Site Report: Klag Bay Mine

Site Name:	Klag Bay Mine
Address:	Chichagof Island, 50 miles NW of Sitka, Sitka, AK 99835
File Number:	1525.38.011
Hazard ID:	269
Status:	Active
Staff:	Mollie Dwyer, 9074651076 mollie.dwyer@alaska.gov
Latitude:	57.663175
Longitude:	-136.096542
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.

Site Chronology
IC / Closure Details
Documents
Associated Sites

Problems/Comments

A 1986 United States Fish and Wildlife Service report documenting contaminants in marine biota located in Klag Bay. Contaminants are metals, mercury, arsenic, cobalt, copper, lead and silver. In 1996, Klag Bay was placed on the EPA impaired water bodies Section 303(d) list for non-attainment of the toxic and other deleterious organic and inorganic substances criteria for metals, specifically arsenic, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, silver, and zinc. The EPA conducted a START study in 1999 that confirmed metal contamination in sediments, however, the site was not added to the National Priorities List. In 2007, DEC was contacted by the Sitka Tribe and concerns were raised regarding possible contamination of subsistence resources. In 2009, the EPA accepted the TMDL proposed by the DEC which limits metal loadings in the bay and until these loads are 99% less than documented in 2009, there can be no development at the site that would contribute additional contaminant loading. The current responsible party is Coastal Development Corp. At the request of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, the ADEC visited the site and collected shellfish and sediment samples from the tailings pile. The PEL for arsenic (42 ppm) was exceeded in all but one of the sediment samples. The concentration of arsenic ranged in concentration from 38-509 ppm. Sediment concentrations of cadmium, copper, and lead were all below their respective PEL values. Total mercury concentrations ranged from 0.01-2.21 ppm and exceeded the PEL value of 0.70 ppm in four of the thirteen samples. There is no PEL value in the SQuiRTs table for selenium. Selenium concentrations in sediments from Klag Bay Mine ranged from non-detect to 1.09 ppm, and averaged 0.60 ppm. There is no SQuiRTs value for cyanide, however, cyanide was only detected in three sediment samples and in the following concentrations: 0.17, 0.21, and 0.71 ppm. Arsenic was detected in all of the shellfish samples from the Klag Bay Mine and ranged in concentration from 2.1-66 ppm wet weight and averaged 8.7 ppm (Table 5). Cadmium was also detected in all of the shellfish samples and ranged from 0.14-0.73 ppm. Copper and lead were detected in all of the shellfish samples and averaged 1.2 and 1.0 ppm respectively. One notable clam sample had a lead concentration of 3.7 ppm. Selenium was also found in all of the shellfish samples and averaged 1.5 ppm. Cyanide was detected in all but one of the samples and ranged from non-detect to 0.19 ppm and had an average concentration of 0.1 ppm. Mercury was detected in all shellfish samples from the Klag Bay Mine. Total mercury values ranged from 0.06-0.14 ppm and averaged 0.1 ppm. 2020 Update: bivalve arsenic speciation results contained significant inorganic arsenic; the tissue samples ranged from 2.91 to 37.34 percent in softshell clams Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ID AK0002364768; EPA site name Klag Bay Site.

