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Site Report: Sitka NOB - Area G -Igarotte Housing Area

Site Name: Sitka NOB - Area G -Igarotte Housing Area
Address: Sitka Naval Operations Base; Japonski Island; 0.5 Miles West of Sitka, Sitka, AK 99835
File Number: 1525.38.020
Hazard ID: 25736
Status: Cleanup Complete - Institutional Controls
Staff: IC Unit, 9074655229 dec.icunit@alaska.gov
Latitude: 57.053383
Longitude: -135.356768
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

The Sitka Naval Operations Base (NOB) consisted of a naval air station, subordinate naval shore activities, radio station, hospital, naval section base, and marine barracks, and was the main Navy floatplane facility in southeastern Alaska during World War II. Current landowners of the former Sitka NOB sites include: Alaska Area Native Health Service; Alaska Department of Education and Early Development; and Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The USACE began environmental work at the site in 1991. During the course of the remedial investigations, the site was divided into eleven areas, identified in the Decision Document as: Area A – Power Plant; Area B – Former Army/Navy Service Station; Area C – Water Tower Tank Farm; Area D – Tank Farm No. 1 (Hospital Access Road Tank Farm); Area E – Millerville Housing Area; Area F – Tank Farm No. 2; Area G – Igarotte Housing Area; Area H – Seaplane Dock; Area I – Tank Farm No. 4; Area J – Tank Farm No. 5; and Area K – Tank Farm No. 3. On 9/27/11 the Sitka Naval Operations Base database entry was divided into seven separate records. Original Hazard ID 1992 was renamed from Sitka Naval Operating Base to Sitka NOB - Area F - Tank Farm No. 2, and additional database records were created for Area A - Power Plant; Areas B/C/D/I/J - Frmr Army Navy Service Station, Water Tower TF, TF Nos. 1/4/5; Area E - Millerville Housing; Area G -Igarotte Housing Area; Area H - Seaplane Dock; and Area K Tank Farm No. 3. This site represents: Area G -Igarotte Housing Area. The Igarotte Housing Area was initially determined to be ineligible for FUDS-DERP funding due to the area having been beneficially used by the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) after departure of the Navy. However, complete documentation of that decision could not be found and the site may need to be reevaluated. It will be addressed separately from the other identified areas.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
4/19/1995 Update or Other Action Phase 1 Remedial Investigation Report approved. Area G is not included in this report but is stated that Area G was beneficially reused after DOD departed and thus not eligible for FUDS funding. Employee Past
9/10/2009 Update or Other Action DEC requested that the USACE conduct additional investigation as to the beneficial-reuse statements. A USACE request to close the site was denied. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/27/2011 Site Added to Database A new site has been added to the database Mitzi Read
9/27/2011 Update or Other Action On 9/27/11 the Sitka Naval Operations Base database entry was divided into seven separate records. Original Hazard ID 1992 was renamed from Sitka Naval Operating Base to Sitka NOB - Area F - Tank Farm No. 2, and additional database records were created for Area A - Power Plant; Areas B/C/D/I/J - Frmr Army Navy Service Station, Water Tower TF, TF Nos. 1/4/5; Area E - Millerville Housing; Area G -Igarotte Housing Area; Area H - Seaplane Dock; and Area K Tank Farm No. 3. Mitzi Read
4/23/2012 Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter Potentially Responsible Party letters were sent out to former property owners, operators, lessees, etc. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/18/2012 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Staff approved a work plan this date to sample the on-site biocells. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/6/2012 Update or Other Action A revised Inventory Project Report was received from the USACE regarding this site. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/29/2013 Meeting or Teleconference Held A meeting with all PRPs was held this date to discuss the site history and develop a path forward. FAA elected to lead the PRP group and conduct the characterization of the site. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/26/2013 Meeting or Teleconference Held A follow-up meeting with all of the PRPs was held this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
10/10/2013 Update or Other Action A site visit scheduled for this date was cancelled due to the government shut-down. Anne Marie Palmieri
11/20/2013 Site Visit A site visit was conducted this date with Jenn Currie from Dept. of Law. Anne Marie Palmieri
11/21/2013 Meeting or Teleconference Held An on-site meeting of all PRPs was cancelled this date due to heavy fog and snow/slushy rain in Sitka. A teleconference was held to discuss progress of the project. FAA anticipates submitting a work plan to DEC in spring 2014. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/15/2014 Site Characterization Workplan Approved The FAA site characterization work plan was approved this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/19/2015 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided comments on the draft site characterization report. Anne Marie Palmieri
4/22/2015 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC participated in a meeting with FAA, IHS, and others to discuss the results of the site characterization activities. The report has not yet been finalized. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/17/2015 Site Characterization Report Approved The site characterization report was approved this date. Contamination was found to be present in 3 separate locations at the former housing area. No contamination was found at the AST #1 and AST #2 areas. A small amount of contamination was found along the pipeline, but those concentrations were below the method three cleanup level. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/17/2015 Cleanup Level(s) Approved Cleanup levels based on a method three site specific concentration of total organic carbon were approved on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/23/2017 Cleanup Level(s) Approved On this date, DEC sent a letter to FAA with the results of the evaluation of the 2015 site characterization data using the new 2016 cleanup levels. As with the previously approved cleanup levels for this site, no cleanup is needed at the Pipeline area of concern and only DRO and RRO were above the cleanup levels at the Former Housing area of concern. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/9/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC reviewed the draft cleanup action work plan and provided comments on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/29/2017 Cleanup Plan Approved A plan to excavate the petroleum-contaminated soil on site was approved on this date. The contaminated soil will be sent to a disposal facility in Washington. Work is scheduled to begin in mid-July 2017. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/21/2017 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 79178 name: Sitka NOB - Area G -Igarotte Housing Area Anne Marie Palmieri
2/26/2018 Cleanup Complete Determination Issued Cleanup Complete with Institutional Controls letter issued this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
3/13/2018 Institutional Control Record Established Institutional Controls established and entered into the database. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/22/2018 Institutional Control Compliance Review IC compliance review conducted. Staff changed from Anne Marie Palmieri to IC Unit. This site has a groundwater use restriction. Reminder system set to follow-up every three years. Kristin Thompson
4/17/2020 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Staff reviewed and approved a characterization work plan provided by SEARHC intended to identify potential contamination which could impact future land development plans. Fieldwork is scheduled for late spring/early summer 2020. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/4/2020 Site Characterization Report Approved Staff approved the SEARHC site characterization report on this date. A copy of the letter is included in the attachments. Anne Marie Palmieri
11/23/2021 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other As a landowner driven investigation and cleanup, in September 2021, RSE worked with Marble Construction to excavate approximately 2,015 tons of hydrocarbon impacted soil from the area surrounding boreholes BH-10, BH-10S, and BH-10S2 at the subject property. Soil was transported to Bicknell in Juneau for thermal treatment and to Republic Services landfill for disposal. The excavation did not reach the extent of the contaminated soil in all directions, but due to project constraints, the excavation was completed and backfilled. A report detailing this effort should be issued in the near future. An additional work plan which describes the methods for installing approximately 30 soil borings with as many as 10 completed as temporary monitoring wells to further delineate contamination in the proposed hospital building footprint area. RSE will collect soil and groundwater samples from these soil borings and monitoring wells. The data collected will be used to further delineate areas of hydrocarbon impacted soil at the site to support planning efforts for the new hospital construction project. DEC has reviewed both work plans but formal approval DEC approval is not required because the investigation is landowner driven. Evonne Reese
10/19/2022 Offsite Soil or Groundwater Disposal Approved Provided approval for 2000 cubic yards of soil to be moved to Bicknell in Juneau. This soil was generated during the current investigation in preparation for construction of the new hospital. Evonne Reese
3/16/2023 Institutional Control Update In preparation for the constructions of a new SEARHC hospital and parking lots, a total of 6,669.53 tons of hydrocarbon impacted soil was transported under ADEC approval to Bicknell, Inc in Juneau, Alaska for thermal treatment in November 2022. A large portion of the project site was excavated down to bedrock to meet the MEMCC project structural requirements. Contaminated soil was left in place at the site in the southern and southeastern portion of the project limits at depths of approximately 5 to 20 feet below ground surface. This contaminated soil was later covered with 5 to 10 feet of clean overburden soil. All impacted material at the site was either removed down to bedrock or will be left in place under parking lots. No impacted material underlies the current new hospital building location or within a minimum of approximately 30 feet horizontally of the new hospital location. A site diagram of the excavations, remaining contaminated soil, and future building footprint is attached to this database record. Evonne Reese
3/25/2025 Update or Other Action Contacted by Restoration Science & Engineering (RSA) about how during construction of the new parking lot contaminated soil was encountered when prepping for building a retaining wall. Seventy cubic yards of soil was excavated and placed in a containments cell that was previously used to hold soil during the hospital construction. This soil was found in area of the parking lot where remaining contamination was known. It is believed to be impact with DRO and PAHs. The soil will be characterized for disposal. RSE will contact DEC for soil transport approval when disposal is arranged. Evonne Reese

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments
DRO Between Method 2 Migration to Groundwater and Human Health/Ingestion/Inhalation Soil The 95% UCL of the soil sample results met the approved cleanup level of 8250 mg/kg.

Control Type

Type Details
Signed CS Determination ICs are outlined in the cleanup complete letter.

Requirements

Description Details
Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site. Standard condition.
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.
Groundwater Use Restrictions Groundwater was determined not to be a current or future drinking water source in this area. DEC must approve any installation of drinking water wells at the site.
Periodic Review ADEC will conduct a review of site conditions every three years.

No associated sites were found.

Missing Location Data

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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
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