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Site Report: Buckner Building (Whittier)

Site Name: Buckner Building (Whittier)
Address: Blackstone Road, Whittier, AK 99693
File Number: 2114.38.023
Hazard ID: 4151
Status: Active
Staff: Bill O'Connell, 9072693057 bill.oconnell@alaska.gov
Latitude: 60.774722
Longitude: -148.675000
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

The Buckner building was constructed in 1953 as the principal living quarters for the United States Army. Currently abandoned (2013), nearly all items of value have been stripped for salvage or destroyed by vandalism. The 273,660 square foot building, was historically the largest structure in Alaska. The 1964 earthquake caused major structural damage to the Buckner Building. The reuse plans for the structure are not clear, but it has been determined that any activity will require some level of environmental assessment to target specific follow up work, either prior to demolition or prior to renovation. The site was selected for a brownfield assessment to help collect important information to focus future actions by the City of Whittier.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
9/26/2005 Site Added to Database Brownfield tracking site. Deborah Williams
9/26/2005 GIS Position Updated Locational data from Topozone.com, NAD 83 from site map in the DEC Brownfields Assessment Request form. Deborah Williams
12/18/2013 Update or Other Action DEC Reuse & Redevelopment received request for site assessment of Buckner Building. Property was foreclosed upon in recent years and is in control of City of Whittier. John Carnahan
7/1/2014 Brownfields Award City of Whittier awarded SFY 2015 DEC Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup (DBAC) Services to conduct a Property Assessment and Cleanup Plan on the Buckner Building in Whittier, Alaska. EPA State and Tribal Response Program (STRP) funds $96,460 awarded, NTP# 18803603023. Current status: Phase I complete. Lisa Griswold
8/21/2014 Meeting or Teleconference Held On this date, ADEC conducted a teleconference with Shannon & Wilson, the Whittier City Manager, the Whittier Mayor, the Prince William Sound (PWS) museum manager, and the PWS economic development executive director. The teleconference discussed the Buckner Building Property Assessment work to be conducted at the end of August early September 2014. The intent of this investigation is to identify areas of suspected contamination and provide the City with information for reuse and redevelopment. Grant Lidren
9/8/2014 Site Visit On September 8, 2014, Shannon & Wilson (S&W), Engineering, Health and Safety Services (EHS), and Grant Lidren with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) visited the Buckner Building as part of the property assessment and cleanup plan (PACP). The intent of this site visit was to identify areas of suspected contamination and provide the City, as landowner, with information for reuse and redevelopment. Grant Lidren
4/22/2015 Update or Other Action Property Assessment and Cleanup Plan report received for the Buckner Building. This report contains a comprehensive evaluation of the presence of hazardous building materials including lead based paint, asbestos containing materials, mercury switches, PCB filled devices and other regulated material inside the building such as spent lead shot at the shooting ranges. At least one underground fuel storage tank is present at the site that has not been assessed and it is suspected that exterior lead based paint has flaked off the building and likely impacted the surrounding soil. Floor drains inside the structure apparently drain to Passage Canal, so there is concern that hazardous materials may have been released to the environment via this pathway. Bill O'Connell
6/25/2015 Brownfields Award Notice of SFY 2016 DBAC Award provided to City of Whittier for Buckner Building Structural Assessment. EPA State and Tribal Response Program (STRP) funds $73,171 awarded. Bill O'Connell
8/28/2015 Meeting or Teleconference Held Kickoff meeting for Buckner Building structural assessment project with City of Whittier, Shannon and Wilson, and Coffman Engineers. Bill O'Connell
9/25/2015 Update or Other Action Contract for structural assessment amended to provide for asbestos awareness training for personnel entering the Buckner Building to conduct structural assessment activities. Bill O'Connell
10/23/2015 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed Buckner Building Structural Assessment Work Plan. A Tier 1 seismic evaluation will be performed in accordance with ASCE 41-13 Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings and a general condition assessment will be performed to evaluate the building’s structural members and its ability to resist gravity and lateral loads. The report will include recommendations on the buildings potential reuse. The building will be inspected from both the exterior and interior; personnel entering the building will be trained in asbestos awareness, will wear powered air-purifying respirators and other necessary PPE, and will undergo decontamination for asbestos upon exiting the building. Bill O'Connell
2/1/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed Structural Assessment for Remedial Design, The Buckner Building, Whittier Alaska. The report includes an overall condition assessment, a Tier I seismic evaluation in accordance with ASCE 41-13, and a comparison of the as-built design to current building codes. The report concludes that, due to the poor condition of the building, retrofit of any portion of the building would exceed the cost of new construction and retrofit of the entire building is not feasible. The report recommends demolition of the building and suggests the demolition begin soon before the building becomes unsafe for the abatement teams who will need access to the building to abate the hazardous building materials before it can be demolished. Bill O'Connell
7/1/2016 Brownfields Award City of Whittier awarded SFY 2017 DBAC Services to conduct Additional Brownfields Assessment. EPA STRP funds $76,208 awarded. Lisa Griswold
6/13/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other The Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup Work Plan for the Buckner building in Whittier Alaska was received on June 2, 2017, and approved on this date. The work plan is approved upon the following conditions: 1)The work plan indicates that PCBs will be tested by EPA method 8081B. PCBs should be tested by EPA method 8082A. 2)The work plan highlights the 2009 ADEC technical memorandum Environmental Laboratory Data and Quality Assurance Requirements. This memo was updated this year. Please utilize the March 2017 technical memorandum titled Data Quality Objectives, Checklists, Quality Assurance Requirements for Laboratory Data, and Sample Handling. 3)Please submit applicable data packages as part of the final report. Lisa Griswold
2/2/2018 Site Characterization Report Approved Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup for the Buckner Building in Whittier, Alaska Report approved on this date. Surface soils contain lead up to 137,000 mg/kg with a TCLP lead of up to 964 mg/L. Asbestos was also detected in surface soils up to 1.2%. However, these soils were removed as part of the UST removal. Diesel Range Organics (DRO) was detected in subsurface soils at 2,230 J mg/kg, Residual Range Organics (RRO) at 29,900 mg/kg; Napthalene up to 0.150 J mg/kg; Benzo[a]anthracene up to 0.450 mg/kg; and Benzo[a]pyrene up to 0.530 mg/kg at 7.5-9.5 feet below ground surface, and all exceeding ADEC Method 2 cleanup levels. Groundwater contained up to 12.3 E mg/L arsenic, 11.7 E mg/L barium, 0.0259 E mg/L cadmium, 4.1 E mg/L lead, and 0.0184 E mg/L mercury, all above ADEC Method 2 Table C cleanup levels. Seven PAHs were detected in groundwater, but not above cleanup levels. However, review of Quality Assurance indicates that the detections may be biased low due to surrogate recovery not meeting Quality Control criteria. Lisa Griswold
3/20/2018 Update or Other Action Letter sent to US Army Corps of Engineers sent on this date. ADEC requests the Inventory Project Report, and any other documentation relating to environmental conditions, or transfer of ownership of the Buckner Building be submitted by May 18, 2018. Lisa Griswold
5/18/2018 Update or Other Action Documents received from US Army Corps of Engineers on this date. Lisa Griswold
7/26/2018 Update or Other Action Documents sent by US Army Corps of Engineers reviewed on this date. Documents included: May 18, 2018 cover letter; 1960 Whittier Township Maps; May 1963 preliminary report of excess real property sent to GSA; 1973 Quitclaim deed to the City of Whittier; 1996 Inventory Project Report; November 2011 Inventory Project Report; and Revised 2011 Inventory Project Report. See site file for more details. Lisa Griswold
8/24/2018 Update or Other Action Site management transferred to Bill O'Connell Lisa Griswold
2/28/2020 Update or Other Action File reassigned to a contaminated site on this date. FKA 2114.57.003. Cascade Galasso-Irish
9/2/2021 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 75123 name: auto-generated pm edit BFT - Whittier Buckner Bldg. Bill O'Connell

Contaminant Information

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State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

P.O. Box 111800
Juneau, AK 99811-1800
Phone: 907-465-5066
Fax: 907-465-5245
TDD: 800-770-8973
Physical Location: 410 Willoughby