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Site Report: Keku Cannery

Site Name: Keku Cannery
Address: 541 Keku Road, Kake, AK 99830
File Number: 1514.38.011
Hazard ID: 26209
Status: Active
Staff: Flannery Ballard, 9074655368 flannery.ballard@alaska.gov
Latitude: 56.964758
Longitude: -133.926173
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

DEC Brownfields is assisting the Organized Village of Kake (OVK) as part of their brownfield effort with their concerns that the Keku Cannery structure (known as the former Cannery Building) is deteriorating and could lead to an eminent collapse as early as Spring 2014. According to information provided by OVK, asbestos containing materials (ACM) are present in each building. Due to the age of the building, the presence of lead based paint (LBP) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the ballasts is possible. These materials could impact the water and/or air if the building were to collapse. Floor drains were observed throughout the building and may have drained directly into the water below the cannery. Staining was observed beneath the machine shop on the beach/shoreline and boiler area on the floor indicating a potential past release onto the ground surface and/or water at high tide. Drums, tanks, and containers of potentially hazardous substances and/or petroleum products as well as metal scraps were observed on the Property. Some of the containers were unlabeled. No evidence of leaks and/or spills associated with these materials was observed during the February 3, 2014 site visit; however, due to the potentially imminent collapse of the building, these materials constitute a material threat of a release into the water. Vehicles, engines, and refrigerators were observed in the building during the February 3, 2014 site visit. January 2017: The cannery has been physically stabilized and a Targeted Brownfield Assessment has been completed.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
5/1/2013 Brownfields Award EPA State and Tribal Response Program (STRP) funds $15,818 awarded for a Phase I ESA and additional cost evaluation of catastrophic failure at the Keku Cannery. NTP# 18803603016. Lisa Griswold
2/21/2014 Update or Other Action Received Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, Keku Cannery Main Building, Kake, Alaska, February 2014. Report completed by Shannon & Wilson under contract to DEC Reuse & Redevelopment Program as part of a DEC Brownfield Assessment & Cleanup service. John Carnahan
2/24/2014 Site Added to Database A new site has been added to the database Mitzi Read
3/20/2015 Update or Other Action OVK submitted a request to EPA for a Targeted Brownfield Assessment. John Carnahan
5/4/2015 Brownfields Award The EPA has officially approved the Organized Village of Kake's request to conduct a Targeted Brownfields Assessment this date. Danielle Duncan
5/13/2015 Site Visit Met with the people at the Organized Village of Kake (T. Gaudette, M. Jackson, G. Williams, and D. Jackson) on May 13th 2015 while in town on other business. We had a nice meeting and they gave me a tour of the cannery. They are excited about the official kick off next month and I told them that I would be back at that time with Joanne Labaw (EPA) and likely an EPA consultant. They were all very nice and happy with where the project had gone so far. There has been a lot of construction/shoring up/stabilizing work on the building in an effort to prevent it from being lost. I believe 7 workers were there actively working on the building from within and below. I think they have made amazing progress and continued work will prevent a disaster. Both myself and the Organized Village of Kake are looking forward to moving this project along. Danielle Duncan
7/13/2015 Site Visit D. Duncan (DEC Contaminated Sites staff), J. Labaw (EPA Region 10) and a consultant from Ecology and Environment visited the Keku Cannery and the people at the Organized Village of Kake (T. Gaudette, M. Jackson, G. Williams, and D. Jackson) on August 13th 2015. We held our official Brownfield kick-off meeting and we toured the cannery and the generator shed. The construction/shoring up/stabilizing work on the main cannery building continues and is expected to continue through the winter if not longer. Funding for the stabilization work was provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs - Transportation funds. We are currently waiting for a work plan from the EPA and Ecology & Environment. Danielle Duncan
9/30/2015 Meeting or Teleconference Held Teleconference with J. LaBaw (EPA) and D. Pulvino (E&E) to discuss the work plan in progress. We discussed the historic asbestos study and historic oil/fuel sources. We plan on doing the fieldwork in March when daylight and tides are more favorable. Danielle Duncan
10/8/2015 Update or Other Action I have been communicating with ENE and EPA providing historic documents on ACM and spills/contamination and working with the OVK to retrieve them. Danielle Duncan
11/6/2015 Update or Other Action Continuing to provide info to E&E as they are preparing a work plan. Danielle Duncan
11/23/2015 Update or Other Action Rec'd the memo of the sampling strategy provided by E&E this date. Danielle Duncan
12/3/2015 Update or Other Action Reviewed the memo sampling strategy and provided comments - looks good and covers all of the OVK's concerns. Samples will be collected in the cannery warehouse/main building, machine shop, boiler house, diesel house, generator house, and around the storage warehouse. The area from the spill that migrated onto OVK property will not be investigated but that is ok as it will be once the tanks are officially decommissioned. There will be a hazardous building material survey to identify any hazardous materials not removed previously. The sediments in the intertidal below floor drains will also be sampled. It also has 15 samples of opportunity in case something comes to our attention that was not previously identified. Now waiting to receive the final sampling plan. Danielle Duncan
1/5/2016 Update or Other Action Rec'd the final Keku Cannery TBA sampling strategy memo this date. Danielle Duncan
2/22/2016 Meeting or Teleconference Held Teleconference with EPA, E&E, and OVK to discuss upcoming sampling strategy and recent spill of possible bunker C oil. The OVK has deployed sock boom to prevent migration of oil and are monitoring the situation. Approximately 2 gallons of bunker c was discovered after the folks shoring up the cannery cut some piping during some anchoring activity. The oil may have also seeped from the ground after recent rains. This spill is considered incidental and will be characterized as part of the Brownfield Assessment. Danielle Duncan
10/17/2016 Meeting or Teleconference Held Teleconference to discuss the upcoming assessment report. We discussed the use of the new cleanup levels but determined that editing the report was not necessary as the site is in characterization rather than cleanup status. Danielle Duncan
1/30/2017 Update or Other Action OVK submitted a request for DEC Brownfields Assessment & Cleanup services. Christy Howard
8/11/2017 Brownfields Award OVK was awarded DEC Brownfields Assessment & Cleanup services to abate the hazardous building materials at the Keku Cannery. Edit: EPA State and Tribal Response Program (STRP) funds $118,936.00 awarded to the Organized Village of Kake for Hazardous Building Material (HBM) Remediation. Christy Howard
7/31/2019 Update or Other Action The asbestos in the building has been abated according to the Post Project Report dated May 2019. Danielle Duncan
3/13/2020 Update or Other Action Site file reassigned to Contaminated Sites on this date. FKA 1514.57.001. Cascade Galasso-Irish
4/29/2020 Update or Other Action There is a water line addition occurring at the cannery this summer. It does not appear that the utility will impact known contamination and ADEC is agreeable to placing the soils back in the trench from where they originated. Kara Kusche
10/16/2023 Site Visit DEC Brownfields staff met with current and former OVK staff and toured the Keke Cannery, which is undergoing significant construction. OVK plans to reuse the cannery as a social gathering space, tourist attraction, and office space. Marc Thomas

Contaminant Information

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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