Action Information

Action Date	Action	Description	DEC Staff
11/27/1999	Site Added to Database	A 1986 United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) report documenting contaminants in marine biota located in Klag Bay. Contaminants are metals, mercury, arsenic, cobalt, copper, lead, silver.	Bill Janes
12/13/1999	Site Number Identifier Changed	Changed workplan from 01 to 09 to reflect metals contaminants.	Former Staff
12/15/1999	Site Ranked Using the AHRM	Surface water environments was ranked as a 5 because sediment concentrations for lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) exceed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ERLs, aresenic (As) and mercury (Hg) exceed ERMs.	Bill Janes
1/18/2001	Update or Other Action	Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) ID # AK0002364768. Discovery 5/6/98. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) contract Expanded Site Inspection 6/3/99. Metals contamination in sediments confirmed. Not on the National Priorities List.	Bruce Wanstall
8/19/2002	Update or Other Action	Teleconference (telecon) with Jarod Woodin, Union Bank of California 415-296-6793, trustee for client that holds stock in the company. Checking to see what Coastal Development Corporation needs to do. Based on telecon, responsible party (RP) changed to Coastal Development. They bought up old mining claims many years ago.	Bill Janes
1/20/2004	Update or Other Action	Call from Ken Marcy (sp) from EPA Site Assessment206-553-2782 inquiring about status of site.	Bill Janes
9/17/2004	Update or Other Action	Call from Ken Marcy (sp) from EPA Site Assessment206-553-2782 inquiring about status of site. Sent email reply stating that DEC is currently exploring options at this time, and that subsistence issues appear to a concern with the Sitka Tribe.	Bill Janes
9/20/2004	Update or Other Action	Telecon with Jarod Woodin. He provided me the PO box for Coastal Development	Bill Janes
6/7/2006	Update or Other Action	Call from Russell Caprio, Union Bank of California. They are doing their periodic reivew of the site to see if the status has changed.	Bill Janes
5/15/2007	Update or Other Action	Email from Heather Woody at the Sitka Tribe. They would like to work with DEC on investigation and possible cleanup because this is a high use sockeye subsistenc gathering area. I responded by saying that a risk assessment to include biota and sediment sampling appears merited, but that funding is an issue. I copied Lori Verbrugge from DHHS and she said they would help with study design and data review. Her preference is direct biota sampling.	Bill Janes
6/11/2007	Exposure Tracking Model Ranking	Initial ranking completed for three source areas: uplands waste rock/tailings, subtidal sediments and intertidal sediments	Evonne Reese
10/26/2010	Update or Other Action	Office visit from a person interested in mining the tailings, either processing in the uplands or shipping overseas for processing. Will come back to us with a more specific proposal and a draft prospective purchasers agreement.	Bill Janes
11/9/2010	Update or Other Action	John Cato is the Forest Service contact as of this date. 586-7869	Bill Janes
2/12/2014	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Contaminated Sites staff Duncan, Schlichting, and Brown held a second meeting on the Klag Bay Mine Site with Fish & Game, Water Quality, Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sitka Tribe, and City of Sitka. Topics discussed included: additional environmental concerns at the site, previously unpublished data and reports including biota tissue sampling data provided by the USFWS, risk communication needs for recreation and subsistence activities at the site, and site visit planning to conduct sampling to address data gaps and post informational signs and other institutional controls. Near-term followup actions by CS staff include meeting with DNR to discuss sampling along state tidelands at the site and with also DHSS to ascertain potential risks from seafood consumption and develop risk communication protocols. Site visit planning was discussed in more depth, including cost and travel logistics as well as plans for sampling. A site visit is tentatively set for mid-May 2014.	Danielle Duncan
2/18/2014	Meeting or Teleconference Held	DEC staff Schlichting and Duncan spoke with Ali Hamade with HHS and discussed possible health hazards relating to contaminated sediment and subsistence shellfish and other bottom dwelling species. Invertebrate tissue data and sediment data from prior studies (USFWS and EPA TMDLs) was shared with Hamade and he is going to do a risk assesment based on these data and resource use by people in the area. After additional data are collected (pending this summer), another human health assessment can be made.	Danielle Duncan
4/25/2014	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Meeting between Sitka Tribe of Alaska, ADFG, City of Sitka, and DEC regarding site visit and sampling plan.	Danielle Duncan
