Site Report: Skagway State Street Mystery

Site Name:	Skagway State Street Mystery
Address:	20th and State Streets, Between Blocks 23 and 20, Skagway, AK 99840
File Number:	1526.38.007
Hazard ID:	2983
Status:	Active
Staff:	Bill O'Connell, 9072693057 bill.oconnell@alaska.gov
Latitude:	59.464600
Longitude:	-135.300900
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

Free product (diesel) was encountered in 11/1998 at the vacant lot owned by Mary Lou Moe at 20th and State Streets, Skagway, Alaska. Product appeared to be initially flowing onto the property from the Department of Transportation (DOT) right-of-way. However, characterization work in 2004 indicated that the contaminant source was on-site. As of September 2018, the site has not been fully characterized nor cleaned up to regulatory standards despite DEC effort. A Notice of Environmental Contamination was placed on the property deed in February of 2015 and will remain in place until clean up actions have been completed and the site is officially closed.

Action Information

Action Date	Action	Description	DEC Staff
11/18/1998	Update or Other Action	Site visit.	Sally Schlichting
11/24/1998	Update or Other Action	Sole source contract initiated to finger print and date hydrocarbon contamination.	Sally Schlichting
5/29/1999	Site Characterization Report Approved	Contamination at the site was deemed responsibility of property owner.	Sally Schlichting
7/8/1999	Cleanup Plan Approved	Cleanup plan for contamination on property approved.	Sally Schlichting
8/27/1999	Update or Other Action	RSA- DOT $16K.	Sally Schlichting
11/18/1999	Update or Other Action	Request for site characterization.	Sally Schlichting
11/26/1999	Site Added to Database	Free product (diesel) was encountered in 11/98 at the vacant lot owned by Mary Lou Moe at 20th and State Streets.	Sally Schlichting
11/29/1999	Site Ranked Using the AHRM	Initial ranking.	Sally Schlichting
11/29/1999	Update or Other Action	Cost Recovery Letter Issued this date.	Sally Schlichting
8/21/2001	Update or Other Action	Site visit conducted.	Anne Marie Palmieri
12/5/2001	Update or Other Action	RFP for installation of monitoring wells and sampling issued to Hart Crowser.	Anne Marie Palmieri
7/16/2002	Update or Other Action	The State is paying for the cleanup. The contamination is on RP's land but it seems to be coming from upgradient. Several organizations (City/State/White Pass) are potential RPs and trying to figure out who is responsible.	Anne Marie Palmieri
1/15/2003	Update or Other Action	RFP for site characterization issued to CH2M Hill.	Anne Marie Palmieri
5/13/2003	Site Ranked Using the AHRM	Site reranked with new information from CH2M Hill.	Anne Marie Palmieri
9/24/2003	Site Characterization Report Approved	CH2M Hill Final Report approved. Report was sent to RP via her attorney and John Mielke for the church.	Anne Marie Palmieri
3/4/2004	Update or Other Action	Request for access letters sent to adjacent landowners Kurt Kosters and Les Fairbanks for the 4/04 sampling event.	Anne Marie Palmieri
6/4/2004	Update or Other Action	Project manager transition site visit - obtained GPS reading	Bill Janes
7/7/2004	Site Characterization Report Approved	Site Characterization Report was approved. Additional data was obtained in May 2004 to determine if contamination on-site was a result of upgradient sources. Contamination source appears to be on-site.	Anne Marie Palmieri
7/12/2004	Update or Other Action	Letter was sent to RP via her attorney stating that DEC has determined source is on-site.	Anne Marie Palmieri
10/21/2004	Update or Other Action	Telecon with Thurbon and Sullivan. Next step is to talk to RP's consultant to get a briefing on his findings.	Bill Janes
2/8/2005	Update or Other Action	Telecon with RP's attorney. He is looking for the report on the upgradient Coach Cleaning Shop because RP's consultant believes it has information on age of diesel. RP's attorney indicated they may be ready to go forward with remediation if it appears stable and is not migrating.	Bill Janes
2/16/2005	Update or Other Action	Reviewed Coach Cleaning Shop file. Nothing in the report regarding diesel aging.	Bill Janes
9/28/2006	Update or Other Action	RP's attorney called. Would like to get things moving again. Will be checking with a consultant to put together a plan to resample the property.	Bill Janes
2/26/2008	Exposure Tracking Model Ranking	Initial ranking with ETM completed.	Bill Janes
5/6/2011	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	Email approval sent this date to RP's attorney for the groundwater sampling and analysis plan submitted by Carson Dorn. Four wells to be sampled for GRO, DRO and BTEX.	Bill Janes
11/8/2011	Update or Other Action	Environmental Site Assessment Workplan for the property received.	Erik Norberg
1/22/2013	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	Environmental Site Assessment Workplan for the property reviewed. The report includes an investigation of three groundwater wells, MW-1, MW-2, and MW-3 at this site. A free product thickness of 0.18 inches was measured in MW-1 and a sheen was observed during sampling. DRO was found in MW-1 at a concentration of 2.3 mg/l, ethylbenzene at 0.01550 mg/l and xylenes at 0.03915 mg/l. No free product was observed in wells MW-2 & MW-3. DRO was detected at a concentration of 0.020 mg/l and RRO at a concentration of 0.18 mg/l in MW-3.	Erik Norberg
9/11/2013	Update or Other Action	Staff changed from Erik Norberg to Denise Elston.	Kristin Thompson
5/16/2014	Update or Other Action	Working with CDI on possible monitoring well sampling.	Danielle Duncan
5/20/2014	Exposure Tracking Model Ranking	A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 73958 Unknown Source.	Danielle Duncan
5/21/2014	Update or Other Action	Discussed options moving forward with attorney for RP and decided to move forward with an NEC given that obtaining more groundwater monitoring data is not possible at this time.	Danielle Duncan
