentrations at this site but above the applicable cleanup level. |
Nick Waldo |
| 2/28/2024 |
Site Characterization Report Approved |
Approved Targeted Brownfields Assessment conducted by EPA |
Nick Waldo |
| 5/6/2025 |
Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other |
On April 16, DEC received a draft Demolition Work Plan for the Old BIA Copper Center School, which included additional site characterization and cleanup activities. CSP coordinated review with DEC's Solid Waste Program and provided consolidated comments on May 6. |
Marc Thomas |
| 7/31/2025 |
Offsite Soil or Groundwater Disposal Approved |
The 2025 Demolition and Removal Action Report states that ADEC was notified prior to transport of this soil off site and that analytical results of waste characterization sampling for all supersacks were non-hazardous for levels of lead so no transport, treatment, and disposal form is needed for ADEC review and approval prior to transport and disposal.
The project details available from the contract's webpage offer further clarification with text: "Between July 29 and 31, 2025, approximately 28 cubic yards (42 tons) of lead-contaminated soil were excavated from the building dripline, placed into supersacks, and staged for waste characterization. Analytical confirmation samples verified that all lead concentrations were below Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) cleanup thresholds."
|
Brittani Mack |
| 2/27/2026 |
Site Characterization Report Approved |
DEC reviewed and accepted the final version of the "Demolition & Removal Action" Report. The report outlines the HBM abatement, demolition activities, and soil characterization that occurred at the site in June - August. The drip line of the building was excavated for lead contaminated soil, and confirmation samples confirm remaining lead in the soil is below DEC"s most stringent cleanup levels. TCLP samples confirmed waste was not hazardous. Characterization samples were also collected along the AST fuel pipelines; all samples were below DEC's cleanup levels.
|
Flannery Ballard |
| 6/4/2026 |
Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other |
Email from consultant to confirm and document the decommissioning of the temporary monitoring wells installed at this site and sampled for groundwater during the 2023 Phase II field effort described in the Targeted Brownfields Assessment (TBA) Report dated 2/2/2024.
Consultant noted that the decommissioning of the temporary wells was not explicitly described in the report of this work and reported the following monitoring well decommissioning procedures via email:
All wells were decommissioned. All well casing was removed by hand. Bentonite chips were then dry-poured into the boreholes and subsequently hydrated. After hydration, the boreholes were backfilled with native surrounding materials and restored to grade. |
Brittani Mack |