5/9/2014	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	Reviewed HHS assessment of shellfish and sent to interested parties. Due to the likely minimal shellfish harvesting in the area the total exposure is likely to be small and insignificant in most cases.	Danielle Duncan
5/9/2014	Exposure Tracking Model Ranking	A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 78215 Intertidal Sediments.	Danielle Duncan
5/9/2014	Exposure Tracking Model Ranking	A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 78218 Subtidal Sediments.	Danielle Duncan
8/26/2014	Site Visit	Visited the site and collected sediment and intertidal biota samples for metals and cyanide analysis.	Danielle Duncan
1/15/2015	Update or Other Action	Received sediment and shellfish analysis results from the DEC sampling event. Sediment results: As - 38-509 ppm, Cd, Cu, and Pb were all below their respective NOAA PEL values. Total Hg concentrations ranged from 0.01-2.21 ppm and exceeded the PEL value of 0.70 ppm in 4/13 samples. Se ranged from non-detect to 1.09 ppm, and averaged 0.60 ppm. Cn was detected in 3 sediment samples in the following concentrations: 0.17, 0.21, and 0.71 ppm. Shellfish data: As ranged from 2.1-66 ppm wet weight and averaged 8.7 ppm. Cd was detected in all of the shellfish samples and ranged from 0.14-0.73 ppm. Cu and Pb were detected in all of the shellfish samples and averaged 1.2 and 1.0 ppm respectively. One notable clam sample had a Pb concentration of 3.7 ppm. Se was found in all of the shellfish samples and averaged 1.5 ppm. Cn was detected in all but one of the samples and ranged from non-detect to 0.19 ppm and had an average concentration of 0.1 ppm. Hg was detected in all shellfish samples and ranged from 0.06-0.14 ppm and averaged 0.1 ppm.	Danielle Duncan
6/3/2015	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Met with Nortech, A. Palmieri, and Waterman Mitigation to discuss possible plans for mitigation activities. They plan on doing a field recon at the end of June.	Danielle Duncan
6/16/2015	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	Reviewed and provided comments on the STA's sampling and analysis plan for sediment and tissue sampling this field season.	Danielle Duncan
1/28/2016	Update or Other Action	Received a phone call from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska expressing concern over the site in regards to traditional resources and contamination. I will continue to involve the Tribe in future meetings and discussions as they occur.	Danielle Duncan
9/23/2016	Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter	Sent today certified 7014 2120 0001 4210 0957 to the attorney representing CDC; however the letter was returned as refused. PRP letter sent to registered agent for CDC on 2/2/17 via email.	Danielle Duncan
3/22/2017	Update or Other Action	Sent a letter to the EPA today requesting an evaluation.	Danielle Duncan
6/27/2017	Site Visit	A site visit was conducted on June 27, 2017 by Superfund Technical Assessment & Response (START) staff and members of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Based on observations made during this site visit little remains of the historic mining operations. Only 2 structures thought to be the machine shop and living quarters, the remains of multiple collapsed structures, a series of pilings, miscellaneous pieces of mining equipment, 2 approximately 10,000 gallon storage tanks, and a large waste rock pile are all that remain at the site. Equipment and materials from more recent activities at the mine are present. This equipment includes a loader, air compressors, fuel storage tanks, four cashes of rusted 55-gallon oil drums and batteries. Additionally, one flowing adit, believed to be the main adit, was observed at approximately 60 feet above mean sea level. It is known that at least two other adits are present at the site at approximately 1,000 and 1,200 feet above mean sea level; however, these adits could not be observed due to time constraints.	Danielle Duncan
10/17/2017	Exposure Tracking Model Ranking	Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 80151 name: Uplands buildings, drums, batteries, and ASTs	Danielle Duncan
10/19/2017	Update or Other Action	Approved the sampling approach this date. I had only 1 comment regarding the difficulty of obtaining samples within the bay due to water depth. Multi-incremental sampling technique and discrete sampling will occur.	Danielle Duncan
5/7/2018	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	Reviewed the 2018 expanded site inspection work plan and provided comments this date.	Danielle Duncan
8/2/2018	Update or Other Action	The site owners may give the property to the USFS - if the USFS agreed, then the owners would do a site assessment.	Danielle Duncan
8/3/2018	Update or Other Action	E&E completed the field work and are waiting for the data from the laboratory.	Danielle Duncan
8/7/2018	Update or Other Action	Per the EPA: we won’t be getting the last data sets until the end of October. Therefore it won’t be until early next year that we will have a report finished for the sampling that occurred in June.	Danielle Duncan
11/6/2018	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	Rec'd a copy of the Phase 1/summary that Travis Peterson prepared for Coastal Development Corporation on behalf of Perkins Coie. Perkins Coie shared this document with the U.S. Forest Service.	Danielle Duncan
5/22/2019	Update or Other Action	The E&E report is expected around June per the EPA.	Danielle Duncan
8/28/2019	Site Characterization Report Approved	A total of 133 samples, including 13 background soil/sediment, four background water, two background tissue samples were collected. Sample media included upland surface soil at drum caches and ASTs, waste rock/tailings, adits, intertidal sediment, subtidal sediment, bivalve tissue, and surface water. A combination of grab and ISM sampling methodologies were utilized. At the waste rock/tailings area(estimated to be 200,000 tons), 25 discrete waste rock samples and five ISM samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 12,300 mg/kg, manganese up to 676 mg/kg, and mercury up to 2.6 mg/kg. Two surface water samples collected from underneath the pile did not contain contaminant concentrations above ADEC water quality standards. At the main, lower, upper adits areas, four soil samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 1,380 mg/kg, and manganese up to 676 mg/kg. Six surface water samples collected contained arsenic up to 63.2 ug/L (main adit) copper up to 3.6 ug/L (upper adit) lead up to 2.5 ug/L (upper adit). At the four 55-gallon drum caches areas, several marked as oil drums, five grab surface soil samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 918 mg/kg, manganese up to 509 mg/kg, DRO up to 16,000 mg/kg, RRO up to 16,000 mg/kg, benzo(a)anthracene up to 2.6 mg/kg, and benzo(a)pyrene up to 2.0 mg/kg. At the two 50,000-gallon ASTs area, it was noted they were rusted out with heavy staining at the base of the ASTs. Four grab surface soil samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 50.4 mg/kg, manganese up to 3,560 mg/kg, DRO up to 230,000 m/kg, RRO up to 300,000 mg/kg, and multiple PAHs exceeding cleanup levels. At the intertidal tailings area, where there is an estimated 600,000 tons of tailings, 29 discrete sediment samples and ten ISM samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above WA Ecology Sediment Mgmt standards with arsenic up to 261 mg/kg and mercury up to 3.1 mg/kg. At the Subtidal Sediment area, 12 sediment samples collected from two transects collected contained contaminant concentrations above WA Ecology Sediment Mgmt standards with arsenic up to 244 mg/kg and mercury up to 2.7 mg/kg. Additionally, bivalve (clam) tissue samples were collected from each of the intertidal decision units for a total of seven samples. These samples contained elevated metals when compared to background with mercury up to 0.0804 mg/kg, lead up to 4.2 mg/kg, silver up to 6.86 mg/kg and methylmercury up to 29 ug/kg. Bivalve arsenic speciation results contained significant inorganic arsenic; the tissue samples ranged from 2.91 to 37.34 percent.	Grant Lidren
5/11/2020	Meeting or Teleconference Held	On this date, Contaminated Sites Program staff attended a teleconference hosted by the Sitka Tribe to discuss the Klag Bay Mine contaminated site. Other attendees included the: EPA; US Forest Service (USFS); Departments of Fish and Game (DF&G), Health and Social Services (DHSS) and Natural Resources (DNR), and other local stakeholders.	Grant Lidren
11/3/2020	Meeting or Teleconference Held	On this date, Contaminated Sites Program staff attended a teleconference hosted by the Sitka Tribe to discuss the Klag Bay Mine contaminated site. Other attendees included the: EPA; US Forest Service (USFS); Departments of Fish and Game (DF&G), Health and Social Services (DHSS) and Natural Resources (DNR), and other local stakeholders.	Jamie Grant
2/17/2021	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Meeting with DHSS to discuss Letter of Health Consultation (LHC) requested by previous PM regarding inorganic arsenic in shellfish. Letter is currently in draft form. A final LHC will be provided to ADEC.	Jamie Grant
3/4/2021	Meeting or Teleconference Held	On this date, Contaminated Sites Program staff attended a teleconference hosted by the Sitka Tribe to discuss the Klag Bay Mine contaminated site. Other attendees included the: EPA, US Forest Service (USFS), Departments of Fish and Game (DF&G), Health and Social Services (DHSS) and Natural Resources (DNR), Sitka District Forestry, Southeast Alaska Conservation Coalition (SEACC), Wildlife Foundation, Conservation Fund and two Land Trusts, and other local stakeholders.	Jamie Grant
2/24/2022	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	DHSS submitted an updated draft health consultation to ADEC. ADEC’s risk assessor commented on the draft on 2/24/2022 and DHSS responded on 3/25/2022	Mollie Dwyer