6/6/2014	Institutional Control Record Established	Notice of Environmental Contamination As required by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), Grantor, pursuant to 18 AAC 75.375 b (3), Mary Lou Moe, Grantee, as the owner of the subject property, hereby provide public notice that the property located at: Parcels 11 and 12 of Lot 119 in Skagway, AK has been subject to a discharge or release, regulated under 18 AAC 75, Article 3, as revised April 8, 2012. In November of 1998, during excavation for a new foundation, free-phase hydrocarbons were discovered at the water table (7 ft. below ground surface) on the property. Approximately 100 gallons of free-phase hydrocarbon was recovered at that time. Since then, multiple environmental studies have been conducted on the property and both free-phase hydrocarbon and contaminated soil have been discovered. Due to groundwater contamination, monitoring wells were installed and sampled on various occasions both on the Moe property and neighboring lots. Some of these wells had concentrations of hydrocarbons exceeding groundwater cleanup levels established in 18 AAC 75.345, Table C. The most recent monitoring well data (2011) indicates that groundwater contamination is still present at values exceeding groundwater cleanup levels. During the 2011 monitoring well sampling event, free-phase hydrocarbon was present at a thickness of 0.18 inches and diesel range organics (DRO) was present exceeding cleanup levels.	Danielle Duncan
10/5/2015	Update or Other Action	Requested a work plan this date - certified letter # 7014 0150 0000 1161 6845	Danielle Duncan
3/2/2016	Update or Other Action	2nd formal request for a work plan this date. Certified # 7014 2021 0001 4209 6144.	Danielle Duncan
3/31/2016	Update or Other Action	Rec'd a call from the RP's attorney - may be able to get this site moving again.	Danielle Duncan
5/9/2016	Update or Other Action	3rd request for a work plan. Certified # 7014 2120 0001 4209 8308	Danielle Duncan
6/1/2016	Update or Other Action	Discussed the site with the RP's attorney. We hope to find traction on this site soon.	Danielle Duncan
8/24/2016	Update or Other Action	Spoke with the DOT today and they have some work planned in the ROW on the storm water drains, curbs, and gutters on State St. from 1st to the bridge. The City of Skagway will be doing work first in the ROW to a depth of about 8 feet replacing water lines.	Danielle Duncan
10/17/2016	Update or Other Action	A consultant has been notified and I should see a work plan to review soon.	Danielle Duncan
8/22/2017	Update or Other Action	Per the responsible party's attorney a work plan should be received soon.	Danielle Duncan
10/16/2017	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	Approved the work plan to excavate 3 test pits (TP) until encountering groundwater (approximately 7-8 feet below ground surface) on the Moe property. TP1 will be excavated in the location of monitoring well 1 where free product was observed in 2011. TP2 will be located at a location where historic field screening data indicated petroleum contamination at 5-7 feet below ground surface at 560 parts-per-million. TP3 will be located where historic field screening data indicated a petroleum concentration of 600 parts-per-million at 4-6 feet below ground surface. If groundwater monitoring well 1 where free phase petroleum product was found in 2011 can be located, then it will be sampled and analyzed for the same analytes as the soil.	Danielle Duncan
5/29/2018	Update or Other Action	Skagway finally thawed enough to dig and sample. The samples are out Gold Streak this morning. As authorized, the soils excavated from the test pits are now stored on and under impermeable tarps. I gave permission to repack the trenches with those materials for now.	Danielle Duncan
8/6/2018	Site Characterization Report Approved	Approved the Gubala Consulting report dated July 19, 2018. Three test pits were advanced on site using an excavator where historic data indicated the presence of petroleum soil contamination. Oily sheens but no free product were observed on the groundwater surface. The contaminated horizon appeared at the approximate same depth (5.5 to 6 ft. belowground) for each test pit. The results found no chlorinated compounds, but petroleum contamination above ADEC cleanup levels set forth in 18 AAC 75.340 Tables B1 and B2. Contamination was highest at TP2 and TP3 consistent with the former location of a cabin. DRO values ranged from 800 to 9,800 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) and GRO ranged from 30 to 410 mg/kg. The VOC and PAH results were also above cleanup levels in some cases.	Danielle Duncan
9/5/2019	Update or Other Action	Per the responsible party's attorney a response letter for last years site work is in the works.	Danielle Duncan
12/15/2020	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	On December 15, 2020 ADEC received the "SGY: State Street Pavement Rehabilitation Project No. 0972018/Z680850000 Contamianted Media Plan Guidance" dated October 29, 2020. The work plan summarizes procedures and construction practices to manage contaminated material if encountered, manage dewatering activities in accordance with an ADEC Dewatering permit, if necessary, field screen disturbed soil for potential contamination and manage potentially contaminated soil for reuse or disposal.	Rachael Petraeus
3/1/2023	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Spoke with a relative of the owner of the property to arrange a site visit and talk about status of the site.	Flannery Ballard
3/7/2023	Site Visit	The DEC undertook a site visit at the property this date. The DEC took photos, saved to the site file, and discussed the site history and its current status with a prospective buyer.	Flannery Ballard
5/22/2023	Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter	The DEC sent a PRP letter to Mr. Jay Burnham, who purchased the property on May 18, 2023.	Flannery Ballard

Action Date

Action

Description

DEC Staff

11/18/1998

Update or Other Action

Site visit.

Sally Schlichting

11/24/1998

Update or Other Action

Sole source contract initiated to finger print and date hydrocarbon contamination.

Sally Schlichting

5/29/1999

Site Characterization Report Approved

Contamination at the site was deemed responsibility of property owner.

Sally Schlichting

7/8/1999

Cleanup Plan Approved

Cleanup plan for contamination on property approved.

Sally Schlichting

8/27/1999

Update or Other Action

RSA- DOT $16K.

Sally Schlichting

11/18/1999

Update or Other Action

Request for site characterization.

Sally Schlichting

11/26/1999

Site Added to Database

Free product (diesel) was encountered in 11/98 at the vacant lot owned by Mary Lou Moe at 20th and State Streets.

Sally Schlichting

11/29/1999

Site Ranked Using the AHRM

Initial ranking.

Sally Schlichting

11/29/1999

Update or Other Action

Cost Recovery Letter Issued this date.

Sally Schlichting

8/21/2001

Update or Other Action

Site visit conducted.

Anne Marie Palmieri

12/5/2001

Update or Other Action

RFP for installation of monitoring wells and sampling issued to Hart Crowser.

Anne Marie Palmieri

7/16/2002

Update or Other Action

The State is paying for the cleanup. The contamination is on RP's land but it seems to be coming from upgradient. Several organizations (City/State/White Pass) are potential RPs and trying to figure out who is responsible.

Anne Marie Palmieri

1/15/2003

Update or Other Action

RFP for site characterization issued to CH2M Hill.

Anne Marie Palmieri

5/13/2003

Site Ranked Using the AHRM

Site reranked with new information from CH2M Hill.

Anne Marie Palmieri

9/24/2003

Site Characterization Report Approved

CH2M Hill Final Report approved. Report was sent to RP via her attorney and John Mielke for the church.

Anne Marie Palmieri

3/4/2004

Update or Other Action

Request for access letters sent to adjacent landowners Kurt Kosters and Les Fairbanks for the 4/04 sampling event.

Anne Marie Palmieri

6/4/2004

Update or Other Action

Project manager transition site visit - obtained GPS reading

Bill Janes

7/7/2004

Site Characterization Report Approved

Site Characterization Report was approved. Additional data was obtained in May 2004 to determine if contamination on-site was a result of upgradient sources. Contamination source appears to be on-site.

Anne Marie Palmieri

7/12/2004

Update or Other Action

Letter was sent to RP via her attorney stating that DEC has determined source is on-site.

Anne Marie Palmieri

10/21/2004

Update or Other Action

Telecon with Thurbon and Sullivan. Next step is to talk to RP's consultant to get a briefing on his findings.

Bill Janes

2/8/2005

Update or Other Action

Telecon with RP's attorney. He is looking for the report on the upgradient Coach Cleaning Shop because RP's consultant believes it has information on age of diesel. RP's attorney indicated they may be ready to go forward with remediation if it appears stable and is not migrating.

Bill Janes

2/16/2005

Update or Other Action

Reviewed Coach Cleaning Shop file. Nothing in the report regarding diesel aging.

Bill Janes

9/28/2006

Update or Other Action

RP's attorney called. Would like to get things moving again. Will be checking with a consultant to put together a plan to resample the property.

Bill Janes

2/26/2008

Exposure Tracking Model Ranking

Initial ranking with ETM completed.

Bill Janes

5/6/2011

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

Email approval sent this date to RP's attorney for the groundwater sampling and analysis plan submitted by Carson Dorn. Four wells to be sampled for GRO, DRO and BTEX.

Bill Janes

11/8/2011

Update or Other Action

Environmental Site Assessment Workplan for the property received.

Erik Norberg

1/22/2013

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

Environmental Site Assessment Workplan for the property reviewed. The report includes an investigation of three groundwater wells, MW-1, MW-2, and MW-3 at this site. A free product thickness of 0.18 inches was measured in MW-1 and a sheen was observed during sampling. DRO was found in MW-1 at a concentration of 2.3 mg/l, ethylbenzene at 0.01550 mg/l and xylenes at 0.03915 mg/l. No free product was observed in wells MW-2 & MW-3. DRO was detected at a concentration of 0.020 mg/l and RRO at a concentration of 0.18 mg/l in MW-3.

Erik Norberg

9/11/2013

Update or Other Action

Staff changed from Erik Norberg to Denise Elston.

Kristin Thompson

5/16/2014

Update or Other Action

Working with CDI on possible monitoring well sampling.

Danielle Duncan

5/20/2014

Exposure Tracking Model Ranking

A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 73958 Unknown Source.

Danielle Duncan

5/21/2014

Update or Other Action

Discussed options moving forward with attorney for RP and decided to move forward with an NEC given that obtaining more groundwater monitoring data is not possible at this time.

Danielle Duncan

6/6/2014

Institutional Control Record Established

Notice of Environmental Contamination As required by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), Grantor, pursuant to 18 AAC 75.375 b (3), Mary Lou Moe, Grantee, as the owner of the subject property, hereby provide public notice that the property located at: Parcels 11 and 12 of Lot 119 in Skagway, AK has been subject to a discharge or release, regulated under 18 AAC 75, Article 3, as revised April 8, 2012. In November of 1998, during excavation for a new foundation, free-phase hydrocarbons were discovered at the water table (7 ft. below ground surface) on the property. Approximately 100 gallons of free-phase hydrocarbon was recovered at that time. Since then, multiple environmental studies have been conducted on the property and both free-phase hydrocarbon and contaminated soil have been discovered. Due to groundwater contamination, monitoring wells were installed and sampled on various occasions both on the Moe property and neighboring lots. Some of these wells had concentrations of hydrocarbons exceeding groundwater cleanup levels established in 18 AAC 75.345, Table C. The most recent monitoring well data (2011) indicates that groundwater contamination is still present at values exceeding groundwater cleanup levels. During the 2011 monitoring well sampling event, free-phase hydrocarbon was present at a thickness of 0.18 inches and diesel range organics (DRO) was present exceeding cleanup levels.

Danielle Duncan

10/5/2015

Update or Other Action

Requested a work plan this date - certified letter # 7014 0150 0000 1161 6845

Danielle Duncan

3/2/2016

Update or Other Action

2nd formal request for a work plan this date. Certified # 7014 2021 0001 4209 6144.

Danielle Duncan

3/31/2016

Update or Other Action

Rec'd a call from the RP's attorney - may be able to get this site moving again.

Danielle Duncan

5/9/2016

Update or Other Action

3rd request for a work plan. Certified # 7014 2120 0001 4209 8308

Danielle Duncan

6/1/2016

Update or Other Action

Discussed the site with the RP's attorney. We hope to find traction on this site soon.

Danielle Duncan

8/24/2016

Update or Other Action

Spoke with the DOT today and they have some work planned in the ROW on the storm water drains, curbs, and gutters on State St. from 1st to the bridge. The City of Skagway will be doing work first in the ROW to a depth of about 8 feet replacing water lines.

Danielle Duncan

10/17/2016

Update or Other Action

A consultant has been notified and I should see a work plan to review soon.

Danielle Duncan

8/22/2017

Update or Other Action

Per the responsible party's attorney a work plan should be received soon.

Danielle Duncan

10/16/2017

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

Approved the work plan to excavate 3 test pits (TP) until encountering groundwater (approximately 7-8 feet below ground surface) on the Moe property. TP1 will be excavated in the location of monitoring well 1 where free product was observed in 2011. TP2 will be located at a location where historic field screening data indicated petroleum contamination at 5-7 feet below ground surface at 560 parts-per-million. TP3 will be located where historic field screening data indicated a petroleum concentration of 600 parts-per-million at 4-6 feet below ground surface. If groundwater monitoring well 1 where free phase petroleum product was found in 2011 can be located, then it will be sampled and analyzed for the same analytes as the soil.

Danielle Duncan

5/29/2018

Update or Other Action

Skagway finally thawed enough to dig and sample. The samples are out Gold Streak this morning. As authorized, the soils excavated from the test pits are now stored on and under impermeable tarps. I gave permission to repack the trenches with those materials for now.

Danielle Duncan

8/6/2018

Site Characterization Report Approved

Approved the Gubala Consulting report dated July 19, 2018. Three test pits were advanced on site using an excavator where historic data indicated the presence of petroleum soil contamination. Oily sheens but no free product were observed on the groundwater surface. The contaminated horizon appeared at the approximate same depth (5.5 to 6 ft. belowground) for each test pit. The results found no chlorinated compounds, but petroleum contamination above ADEC cleanup levels set forth in 18 AAC 75.340 Tables B1 and B2. Contamination was highest at TP2 and TP3 consistent with the former location of a cabin. DRO values ranged from 800 to 9,800 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) and GRO ranged from 30 to 410 mg/kg. The VOC and PAH results were also above cleanup levels in some cases.

Danielle Duncan

9/5/2019

Update or Other Action

Per the responsible party's attorney a response letter for last years site work is in the works.

Danielle Duncan

12/15/2020

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

On December 15, 2020 ADEC received the "SGY: State Street Pavement Rehabilitation Project No. 0972018/Z680850000 Contamianted Media Plan Guidance" dated October 29, 2020. The work plan summarizes procedures and construction practices to manage contaminated material if encountered, manage dewatering activities in accordance with an ADEC Dewatering permit, if necessary, field screen disturbed soil for potential contamination and manage potentially contaminated soil for reuse or disposal.

Rachael Petraeus

3/1/2023

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Spoke with a relative of the owner of the property to arrange a site visit and talk about status of the site.

Flannery Ballard

3/7/2023

Site Visit

The DEC undertook a site visit at the property this date. The DEC took photos, saved to the site file, and discussed the site history and its current status with a prospective buyer.

Flannery Ballard

5/22/2023

Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter

The DEC sent a PRP letter to Mr. Jay Burnham, who purchased the property on May 18, 2023.

Flannery Ballard

Contaminant Information

Name

Level Description

Media

Comments

Control Type

Type	Details
Notice of Environmental Contamination

Type

Details

Notice of Environmental Contamination

Requirements

Description	Details
Excavation / Soil Movement Restrictions
Other	If land ownership or zoning of the property changes, the owner or operator is required to notify the ADEC as soon as these changes occur.
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)
Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site.
Groundwater Use Restrictions

Description

Details

Excavation / Soil Movement Restrictions

Other

If land ownership or zoning of the property changes, the owner or operator is required to notify the ADEC as soon as these changes occur.

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)

Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site.

Groundwater Use Restrictions

Site Summary

Notice of Environmental Contamination

No associated sites were found.

Missing Location Data

Because the GIS location data for this site has not been entered, we cannot direct you to its position on the map. Click "Continue" to proceed to the Contaminated Sites Web Map or "Close" to return to the site report.

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Site Report: Skagway State Street Mystery

Site Chronology

IC / Closure Details

Documents

Associated Sites

Problems/Comments

Action Information

Contaminant Information

Control Type

Requirements

Site Summary

Notice of Environmental Contamination

Missing Location Data

State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation