| Action Date |
Action |
Description |
DEC Staff |
| 4/9/2002 |
Update or Other Action |
Date of Village of Chefornak Site Assessment Project Report by Oasis which led to this contaminated site listing. Report contained in 2408.38.000 (Chefornak Village Tank Farms and Former Tank Farms). |
Keather McLoone |
| 4/11/2003 |
Site Added to Database |
DRO contamination. |
Deborah Williams |
| 4/11/2003 |
Site Ranked Using the AHRM |
Preliminary ranking. |
Deborah Williams |
| 3/2/2004 |
Update or Other Action |
Site inventoried through TAPL funded site recon. With loss of TAPL funding to Alaska Energy Authority, ADEC will not be able to continue assessment and remediation work at this site. Working on other avenues of funding to assist school district. |
Mike Jaynes |
| 7/14/2004 |
Update or Other Action |
File number changed from 2408.42.001 to 2408.38.002 |
Sarah Cunningham |
| 11/29/2006 |
Update or Other Action |
Staff transferred from Pikul to Jaynes. |
Aggie Blandford |
| 3/18/2008 |
Exposure Tracking Model Ranking |
Initial ranking with ETM completed. |
Bill O'Connell |
| 11/20/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Communication with LKSD suggests that the tank farm is no longer being used at this location and LKSD is concerned about the tanks eroding into the river. Seeking clarification on landowner status in anticipation of future work at this site and preparation of an term contractor RFP for management approval. Information forwarded from LKSD include aerial images of site and a 6/18/08 from the local IGAP coordinator on behalf the traditional council regarding community concerns about the school sewage lagoon and the generator building and bulk fuel tanks at the former BIA school and requesting action. This letter also contains images from the site which show a corner of the tank farm's wooden pallet platform within about a foot of the river's high water mark. These images also show that the river high water mark reaches the generator building. |
Keather McLoone |
| 11/20/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Response to request forwarded from Kimberly Andrews (Department of Ed) regarding current status of property ownership: EED holds a Quitclaim Deed from the BIA for this site—recorded 1/23/89, Book 49, pages 894-897, Bethel Rec. Dist. |
Keather McLoone |
| 11/24/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Email from Gary Hanson, Plant Facilities Maintenance Manager with LKSD suggests that what the LKSD might be able to do to address the imminent danger of the tanks eroding into the river suggests that "about the only thing we can do is to move the the fuel tanks back way from the rivers edge and secure them all together so they do not float away." He also indicates signs that the erosion problem is worsening and permafrost is also melting at an increasing rate. ADEC response is to suggest that they move the tanks and that we might be able to accelerate the schedule for ADEC investigation at this site. |
Keather McLoone |
| 11/25/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Forwarded information received from LKSD about community's concerns about the school sewage lagoon. VSW staff member indicated that Chefornak's sewage system project is inactive/on hold. This project will activate when the community proves they have the managerial capacity to operate the new utility and may currently be working on passing RUBA essential indicators- which are managerial and financial benchmarks that assure the funding agency that the new facilities will not fail within the first year of operation. |
Keather McLoone |
| 12/12/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Resent email with former site figure to Gary Hanson, Plant Facilities Maintenance Manager with LKSD, asking about status of the two day tanks in the northeast corner of the generator building as this information may help with planning at this site. |
Keather McLoone |
| 12/17/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Email from Gary Hanson, Plant Facilities Maintenance Manager with LKSD, states that the school district will move the tank farm and day tanks away from the river. |
Keather McLoone |
| 12/18/2008 |
Update or Other Action |
Information regarding the tanks and erosion issues forwarded to John Brown and Bob Carlson of PERP. |
Keather McLoone |
| 3/4/2009 |
Update or Other Action |
Date of letter from PERP Bethel field office requesting the tank farm tanks be moved or cleaned and a response within 15 days. |
Keather McLoone |
| 7/8/2009 |
Site Visit |
Visit was made to the site and photgraphs taken. Day tank area contains distressed vegetation and old boom material. Tank farm and day tanks still located close enough to the river's edge to be considered in imminent danger of eroding into the river along with the generator part of the building. |
Keather McLoone |
| 6/15/2011 |
Update or Other Action |
Email on today's date confirming that the tank farm tanks have been moved. The day tank(s) are to be moved on June 24 of this year. |
Keather McLoone |
| 12/6/2011 |
Update or Other Action |
Email from LKSD regarding day tanks - "The old BIA day tanks have been removed for the utility building, however there is a toyo stove being used to heat the building, has a 55 gallon barrel tank. The building is also heated by couple of unit heaters served from the 2 new boilers." |
Keather McLoone |
| 3/13/2012 |
Exposure Tracking Model Ranking |
A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 74757 ASTs and day tanks. |
Keather McLoone |
| 3/19/2012 |
Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other |
Date of receipt of Draft Workplan prepared by Shannon & Wilson. Plan is to do additional site characterization to delineate the nature and extent at both the day tanks and former tank farm area. May want to confirm the status of the tanks that were removed and whether tank moving caused any additional contamination. May also want to get CIAP information about this site. |
Keather McLoone |
| 5/30/2012 |
Site Characterization Workplan Approved |
On this date, ADEC approved the Work Plan for Site Characterization at Chefornak Former BIA School Tanks Site submitted by S&W. Ten hand borings will be advanced in the former BIA school day tank area and 20 hand borings will be advanced in the former tank farm area to delineate the extent of soil contamination. The borings will be advanced 5 to 7 feet bgs. A soil sample will be collected from each boring based off site observations and screening results. |
Grant Lidren |
| 9/18/2012 |
Site Visit |
ADEC performed a site visit on this date during characterization work by S&W. |
Grant Lidren |
| 1/16/2013 |
Site Characterization Report Approved |
On this date, ADEC received the Site Characterization BIA School Tanks Site Hazard ID 3782 Chefornak submitted by Shannon & Wilson, dated January 2013. Ten hand borings were advanced in the former BIA school day tank area and 20 hand borings were advanced in the former tank farm area to delineate the extent of soil contamination. Hydrocarbon odors were noted in numerous soil samples at both the former tank farm area and the BIA school day tank area. Stained soil was also observed in the vicinity of the former day tank area adjacent to the generator building. Four soil samples collected from this petroleum stained area contained DRO up to 15,500 mg/kg and benzene up to 0.0358 mg/kg. A PAH sample collected within this petroleum stained area, contained 1-methlnapthalene at 34 mg/kg and 2-methlnapthalene at 9.26 mg/kg. Only one of the six soil samples collected outside petroleum stained area at the former BIA School Day tank contained contaminant concentrations above ADEC cleanup levels with DRO at 6,120 mg/kg. Due to the proximity of the generator building, the lateral extent of contamination could not be determined to the south and west. At the former tank farm area, 23 soil samples collected 0 to 3 feet bgs contained DRO up to 4,930 mg/kg. Soil samples collected outside the bermed area were less contaminated then the soil samples collected within the bermed area. The lateral extent of contamination was not defined to the northwest, northeast, and southwest of the former tank farm area. The vertical extent of contamination was not defined at either the day tank area or the former tank farm area due to the presence of permafrost at 2.5 to 3.0 feet bgs. Groundwater was not encountered in any of the boreholes. |
Grant Lidren |
| 1/7/2015 |
Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter |
State interest letter sent to Bureau of Indian Affairs, Alaska Region. |
Keri DePalma |
| 7/10/2015 |
Update or Other Action |
File review completed. SUMMARY: Contamination was originally identified during a Village of Chefornak Site Assessment Project completed in August 2001. The purpose of the site assessment was to investigate the presence and extent of contamination at five former bulk aboveground storage tank (AST) facilities in Chefornak. During the assessment, limited sampling was completed at two source areas (former BIA school day tank area and former tank farm area) and revealed that diesel range organic (DRO) was present in the surface soils up to 42,000 mg/kg, which exceeds the ADEC migration to groundwater (MTG) cleanup level of 250 mg/kg. Further characterization was completed in 2012 using CIP funding. Soil samples were collected from 10 soil borings advanced at the former BIA school day tank area and 20 soil borings advanced at the former tank farm area. DRO was present at both source areas above MTG cleanup levels (up to 15,500 mg/kg at the former BIA school day tank area and 4,390 mg/kg at the former tank farm area). This site is located about 250 feet from the Kinia River.
|
Joshua Barsis |
| 5/20/2016 |
Update or Other Action |
Responsible party letter sent to Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD). |
Erin Gleason |
| 5/20/2016 |
Update or Other Action |
Work plan request letter sent to all potentially responsible parties (PRP), which are LKSD, BIA, and DEED. |
Erin Gleason |
| 8/22/2016 |
Update or Other Action |
Received completed information request from Lower Kuskokwim School District. At present, no cleanup is planned. They are seeking funding. |
Erin Gleason |
| 8/23/2016 |
Update or Other Action |
Spoke with Chefornak IGAP coordinator on phone. The river has eroded all the way to the old generator building. The generator is still in the building but the tanks were removed years ago. The river bank in that area is used for subsistence fishing of Tom Cod and Smelt. The Head Start preschool building is adjacent to the contaminated site and is actively used. |
Erin Gleason |
| 11/21/2016 |
Exposure Tracking Model Ranking |
A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 74757 ASTs and day tanks. |
Erin Gleason |
| 5/9/2017 |
Update or Other Action |
Sent work plan request letter to ADEED and LKSD |
Erin Gleason |
| 5/23/2017 |
Update or Other Action |
Sent work plan request letter to BIA. Work plan due August 23rd. |
Erin Gleason |
| 6/22/2017 |
Update or Other Action |
Sent LKSD an inventory letter of all of their sites (including Chefornak) and the ADEC ranking. |
Erin Gleason |
| 5/29/2018 |
Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other |
Received work plan from LKSD |
Erin Gleason |
| 6/28/2018 |
Site Characterization Workplan Approved |
LKSD work plan approved by ADEC. |
Erin Gleason |
| 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 |
| 10/28/2019 |
Site Characterization Report Approved |
Received report from Shannon and Wilson on behalf of LKSD on August 1, 2019. During the 2019 characterization event diesel range organics (DRO), xylenes, ethylbenzene, and PAHs were found above cleanup levels in the former day tank area. DRO, VOC, and PAHS were found above cleanup levels in the former tank farm area. Stained soil, creosote piles, and piping were present in the former day tank area. Debris, a 300 gal above ground storage tanks (AST), 55 gallon drums, and piping were present at the former tank farm area. The full extent of contamination has was delineated to the north. The extent of the contamination needs to be determined to the south, west, and east. Groundwater was found between 2.1 and 4.9 feet below ground surface. Discontinuous permafrost was observed. Based on evaluation of aerial photographs, no further erosion of the river bank has occurred. Sent letter on this date approving the report. |
Erin Gleason |
| 10/29/2019 |
Exposure Tracking Model Ranking |
A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 74757 ASTs and day tanks. |
Erin Gleason |
| 12/31/2019 |
Update or Other Action |
Sent LKSD an inventory letter of all of their sites (including Chefornak) and the ADEC ranking. |
Erin Gleason |
| 8/6/2024 |
Site Visit |
DEC, ANTHC, and EPA visited contaminated sites and provided community outreach as part of the ANCSA Contaminated Lands Program. Interviews with local residents were conducted to gather site history and general knowledge of the areas. During the site visit, rusted machinery and logs with presumed creosote were observed. Two large pits were observed in the ground, where two aboveground storage tanks were previously been and had since been previously removed. The pits were partially filled with water. During high tide, the river encroached to the building closest to the river. Stressed vegetation was seen in several spots, but no smells were noted in the area. |
Shonda Oderkirk |