Action Date

Action

Description

DEC Staff

11/27/1999

Site Added to Database

A 1986 United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) report documenting contaminants in marine biota located in Klag Bay. Contaminants are metals, mercury, arsenic, cobalt, copper, lead, silver.

Bill Janes

12/13/1999

Site Number Identifier Changed

Changed workplan from 01 to 09 to reflect metals contaminants.

Former Staff

12/15/1999

Site Ranked Using the AHRM

Surface water environments was ranked as a 5 because sediment concentrations for lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) exceed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ERLs, aresenic (As) and mercury (Hg) exceed ERMs.

Bill Janes

1/18/2001

Update or Other Action

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) ID # AK0002364768. Discovery 5/6/98. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) contract Expanded Site Inspection 6/3/99. Metals contamination in sediments confirmed. Not on the National Priorities List.

Bruce Wanstall

8/19/2002

Update or Other Action

Teleconference (telecon) with Jarod Woodin, Union Bank of California 415-296-6793, trustee for client that holds stock in the company. Checking to see what Coastal Development Corporation needs to do. Based on telecon, responsible party (RP) changed to Coastal Development. They bought up old mining claims many years ago.

Bill Janes

1/20/2004

Update or Other Action

Call from Ken Marcy (sp) from EPA Site Assessment206-553-2782 inquiring about status of site.

Bill Janes

9/17/2004

Update or Other Action

Call from Ken Marcy (sp) from EPA Site Assessment206-553-2782 inquiring about status of site. Sent email reply stating that DEC is currently exploring options at this time, and that subsistence issues appear to a concern with the Sitka Tribe.

Bill Janes

9/20/2004

Update or Other Action

Telecon with Jarod Woodin. He provided me the PO box for Coastal Development

Bill Janes

6/7/2006

Update or Other Action

Call from Russell Caprio, Union Bank of California. They are doing their periodic reivew of the site to see if the status has changed.

Bill Janes

5/15/2007

Update or Other Action

Email from Heather Woody at the Sitka Tribe. They would like to work with DEC on investigation and possible cleanup because this is a high use sockeye subsistenc gathering area. I responded by saying that a risk assessment to include biota and sediment sampling appears merited, but that funding is an issue. I copied Lori Verbrugge from DHHS and she said they would help with study design and data review. Her preference is direct biota sampling.

Bill Janes

6/11/2007

Exposure Tracking Model Ranking

Initial ranking completed for three source areas: uplands waste rock/tailings, subtidal sediments and intertidal sediments

Evonne Reese

10/26/2010

Update or Other Action

Office visit from a person interested in mining the tailings, either processing in the uplands or shipping overseas for processing. Will come back to us with a more specific proposal and a draft prospective purchasers agreement.

Bill Janes

11/9/2010

Update or Other Action

John Cato is the Forest Service contact as of this date. 586-7869

Bill Janes

2/12/2014

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Contaminated Sites staff Duncan, Schlichting, and Brown held a second meeting on the Klag Bay Mine Site with Fish & Game, Water Quality, Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sitka Tribe, and City of Sitka. Topics discussed included: additional environmental concerns at the site, previously unpublished data and reports including biota tissue sampling data provided by the USFWS, risk communication needs for recreation and subsistence activities at the site, and site visit planning to conduct sampling to address data gaps and post informational signs and other institutional controls. Near-term followup actions by CS staff include meeting with DNR to discuss sampling along state tidelands at the site and with also DHSS to ascertain potential risks from seafood consumption and develop risk communication protocols. Site visit planning was discussed in more depth, including cost and travel logistics as well as plans for sampling. A site visit is tentatively set for mid-May 2014.

Danielle Duncan

2/18/2014

Meeting or Teleconference Held

DEC staff Schlichting and Duncan spoke with Ali Hamade with HHS and discussed possible health hazards relating to contaminated sediment and subsistence shellfish and other bottom dwelling species. Invertebrate tissue data and sediment data from prior studies (USFWS and EPA TMDLs) was shared with Hamade and he is going to do a risk assesment based on these data and resource use by people in the area. After additional data are collected (pending this summer), another human health assessment can be made.

Danielle Duncan

4/25/2014

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Meeting between Sitka Tribe of Alaska, ADFG, City of Sitka, and DEC regarding site visit and sampling plan.

Danielle Duncan

5/9/2014

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

Reviewed HHS assessment of shellfish and sent to interested parties. Due to the likely minimal shellfish harvesting in the area the total exposure is likely to be small and insignificant in most cases.

Danielle Duncan

5/9/2014

Exposure Tracking Model Ranking

A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 78215 Intertidal Sediments.

Danielle Duncan

5/9/2014

Exposure Tracking Model Ranking

A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 78218 Subtidal Sediments.

Danielle Duncan

8/26/2014

Site Visit

Visited the site and collected sediment and intertidal biota samples for metals and cyanide analysis.

Danielle Duncan

1/15/2015

Update or Other Action

Received sediment and shellfish analysis results from the DEC sampling event. Sediment results: As - 38-509 ppm, Cd, Cu, and Pb were all below their respective NOAA PEL values. Total Hg concentrations ranged from 0.01-2.21 ppm and exceeded the PEL value of 0.70 ppm in 4/13 samples. Se ranged from non-detect to 1.09 ppm, and averaged 0.60 ppm. Cn was detected in 3 sediment samples in the following concentrations: 0.17, 0.21, and 0.71 ppm. Shellfish data: As ranged from 2.1-66 ppm wet weight and averaged 8.7 ppm. Cd was detected in all of the shellfish samples and ranged from 0.14-0.73 ppm. Cu and Pb were detected in all of the shellfish samples and averaged 1.2 and 1.0 ppm respectively. One notable clam sample had a Pb concentration of 3.7 ppm. Se was found in all of the shellfish samples and averaged 1.5 ppm. Cn was detected in all but one of the samples and ranged from non-detect to 0.19 ppm and had an average concentration of 0.1 ppm. Hg was detected in all shellfish samples and ranged from 0.06-0.14 ppm and averaged 0.1 ppm.

Danielle Duncan

6/3/2015

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Met with Nortech, A. Palmieri, and Waterman Mitigation to discuss possible plans for mitigation activities. They plan on doing a field recon at the end of June.

Danielle Duncan

6/16/2015

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

Reviewed and provided comments on the STA's sampling and analysis plan for sediment and tissue sampling this field season.

Danielle Duncan

1/28/2016

Update or Other Action

Received a phone call from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska expressing concern over the site in regards to traditional resources and contamination. I will continue to involve the Tribe in future meetings and discussions as they occur.

Danielle Duncan

9/23/2016

Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter

Sent today certified 7014 2120 0001 4210 0957 to the attorney representing CDC; however the letter was returned as refused. PRP letter sent to registered agent for CDC on 2/2/17 via email.

Danielle Duncan

3/22/2017

Update or Other Action

Sent a letter to the EPA today requesting an evaluation.

Danielle Duncan

6/27/2017

Site Visit

A site visit was conducted on June 27, 2017 by Superfund Technical Assessment & Response (START) staff and members of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Based on observations made during this site visit little remains of the historic mining operations. Only 2 structures thought to be the machine shop and living quarters, the remains of multiple collapsed structures, a series of pilings, miscellaneous pieces of mining equipment, 2 approximately 10,000 gallon storage tanks, and a large waste rock pile are all that remain at the site. Equipment and materials from more recent activities at the mine are present. This equipment includes a loader, air compressors, fuel storage tanks, four cashes of rusted 55-gallon oil drums and batteries. Additionally, one flowing adit, believed to be the main adit, was observed at approximately 60 feet above mean sea level. It is known that at least two other adits are present at the site at approximately 1,000 and 1,200 feet above mean sea level; however, these adits could not be observed due to time constraints.

Danielle Duncan

10/17/2017

Exposure Tracking Model Ranking

Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 80151 name: Uplands buildings, drums, batteries, and ASTs

Danielle Duncan

10/19/2017

Update or Other Action

Approved the sampling approach this date. I had only 1 comment regarding the difficulty of obtaining samples within the bay due to water depth. Multi-incremental sampling technique and discrete sampling will occur.

Danielle Duncan

5/7/2018

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

Reviewed the 2018 expanded site inspection work plan and provided comments this date.

Danielle Duncan

8/2/2018

Update or Other Action

The site owners may give the property to the USFS - if the USFS agreed, then the owners would do a site assessment.

Danielle Duncan

8/3/2018

Update or Other Action

E&E completed the field work and are waiting for the data from the laboratory.

Danielle Duncan

8/7/2018

Update or Other Action

Per the EPA: we won’t be getting the last data sets until the end of October. Therefore it won’t be until early next year that we will have a report finished for the sampling that occurred in June.

Danielle Duncan

11/6/2018

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

Rec'd a copy of the Phase 1/summary that Travis Peterson prepared for Coastal Development Corporation on behalf of Perkins Coie. Perkins Coie shared this document with the U.S. Forest Service.

Danielle Duncan

5/22/2019

Update or Other Action

The E&E report is expected around June per the EPA.

Danielle Duncan

8/28/2019

Site Characterization Report Approved

A total of 133 samples, including 13 background soil/sediment, four background water, two background tissue samples were collected. Sample media included upland surface soil at drum caches and ASTs, waste rock/tailings, adits, intertidal sediment, subtidal sediment, bivalve tissue, and surface water. A combination of grab and ISM sampling methodologies were utilized. At the waste rock/tailings area(estimated to be 200,000 tons), 25 discrete waste rock samples and five ISM samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 12,300 mg/kg, manganese up to 676 mg/kg, and mercury up to 2.6 mg/kg. Two surface water samples collected from underneath the pile did not contain contaminant concentrations above ADEC water quality standards. At the main, lower, upper adits areas, four soil samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 1,380 mg/kg, and manganese up to 676 mg/kg. Six surface water samples collected contained arsenic up to 63.2 ug/L (main adit) copper up to 3.6 ug/L (upper adit) lead up to 2.5 ug/L (upper adit). At the four 55-gallon drum caches areas, several marked as oil drums, five grab surface soil samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 918 mg/kg, manganese up to 509 mg/kg, DRO up to 16,000 mg/kg, RRO up to 16,000 mg/kg, benzo(a)anthracene up to 2.6 mg/kg, and benzo(a)pyrene up to 2.0 mg/kg. At the two 50,000-gallon ASTs area, it was noted they were rusted out with heavy staining at the base of the ASTs. Four grab surface soil samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with arsenic up to 50.4 mg/kg, manganese up to 3,560 mg/kg, DRO up to 230,000 m/kg, RRO up to 300,000 mg/kg, and multiple PAHs exceeding cleanup levels. At the intertidal tailings area, where there is an estimated 600,000 tons of tailings, 29 discrete sediment samples and ten ISM samples collected contained contaminant concentrations above WA Ecology Sediment Mgmt standards with arsenic up to 261 mg/kg and mercury up to 3.1 mg/kg. At the Subtidal Sediment area, 12 sediment samples collected from two transects collected contained contaminant concentrations above WA Ecology Sediment Mgmt standards with arsenic up to 244 mg/kg and mercury up to 2.7 mg/kg. Additionally, bivalve (clam) tissue samples were collected from each of the intertidal decision units for a total of seven samples. These samples contained elevated metals when compared to background with mercury up to 0.0804 mg/kg, lead up to 4.2 mg/kg, silver up to 6.86 mg/kg and methylmercury up to 29 ug/kg. Bivalve arsenic speciation results contained significant inorganic arsenic; the tissue samples ranged from 2.91 to 37.34 percent.

Grant Lidren

5/11/2020

Meeting or Teleconference Held

On this date, Contaminated Sites Program staff attended a teleconference hosted by the Sitka Tribe to discuss the Klag Bay Mine contaminated site. Other attendees included the: EPA; US Forest Service (USFS); Departments of Fish and Game (DF&G), Health and Social Services (DHSS) and Natural Resources (DNR), and other local stakeholders.

Grant Lidren

11/3/2020

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Jamie Grant

2/17/2021

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Meeting with DHSS to discuss Letter of Health Consultation (LHC) requested by previous PM regarding inorganic arsenic in shellfish. Letter is currently in draft form. A final LHC will be provided to ADEC.

Jamie Grant

3/4/2021

Meeting or Teleconference Held

On this date, Contaminated Sites Program staff attended a teleconference hosted by the Sitka Tribe to discuss the Klag Bay Mine contaminated site. Other attendees included the: EPA, US Forest Service (USFS), Departments of Fish and Game (DF&G), Health and Social Services (DHSS) and Natural Resources (DNR), Sitka District Forestry, Southeast Alaska Conservation Coalition (SEACC), Wildlife Foundation, Conservation Fund and two Land Trusts, and other local stakeholders.

Jamie Grant

2/24/2022

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

DHSS submitted an updated draft health consultation to ADEC. ADEC’s risk assessor commented on the draft on 2/24/2022 and DHSS responded on 3/25/2022

Mollie Dwyer

Contaminant Information

Name

Level Description

Media

Comments

Control Type

Type

Details

Requirements

Description

Details

Letter Health Consultation

2018 Site Inspection report

No associated sites were found.

Missing Location Data

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Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Site Report: Klag Bay Mine

Site Chronology

IC / Closure Details

Documents

Associated Sites

Problems/Comments

Action Information

Contaminant Information

Control Type

Requirements

Letter Health Consultation

2018 Site Inspection report

Missing Location Data

State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation