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Site Report: Eielson AFB (SER-2) (ST056) Engineer Hill

Site Name: Eielson AFB (SER-2) (ST056) Engineer Hill
Address: End of Transmitter Road, Eielson AFB, AK 99702
File Number: 107.38.052
Hazard ID: 384
Status: Active
Staff: Axl LeVan, 9074512156 axl.levan@alaska.gov
Latitude: 64.737688
Longitude: -147.046569
Horizontal Datum:NAD27

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

Diesel fuel spill of unknown quantity at boiler plant. Site is an active munitions storage and maintenance compound located 3 miles north-northeast of the main base. PCE and fuel-related compounds have been found in both the old and new water-supply wells. The original source is unknown. Active 1990. Currently inactive. The site is assigned a HIGH overall risk by the Air Force Relative Risk Evaluation Worksheet dated 10/23/95. The remedial action objectives for the site are to supply drinking water to the facility, apply wellhead treatment and prevent the use of contaminated ground water.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
1/17/1992 Site Added to Database This site is included in the state EPA Eielson FFA 100.38.011. Former Staff
2/23/1993 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RPL2 - Site Information Request Letter). Sent PRP-CS database Notification Letter to RP requesting update and more environmental information concerning contaminated site. Department of the Air Force responded with update of requested site information on 3-17-93. Jeff Peterson
1/4/1995 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Initial ranking. Jeff Peterson
2/16/1996 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RA - Remedial Action). Received Remedial Action Workplan. Clint Adler
9/24/1996 Record of Decision Final Site-Wide Record of Decision, September 1, 1996; two documents received. Rielle Markey
3/24/1997 Update or Other Action Site updated by Shannon and Wilson, based on the Air Force Relative Risk Evaluation Worksheet dated 10/23/95. S&W
12/19/2001 Long Term Monitoring Established Site is in Long-term Monitoring. Staff received Draft 2001 Site-Wide Monitoring Report. Only one well was sampled for VOCs. PCE=7.5 ppb and TCE = 24.7 ppb. No trend in the data is evident. Ann Farris
12/26/2001 GIS Position Updated Worked with Heather Goldman obtaining GIS latitude and longitude from 1:63,300 topographic map. Heather Goldman
1/14/2002 Site Number Identifier Changed Changed Workplan from X1 to X9 to reflect presence of a hazardous substance. Ann Farris
9/2/2002 Institutional Control Record Established When the OU-3,4,5 ROD was signed in 1995, it established institutional controls for this site. These ICs include: a prohibition on the installation or use of drinking water wells, a requirement that all monitoring wells are secured with locks, any activity that may result in exposure to contam. g.w. or moving contam. g.w. requires approval of CES/CEV, any activity disturbing a remedial action requires approval of CES/CEV, any activity that may result in exposure to or removal of contam. soil requires approval of CES/CEV, if contam soil or g.w.. are removed from the source, they must be disposed of or treated in accordance with regulation, and a requirement to notify ADEC and EPA of any proposal to change the existing land use or land use controls at the site. Ann Farris
9/19/2003 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff attended a meeting with Air Force and EPA personnel to resolve comments on the draft Eielson Five-Year Review. Issues with the document included event-driven groundwater sampling at several contaminated sites, which we denied pending further clarification of the process, and closing numerous sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), but keeping them open under the State until 18 AAC 75 diesel range organic cleanup levels are met. Ann Farris
8/26/2004 GIS Position Updated Position acquired using "Base MW Map 2004" CAD drawing from EIAFB georeferenced to QuickBird Satellite imagery, NAD27. Also updated Section to 13 from 11, and Township to 2 from 3. Torsten Ernst
3/1/2006 Update or Other Action Staff had a telephone call with Eielson AFB to discuss their long-term monitoring program optimization. Eielson would like to apply "event-driven monitoring" to many benzene-contaminated sites, where monitoring would occur when the concentration reached the MCL at a predicted time. They are using MAKSENS to do the statistical regressions and come up with a slope indicating benzene degradation rates. This slope would predict when the concentrations would reach the MCL and monitoring would occur at that time only. They would like to apply this slope to other "similar sites" to predict when the concentrations would reach the MCL. Eielson submitted the concept to AFCEE for review, but apparently AFCEE requested more data, which Eielson did not have. At this point, DEC has not reviewed any data on this concept and requested Eielson submit a report showing the data and justification of their assumptions. Emily Youcha
7/6/2006 Update or Other Action ADEC agreed to decrease sampling of the North Boundary Wells from annual sampling to biennial. Upcoming measurements will be summer 2007, 2009, 2011, etc. Concentrations of VOCs, SVOCs, and metals in the sentinel wells have been monitored annually since 1992 and there has been no detection of contamination. Emily Youcha
9/25/2007 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites staff participated in a facilitated three-party meeting with the Air Force and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) covering the environmental restoration at Eielson Air Force Base. The meeting was held in Seattle at the EPA Region 10 office. CS and the facilitator called for the meeting due to poor communication between the three parties and growing disagreements on matters fundamental to regulatory oversight on Eielson. Initially, each of the three parties was given an opportunity to talk generally about their involvement with the work at Eielson and their concerns. This lead to discussions of the Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) between the parties for base, as it appears that each party interprets specific sections of the FFA differently. Other topics discussed included the applicability of Freedom of Information Act exclusions applied to draft documents submitted to DEC, Eielson's plans for changing the frequency of groundwater monitoring for selected contaminated sites, vapor intrusion as a pathway to reconsider in the upcoming five-year review of records of decision, challenges posed by enforcing institutional controls as part of site remedies, and spill reporting coordination with DEC. Deborah Williams
5/12/2008 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed. Deborah Williams
7/14/2008 Meeting or Teleconference Held ADEC participated in Eielson's 5 year ROD Review with EPA and Eielson. The sites covered in the ROD Review were the following: ST20, ST48, SS50-52, ST10/SS14, ST13/DP26, DP44, WP45/SS57, ST56, SS61, DP25, ST58, LF03/FT09, WP38 and SS67. Bioventing systems for ST10/SS14 and ST13/DP26 will cease operation during the summer of 2008. ADEC is concerned about LTM issues with SS35 and SS37 because of the potential for spills to be released from buried containerized wastes which are present at both of these sites. The vapor intrusion pathway will be evaluated at many of the sites where there are volatile compounds as a COC at the site and where there are potential receptors. All of these sites will be incorporated into Eielson's Land Use Control plan for the Base and the long term monitoring will be Event Driven Monitoring Program. Deborah Williams
11/24/2008 CERCLA ROD Periodic Review ADEC issued a letter of concurrence on the 2008 Five-Year ROD review for Eielson AFB. In the letter ADEC concurred with the current remedies but recommends further work on the following: the vapor intrusion pathway needs to be evaluated for all potential receptors at WP45/SS57 site along with further evaluation of the selected remedy to ensure the Remedial Action Objectives are going to be met. The buried drums remaining at SS35 may still contain product that may pose a potential risk to ecological and human health risk in the future. The area of buried drums identified outside of SS37 may pose a threat of an imminent release of hazardous substances and warrants further investigation or response action. As stated in the 2008 Five-Year ROD Review, the overall long-term protectiveness determination for the Sitewide OU/Garrison Slough remedy will be further investigated. A Land Use Control Management Plan should be developed and implemented. Deborah Williams
8/29/2011 Site Visit CS, EPA and USAF staff conducted a site visit. The small structure around the old well was unlocked and in poor condition. A large aboveground storage tank, located near the well house, was in poor condition but appeared to be empty. Other bunkers appear to be largely abandoned but at least a few are still in use. Not all monitoring wells shown on maps could be located. Kathleen Beutel
3/18/2014 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other 2012-Final installation-wide monitoring program report received June, 24 2013. During the 2012 season, a total of 38 PSG samplers were installed and sampled. Through PSG the (TVOCs) total volatile organic compounds found PCE was detected at a maximum mass of 5,488ng located approximately 100ft east of Building 6163.Total VOCs (primarily naphthalene) were detected at a maximum mass of 4,786ng located approximately 150ft east of Building 6162.Total VOCs (primarily BTEX and other fuel compounds) were detected at maximum masses of 1,439 and 1,307 ng in two samples located approximately 200ft north of the septic tank. No new wells were installed at this site and one existing well was sampled. There was no detected COCs (Contaminant of concern) or COPC (Contaminant of potential concern) with levels that exceeded current MCL (Maximum contaminant level) or ADEC groundwater levels. No known groundwater contaminant plume has been identified at this site. Munitions constituents and metals have the potential to impact groundwater at this source area, but were not included in the 2012 monitoring event. COC concentrations remained below detection limits at monitoring well, which is completed in the alluvium of the regional aquifer. Additional monitoring wells completed in the regional aquifer were unavailable for sampling during the 2012 field season and no bedrock aquifer sampling locations were available; as a result, plume stability cannot be determined. Anna Iverson
5/1/2014 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other 2013-Draft installation-wide monitoring program (IWMP) report received March, 26 2014. During the spring and fall 2013 monitoring events, 1 well down-gradient of the source, was sampled in spring and fall 2013. A production well was sampled in fall 2013 using alternative sampling techniques, under a supplemental work plan. A 3rd well could not be sampled in either spring or fall because the well was dry. . There was no detected COCs (Contaminant of concern) or COPC (Contaminant of potential concern) with levels that exceeded current MCL (Maximum contaminant level) or ADEC groundwater levels. No known groundwater contaminant plume has been identified at this site. However, data gaps were identified in both the 2012 IWMP and 2013 FYR, and will be addressed in the 2014 IWMP. Anna Iverson
6/10/2015 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Approval issued for the "Final Workplan for Additional Well Installations, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska" dated 26 May 2015. The workplan describes the installation of 20 new monitoring wells at ten source areas (i.e. ST10/SS14, ST13/DP26, ST18, ST19, DP44, SS61, SS37, ST58, LF04, and SS534)across Eielson, as well as the redevelopment of drinking water well NWS56WH at Source Area ST56 (Engineer Hill). Melinda Brunner
9/1/2015 Update or Other Action As discussed at the Eielson RPM meeting, an attempt was made to redevelop the former drinking water well at ST56. The well is screened at about 413'. An obstruction was encountered around 275' and the attempt was unsuccessful. Eric Breitenberger
9/22/2015 CERCLA RI Plan Approved Joint approval issued by EPA and DEC for the final "Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study Management Plan For Operable Units 3, 4, and 5 Source Areas, Eielson Performance-Based Remediation, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska" dated September 2015 (OU 3, 4 & 5 RI/FS MP). The OU 3, 4 & 5 RI/FS MP describes planned remedial investigations at 23 contaminated sites at Eielson Air Force Base, including ST56. Melinda Brunner
9/22/2015 CERCLA RI Plan Approved DEC and EPA jointly approved the "2015 Annual Field Sampling Plan, Eielson Performance-Based Remediation, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska" dated September 2015 (FSP). The FSP describes remedial investigations planned for 2015 at 21 contaminated sites at Eielson Air Force Base, including ST56. The FSP is meant to be used in conjunction with the appropriate remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) management plan(i.e. OU 3,4,& 5) and the Programmatic Quality Assurance Project Plan. Melinda Brunner
7/22/2016 Institutional Control Compliance Review DEC and EPA Approved the Final 2016 Installation-Wide Monitoring Program Quality Assurance Project Plan Addendum No. 5. The IWMP QAPP Add. 5 updates the 2012 IWMP QAPP for the 2016 field season. Changes and additions to the existing network of monitoring wells were described. Monte Garroutte
8/5/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC Reviewed the OU 3,4,5 RI/RA report. This report included the characterization of multiple sites. Monte Garroutte
4/25/2017 Update or Other Action DEC reviewed and provided comments on the Draft Programmatic Quality Assurance Project Plan, Addendum No. 2, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska (March, 2017). John O'Brien
7/18/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC reviewed and provided comments on the Installation-Wide Monitoring Program, 2016 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska (June, 2017). John O'Brien
8/6/2018 CERCLA ROD Periodic Review DEC evaluated "Fifth Five-Year Review Report for Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska" draft dated April 2018 and issued comments. Bri Clark
8/10/2018 Institutional Control Periodic Reporting DEC and EPA reviewed the "Installation-Wide Monitoring Program 2017 Groundwater Monitoring Program" for Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska dated March 2018 and issued comments. Bri Clark
12/19/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC reviewed and issued a secondary round of comments on the, "Draft Final Supplemental Remedial Investigation/Risk Assessment Report for OU3,4,5 Source Areas, Eielson Performance-Based Remediation, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska," dated October 2018. Bri Clark
12/19/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC reviewed and provided comments on the "Draft Installation-Wide Monitoring Program Quality Assurance Project Plan, Addendum No. 8, Eielson Performance-Based Remediation, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska," dated November 2018. Bri Clark
2/13/2019 Institutional Control Periodic Reporting DEC and EPA approved the Installation-Wide Monitoring Program 2017 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, dated January 2019. Bri Clark
3/4/2019 Institutional Control Periodic Reporting DEC issued comments on the Draft Installation-Wide Monitoring Program 2018 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, dated January 2019. This report describes the groundwater monitoring activities conducted installation-wide in 2018. Bri Clark
10/17/2019 Update or Other Action DEC provided approval for a field change form to the 2017 Performance Based Remediation Annual Field Sampling Plan. The field change allows the Air Force to install 3 permanent groundwater wells at ST056 to more fully assess the source of TCE detections. The additional wells were requested in regulatory review comments for the Draft OU3, 4, 5 RI/RA report. Dennis Shepard
3/3/2021 Update or Other Action ETM updated on this date. Cascade Galasso-Irish
6/2/2021 CERCLA RI Report Approved The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) provided joint approval of the Final Supplemental Remedial Investigation/Risk Assessment Report for OU3,4,5 Source Areas, Eielson Air Force Base (May 2021). The report summarizes remedial investigation (RI)/risk assessment (RA) activities conducted from 2015 through 2018 at Source Areas LF001, LF002, LF003/FT009, LF004, LF006, WP032, WP033, SS036, SS037, DP044, WP045/SS057, DP055, ST056, SS061, and SS064 on Eielson Air Force Base. Dennis Shepard
8/29/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided backcheck review comments for the Final Supplemental Remedial Investigation Work Plan, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska (August 2022). The Supplemental Remedial Investigation (RI) Work Plan describes the 2022 RI activities to be conducted at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The scope of the Supplemental RI is to address current data gaps at the CERCLA source areas on Eielson AFB for all operating units. Dennis Shepard
9/19/2022 CERCLA RI Plan Approved EPA and DEC provided a joint approval for the Final Supplemental Remedial Investigation Work Plan Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska (September 2022). The scope of this Supplemental RI is to address current data gaps at the CERCLA source areas on Eielson AFB. The data gaps are generally related to the incomplete characterization of site contaminants under the 2015-2021 Performance Based Remediation (PBR) and emerging contaminants identified since the 2015-2021 PBR. Axl LeVan

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments
Trichloroethene > Table C Groundwater
Tetrachloroethene > Table C Groundwater

Control Type

Type Details
Interagency MOU Operable Unit 3, 4, 5 Record of Decision

Requirements

Description Details
Groundwater Monitoring Monitor monitoring wells and water-supply wells. Site is included in Sitewide Monitoring Program. Annual sitewide monitoring report.
Groundwater Use Restrictions The facility has been supplied with drinking water. Water from the water-supply well has been restricted to use for toilets, boilers, and sinks.
Hazard ID Site Name File Number
26510 Eielson AFB (SO072) Bldg 6163 Igloo 107.38.137

Missing Location Data

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