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Site Report: Alaska Pulp Corporation – Sitka Mill Site

Site Name: Alaska Pulp Corporation – Sitka Mill Site
Address: 4600 Sawmill Creek Road, Sitka, AK 99835
File Number: 1525.38.006
Hazard ID: 410
Status: Cleanup Complete - Institutional Controls
Staff: IC Unit, 9074655229 dec.icunit@alaska.gov
Latitude: 57.048660
Longitude: -135.231580
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.

Problems/Comments

Heavy metals and dioxin in unknown quantities have been discharged in the effluent. Metals may be accumulating in the sediments. Dates of release and extent of contamination unknown. Site cleanup approach is a CERCLA model being carried out by the state, with minimal EPA involvement. The old APC LC has been replaced with the Sawmill Cove Monitoring LC since the City and Borough of SItka took over the long term monitoring following the 1999 Record of Decision. EPA ID AKD009252487; EPA site name Alaska Pulp Corp.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
8/26/1993 Site Added to Database Heavy metals and dioxin contamination. Former Staff
6/29/1994 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = CORR - Correspondence (General)). Former Staff
8/1/1994 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RECN - Site Reconnaissance (CS)). Former Staff
8/5/1994 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RPL2 - Site Information Request Letter). Former Staff
9/1/1994 Update or Other Action (Old R:Base Action Code = RI - Remedial Investigation). Former Staff
12/22/1994 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Initial ranking. Former Staff
3/15/1996 Update or Other Action Site re-ranked. GW/SW values lowered. Population lowered. Quantity Value revised to reflect contamination extents >1 acre. Toxins detected in fish tissue, but no evidence of stress. Bill Janes
9/4/1997 Institutional Control Record Established Commercial/industrial restrictive covenants on file at the Sitka Recorders Office, book 126, pages 713-716 Bill Janes
2/10/1999 Cleanup Level(s) Approved Alternative Cleanup Levels approved this date. Bill Janes
2/10/1999 Proposed Plan Proposed Plan Approved this date. Bill Janes
2/10/1999 Risk Assessment Report Approved Risk Assessment Report Approved this date. Bill Janes
4/28/1999 Record of Decision The remedy, natural recovery with Long-Term Monitoring and Institutional Controls, will meet the following Remedial Action Objective: reduce the ecologically significant adverse effects to populations of bottom-dwelling life in Sawmill Cove from hazardous substances, including wood waste degradation chemicals, to acceptable levels. The City and Borough of Sitka will be responsible for the long-term program to monitor benthic community recovery under a Memorandum of Understanding with ADEC. APC is deeding the property to CBS, who in turn will be developing the property into an industrial park. Bill Janes
4/28/1999 Institutional Control Record Established Controls are recorded for the Sawmill Cove Area of Concern. Bill Janes
7/30/1999 Long Term Monitoring Established Long-Term Monitoring Program finalized and issued by Foster Wheeler. Bill Janes
7/30/1999 Conditional Closure Approved No Further Remedial Action Planned as of this date. Bill Janes
10/6/1999 Update or Other Action The City and Borough of Sitka will assume responsibility for long-term monitoring. RFPs for baseline study were due 9/30/99 and will be reviewed this month. Site to have a new LC established called Sawmill Cove Monitoring. Bill Janes
10/29/1999 Meeting or Teleconference Held Teleconference with CBS regarding baseline monitoring contractor proposals. EVS recommended discussion. Bill Janes
12/7/1999 Update or Other Action Final bioremediation cell closure letter sent to Tom Hanna. Approximately 30 cubic yards remaining in cells. PAH levels slightly above TEQ of 1.0 mg/kg. Bill Janes
1/7/2000 Update or Other Action Reviewed APC final biocell close out report and wrote approval letter. Bill Janes
3/27/2000 Meeting or Teleconference Held Phase I baseline monitoring kickoff meeting in Sitka. Bill Janes
4/17/2000 Update or Other Action Phase I baseline monitoring this week. Bill Janes
7/14/2000 Meeting or Teleconference Held EVS presented Phase I results in Juneau. Recommendations for Phase II. Bill Janes
8/8/2000 Update or Other Action Field oversight during Phase II sampling. Bill Janes
9/11/2000 Update or Other Action Cost recovery packet sent to Law - $2,735. Bill Janes
10/11/2000 Update or Other Action $2,735.75 received by Law. Bill Janes
10/13/2000 Update or Other Action Approval given to Mark Buggins at City and Borough of Sitka to maintain the containment curtain around the outfall area in place of a navigational marker. Mooring restraints have been repaired and replaced with new cables and shackles. Placement of a navigational marker at the - 50 ft MLLW contour of the No Disturbance Zone, as stated in the Sawmill Cove Management Plan, is therefore found to be unnecessary. Bill Janes
11/30/2000 Meeting or Teleconference Held Monitoring status report meeting with EPA, NOAA, Ecology and EVS in Seattle. Bill Janes
12/5/2000 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Changed Population Density Value from 0 to 3. Former Staff
12/19/2000 Meeting or Teleconference Held Meetings in Sitka to present the results of the baseline monitoring. Sawmill Cove Industrial Park Board of Directors and general public meeting in the evening. Bill Janes
3/15/2001 Update or Other Action Phase II monitoring report approval sent. This closes out the project until 2010 unless the required 5-year review conducted in 2004 indicates further action is needed. See letter to Gary Paxton in reading file this date, or electronically stored in G:\SPAR\Spar-Contaminated Sites\SE Field Ops\SE Sites\Alaska Pulp Co\Sawmill Cove Monitoring. Bill Janes
3/16/2001 Update or Other Action Cost recovery packet $1,390.65 sent to Law. This should be the last one until the next monitoring event in 2010. Bill Janes
5/21/2001 Update or Other Action Cost recovery check received by Law for above amount. Bill Janes
5/11/2004 Update or Other Action Site visit and interviews with community members for required 5-year review following ROD signing. Bill Janes
5/28/2004 Update or Other Action CBS proposing navigational corridor dredging Bill Janes
2/2/2005 Public Notice Public notice in the Sitka Sentineal regarding the City and Borough of Sitka's proposed land use modificaion. Fourteen day comment period will end February 12 Bill Janes
3/23/2005 Update or Other Action 5-Year Review report completed. Bill Janes
3/30/2005 Update or Other Action Record of Decision Amendment issued as a result of the modification to unrestricted land use. Posted to the web site this date. Bill Janes
6/29/2006 Update or Other Action Notification from EPA this date that No Further Federal Action (NFFA) will be taken at the site. EPA Site ID Number AKD009252487 Bill Janes
7/5/2006 Update or Other Action CR check from City and Borough of Sitka for $1,066.51 received by Law. Bill Janes
9/1/2006 Update or Other Action Telecon with LIz McKenzie of a citizens stakeholder group looking into the possibility of building a new cruise ship dock at Sawmill Cove. Bill Janes
12/7/2006 Update or Other Action Per Hugh Bevan, Sitka Economic Development Association - Alaska Bottling Company purchased the bottling building and 3 acres of land from the City and Borough. The purchase and sale agreement includes an attachment that is a 2 page summary of the City's MOU with DEC for management of the site. Bill Janes
8/1/2007 Update or Other Action Site Visit Notes - Facility tour with Hugh Bevan Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Assn. is building new hatchery. Cohos will be reared there and released elsewhere. Silver Bay Seafoods new seasonal employee housing has been constructed and is now occupied. 42 inch diameter water pipe has been constructed. Hatchery will draw water and after that point the buried line is reduced to 36” diameter. It daylights and is capped at the shoreline near the old APC barge terminal. Currently no contract is in place for bulk water shipment from the facility. New 8” oufall pipe to deep water is in place and is being used by both Baranof and Silver Bay Seafoods for process water discharge. City has funds set aside for next natural attenuation monitoring event scheduled for 2010. Bill Janes
4/19/2010 Update or Other Action 10-year monitoring event planning telecon with Mark Buggins and Joe Germano. The bioaccumulation study needs to be designed to be statistically robust. The 1998 data set may not be representative; Germano to evaluate. Bill Janes
5/22/2011 Update or Other Action Contractor commenced sampling this date. All sediment grab samples collected. Sediment profile imaging begins tomorrow. Bill Janes
11/9/2011 Update or Other Action Recently spoke with Mark Buggins. The monitoring report should be completed by December or January. Bill Janes
6/5/2012 Update or Other Action Results of 2011 Long Term Benthic Monitoring and Bioaccumulation Survey in Sawmill Cove presented this date in Sitka. Approximately 83 acres of the 100-acre Area of Concern have achieved Milestone 3 (> 75% coverage by secondary consumers). This was originally projected to occur between 2020 and 2040. 54% of the AOC now has a completely recovered benthic community. Dioxin concentrations in sediments remain elevated compated to local background concentrations. However, dioxin was found to be neither bioavailable nor bioaccumulative in benthic organisms exposed to Area of Concern sediments. Bill Janes
11/14/2013 Meeting or Teleconference Held Meetings in Sitka with City officials, Sitka Conservation Society, Greenpeace, Sitka Tribe to discuss the possibility of terminating the monitoring program. Tribe, SCS and Greenpeace representatives to review report and comment by end of January 2014. Bill Janes
12/19/2013 Update or Other Action Call from a Sitka resident who stated he talked to people who claimed APC dumped PCB transformers into Sitka Sound many years ago. He is concerned about the seafood he harvests in the area. I told him we would need more specifics before we could undertake any action. He said he would check his sources and get back to us. His sources are apparently reluctant to come forward. Bill Janes
3/27/2014 Site Visit Toured site with Deputy Commissioner and SPAR Director. Bill Janes
4/15/2014 Public Notice Notice placed in Sitka Sentinel - Public comment period for revised ROD, terminating monitoring program, issued through close of business, April 26, 2014. Bill Janes
4/30/2014 Update or Other Action Record of Decision Amendment finalized as a result of modifications to allowable activities in the Area of Concern. Posted to the web site this date. Sawmill Cove Management Plan revised and streamlined. Bill Janes
7/24/2014 Institutional Control Update ADEC received the Revised Notice of Restricted Area in Sawmill Cove, the Revised MOU, and the GIS diagram of the Zone of No Disturbance or Anchor area in Sawmill Cove. The Revised Record of Decision includes the details about the conclusion of the monitoring program. The reminder system has been set up review the site conditions in five years’ time. Evonne Reese
3/15/2017 Institutional Control Compliance Review IC compliance review conducted. Kristin Thompson
3/20/2017 Update or Other Action On this date a Section 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act of 1977 permit was issued by the DEC Wastewater Discharge Authorization Program for the installation of a multi-purpose dock in Sawmill Cove. The dock location in the Area of Concern but is north of the No Disturbance Zone (NDZ) and the No Anchoring Zone (NAZ) and is covered by the 2014 Record of Decision Amendment and Revised Memorandum of Understanding which allows for dredging and in-water construction outside of the NDZ and NAZ. Included in the permit it the stipulation that states, "If it appears that there is significant disturbance from the construction activities that goes beyond the intent of the MOU, monitoring for the contaminants of concern shall be conducted and the sampling analysis results should be sent to the Contaminated Sites program and the Division of Water Program. The associated documents with this action are attached in this database record. The dock was constructed at the end of 2017 and is visible on Google Earth. The permit application and approval are attached to this database record. Evonne Reese
12/5/2017 Institutional Control Compliance Review This is a clarification that the requirement for benthic monitoring in Sawmill Cove was concluded in 2014 with the Amended Record of Decision (ROD). The ROD states the following on page 7, "As a result of faster than expected natural recovery, DEC has concluded the monitoring program. Additional monitoring or other measures are not precluded in the future if DEC believes the Area of Concern as suffered a serious setback, or if pulse events (such as massive methane or hydrogen sulfide gas releases) begin to regularly occur." Evonne Reese
4/11/2019 Update or Other Action I verified to the City of Sitka that DEC did agree with the findings of a 1996 CSM report with regards to three construction debris storage areas around the Filter Plant. The CSM Report determined that these areas did not need further investigation since there was no obvious spills or buried materials. The 1999 Record of Decision document listed the 1996 CSM report as an administrative record resource. I added the CSM report to the db attachments. Evonne Reese
12/13/2019 Institutional Control Compliance Review A review of the current Sawmill Cove IC requirements has been completed and all IC records are current and in compliance with regards to the actual cove. Some of the specific historic debris areas in the vicinity are being reviewed for land use and will be documented in the near future. Evonne Reese
12/20/2019 Institutional Control Update Received a Technician Memorandum issued by Geosyntec under contract by the Sitka Indian Tribe which evaluates past sampling and the current risks of contamination with development of the Area of Concern. This memo has been reviewed by the Contaminated Sites risk assessor and also by program management. It was determined that at this time there is not enough new information indicating there is a potential risk to support DEC requiring additional sampling and analysis. Evonne Reese
2/1/2021 Update or Other Action A January 2021 news story reported that a “Newly-discovered landfill that is eroding debris into the creek” in the high uplands area of Sawmill Cove. Winter storms sloughed off surface soil and gravel and exposed a debris pile. The area was investigated recently and confirmed that there was no smell or sheening coming from the area that would give the appearance of possible soil contamination. In the 1996 Current Situation/Site Conceptual Model Report this area was documented and removed from the list of areas for evaluation since the site did not reveal any evidence of spills or buried materials (page 4-22). Also this document states that the area contained scrap construction debris and was not used for waste disposal. Evonne Reese
12/17/2021 Institutional Control Update Reviewed a geotechnical scope of work for assessing the debris site behind the former pulp mill filter plan. This is an initial proposal so there was nothing to add from DEC. Evonne Reese
10/28/2022 Update or Other Action Received a copy of the Geotechnical Data Report for the APC Pulp Filter Plant Slope from DEC Solid Waste. This is the issue that was documented in the 2021 action entries and confirmed that the 1996 Current Situation/Site Conceptual Model Report this area was documented and removed from the list of areas for evaluation since the site did not reveal any evidence of spills or buried materials (page 4-22). This area contains scrap construction debris and was not used for waste disposal and the Geotechnical Data Report confirms this. This issue is being overseen by DEC Solid Waste. Evonne Reese

Contaminant Information

Name Level Description Media Comments
4-Methylphenol > Site Specific Sediment Criteria Sediment - Marine 4 - Methylphenol AKA Cresol
2,3,7,8-TCDD Other Soil The 1997 restrictive covenant shall remain in place until 2097 or until dioxins and furans are no longer present on the property in concentrations exceeding site specific, risk-based residential cleanup levels, whichever comes first.

Control Type

Type Details
Notice of Environmental Contamination Book 137, page 102, Sitka Recording Office recorded May 1999.
Equitable Servitude Two restrictive covenants were rescinded March 29, 2005 and two are still in place. The two which were rescinded apply to the Sawmill Cove Industrial Park, which is the former developed mill site. Development is allowed on this area.

Requirements

Description Details
Other The No Disturbance Zone (NDZ) encompasses approx. 6 acres within Alaska Tideland Patent No. 20 in reference to ATS No. 6 (ADL 02191). Long term benthic community recovery monitoring was initially required every 10 years from date of 1999 Record of Decision. Monitoring program terminated as of April 2014 because recovery is ahead of predictions. Anchoring in most of the AOC is allowed except for the NDZ, under the amended Record of Decision, finalized on April 30, 2014.
Periodic Review Every five year review landuse at Sawmill Cove Industrial Park, Herring Cove landfill, and the Sawmill Cove No Disturbance Zone including the "no anchoring" corridor along the outfall pipline. As part of this review contact the Borough of Sitka Planning Department.
Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site. Standard condition.
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) Standard condition.
Restricted to Industrial / Commercial Land Use The remaining two restrictive covenants are effective and disallow human habitation, schooling of children, hospital care, child care or any purpose necessitating around-the-clock residence by humans. They apply to the former industrial waste landfill and the Herring Cove landfill.

No associated sites were found.

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Juneau, AK 99811-1800
Phone: 907-465-5066
Fax: 907-465-5245
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