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Site Report: Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline MP 420.25 - GV 52

Site Name: Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline MP 420.25 - GV 52
Address: Alaska Highway Mile 1309.25, Tok River Campground Space #14, Tok, AK 99780
File Number: 900.38.001
Hazard ID: 4472
Status: Active
Staff: Kelly Walker, 9074512166 kelly.walker@alaska.gov
Latitude: 63.325444
Longitude: -142.834917
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 Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline (HFP), and its associated five pumping stations and bulk storage terminals, was constructed in 1953 and 1954 by the U.S. military. The HFP was built to transport fuels from the port at Haines, Alaska, to the military bases in interior Alaska. Much of the 8-inch diameter pipeline was laid on the ground surface, including the section near Gate Valve 52 (GV52). GV52 is part of the HFP and is located approximately 4.5 miles east of Tok, Alaska within the Tok River State Recreation Site. A release resulting from a vehicle striking the valve reportedly occurred on December 15, 1967. The type and amount of product spilled as a result of this incident are unknown. Given that the gate valve was buried within a concrete vault, the vehicle most likely struck a surface bleeder valve associated with the gate valve. A campground hand pump, installed in 1971, was located approximately 60 feet south-southwest of the former gate valve. A new campground well was installed in September 2011, up gradient of known contamination to replace the previous campground well. The old campground well casing has been sealed and cannot be used. Investigations and monitoring continue. This location also known as ADNR Tok River Wayside Campground in CS database. File number: 130.38.012. Soil data collected in 2007 (2 samples and a duplicate) indicated that DRO was present at 2,400 mg/kg. GRO was present at 430 mg/kg. All other contaminants were below cleanup levels with the exception of arsenic which was within background concentrations.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
7/17/2007 Site Characterization Workplan Approved workplan approved this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
10/22/2007 Site Added to Database Site added to the database. Mitzi Read
4/29/2008 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Workplan approved this date for USACE ROST activities. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/4/2008 Site Characterization Report Approved Report from 2007 activities approved this date. 20 cubic yards of petroleum contaminated soil was excavated and sent to OIT for disposal. Confirmation samples showed DRO concentrations of 4300 mg/kg and GRO 430 mg/kg remaining. A water sample collected from the campground handpump was below the Table C groundwater cleanup levels. Anne Marie Palmieri
3/5/2009 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 75459 name: auto-generated pm edit Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline MP 420.25 Anne Marie Palmieri
9/29/2010 CERCLA SI 2008 ROST SI Report approved. 12 probes were installed and no analytical samples were collected. Petroleum contaminated soil was found to be fairly limited. Additional investigation will occur in 2010-2011. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/20/2012 CERCLA RI Report Approved RI approved this date. Report covers GVs 45, 49, 52, and 59. Field work was conducted in 2010-2011. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/4/2013 Update or Other Action Project manager changed from Palmieri to Morris. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/24/2013 Site Characterization Workplan Approved The ADEC Contaminated Site Program approved the 2013 Final Work Plan Addendum, Gate Valve #52 Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline FUDS Site, Tok, Alaska. Jessica Morris
1/8/2014 Site Characterization Report Approved The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program approved the 2013 Updated Remedial Investigation and Treatability Study Report, Gate Valve #52 Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline FUDS Site. Jessica Morris
8/7/2014 Site Characterization Report Approved The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program approved the Final Fall 2013 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Gate Valve #52 Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline FUDS Site. Jessica Morris
10/7/2014 Site Characterization Workplan Approved The ADEC Contaminated Site Program approved the Final 2014/2015 Work Plan Addendum, Gate Valve #52 Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline FUDS Site, Tok, Alaska. Jessica Morris
5/20/2015 Site Characterization Report Approved The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program approved the Final 2014 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Gate Valve #52 Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline FUDS Site. Jessica Morris
10/28/2015 Site Characterization Report Approved The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program approved the Final 2015 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Gate Valve #52 Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline FUDS Site. Jessica Morris
12/17/2015 Update or Other Action Staff changed to Danielle Duncan and hard file transferred to the Juneau office. Kristin Thompson
2/25/2016 Update or Other Action Working with the DOT and Army on decommissioning MW12 that is in the way of a planned detour in preparation to repair the Tok bridge. Danielle Duncan
2/26/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Rec'd the Gate Valve 52 Work Plan Addendum and Comment form this date. Danielle Duncan
3/3/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other The Gate Valve 52 Work Plan Addendum describes a groundwater sampling event and decommissioning of 16 ISCO injection wells at the site due to them not significantly contributing to improving groundwater quality. Final sampling and decommissioning of MW12 which is in the way of the Tok River Bridge work will be included in the final work plan. Field work will be spring 2016. A long term groundwater monitoring plan will also be prepared as part of the project objective. I provided comments including sampling either the monitoring well closest to the campground well or the campground well itself. Danielle Duncan
4/14/2016 Update or Other Action Rec'd responses to my comments on the work plan on March 31 2016. Sent a letter approving the responses today. Danielle Duncan
5/2/2016 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Rec'd final work plan addendum on 4/2/16 and approved this date via letter. The Gate Valve 52 Work Plan Addendum describes a groundwater sampling event and decommissioning of 16 ISCO injection wells at the site due to them not significantly contributing to improving groundwater quality. Final sampling and decommissioning of MW12 which is in the way of the Tok River Bridge work will also be done as part of the work. A long term groundwater monitoring plan will also be prepared as part of the project objective in order to characterize the groundwater contamination plume. Although the campground well is not being sampled at this time, please note that prior to site closure, it must be sampled at least once to ensure that the drinking water on site is not contaminated. Danielle Duncan
9/27/2016 Meeting or Teleconference Held Meeting with USACE and their consultant. I was provided a draft of the groundwater monitoring well data including the most recent results. These results indicate that the ISCO treatments were not working and in some cases, the DRO concentrations in groundwater increased. The data was plugged into a statistical groundwater program and the results suggest that in general over the 5 year period, the DRO concentrations have been decreasing or they are stable. Despite this result, I informed them that the DRO concentrations in groundwater up to 8.6 mg/L are too high for monitored attenuation to be the preferred remedial method. These data suggest a source of fuel so far not found, although the initial spill was caused by a vehicle hitting a bleeder valve and not the gate valve itself. I recommended locating and excavating the suspected source area. In any case, the site is not recommended for monitored natural attenuation or closure especially since there is a drinking water well on site for the state park there. Funding for this project is not approved for this year therefore no water samples will be collected. Danielle Duncan
1/19/2017 Update or Other Action Reviewed the draft groundwater monitoring report this date and provided comments. Danielle Duncan
3/10/2017 Site Characterization Report Approved Approved the final groundwater monitoring report this date. Groundwater and soil contamination greater than ADEC cleanup levels is further described. Danielle Duncan
3/10/2017 Update or Other Action Approved the work plan for the groundwater monitoring wells to be sampled in addition to the campground well. Danielle Duncan
1/4/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Provided minor comments on the SAP Addendum this date and accepted the responses. Danielle Duncan
1/24/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed and approved the 2017 groundwater sampling report. The westernmost well (MW7) and the northernmost well (MW4) were free of contamination. The easternmost well (MW5) and southernmost (MW12) wells historically have been free of contamination above ADEC cleanup levels and therefor were not sampled. The remaining wells had petroleum contamination above ADEC cleanup levels to varying degrees. DRO was as high as 5.3 mg/L in MW11 which is located within the pipeline corridor. GRO was also high in MW11 (6.2 mg/L). A high concentration (12 mg/L) of GRO was also measured in MW8 which is also within the pipeline corridor. Danielle Duncan
4/2/2018 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 75459 auto-generated pm edit Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline MP 420.25. Danielle Duncan
4/3/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed and provided comments on the Draft Groundwater Sampling Work Plan 2018 Timber Pump Station and Gate Valve #52 this date. Danielle Duncan
4/5/2018 Update or Other Action Accepted responses to my comments on the DRAFT Groundwater Sampling WP Addendum, Timber Pump Station and GV52 (March 2018) this date. Danielle Duncan
5/10/2018 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Approved the Final Groundwater Sampling Work Plan 2018 Timber Pump Station and Gate Valve #52.Eleven groundwater monitoring wells will be sampled and analyzed for GRO, DRO, RRO, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), naphthalene, 1,2-dichlotoethane (1,2-DCA), and EDB. In addition, the campground well will be sampled and analyzed for GRO, DRO, RRO, BTEX, 1,2-DCA, EDB, and PAHs. Danielle Duncan
7/5/2018 Update or Other Action Brice Environmental, is planning to sample the groundwater monitoring wells and the drinking water well at the Tok River Recreation Area, which is the FUDS Gate Valve #52 Project. The sampling will take place next week between Wednesday and Saturday. The sampling should have minimal impact on camping activities. The main impact will be a brief period of time when the drinking water well will not be available for use. Danielle Duncan
8/23/2018 Update or Other Action The groundwater has been sampled - awaiting results. Danielle Duncan
11/27/2018 Meeting or Teleconference Held Met with the DNR and the USACE on projects. Danielle Duncan
2/13/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Accepted Brice's responses to my comments on the Draft 2018 Groundwater Sampling Report. Danielle Duncan
2/13/2019 Site Characterization Report Approved Approved the 2018 Final Groundwater Sampling Report this date. The results for groundwater monitoring wells MW13, MW9, MW8, MW3, MW10, MW2, MW6, and MW11 were above cleanup levels for one or more analytes. The campground well had the following detections that were below cleanup levels: 0.85 micrograms per liter (µg/L) toluene, 0.0086 µg/L phenanthrene, 0.0068 µg/L 2-methylnapthalene, and 0.0056 µg/L 1-methylnapthalene. MAROS software was used to evaluate the trends in concentration for EDB, benzene, DRO, and GRO for each of the wells. The software found an increasing trend for one well only (MW13) and it was for DRO which met the cleanup level, but the concentrations of EDB, benzene, and GRO did not. There were decreasing concentration trends in four cases out of 44. No trend at all was identified in the majority of cases. The report concluded that additional monitoring (including the campground well) is recommended and the ADEC concurs due to the lack of trends for many wells and analytes and the increased concentrations recently measured. Danielle Duncan
5/23/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the Groundwater Monitoring Plan received on May 9, 2022. Wells will be sampled and gauged. Comments sent 5-23-22 Lisa Krebs-Barsis
7/8/2022 Site Characterization Report Approved A groundwater monitoring work plan was approved. Groundwater monitoring will occur at 52-MW2, 52-MW3, 52-MW4, 52-MW5, 52-MW6, 52-MW7, 52-MW8, 52-MW9, 52-MW10, 52-MW11, and 52-MW13. Samples collected from the wells will be analyzed for GRO, DRO, RRO, BTEX, naphthalene, 1,2-DCA, and EDB. Samples from wells 52-MW2, 52-MW3, 52-MW6, 52-MW8, and 52-MW11 will be analyzed for 2-methylnaphthalene. Samples from wells 52-MW2 and 52-MW8 will be analyzed for lead. A campground well will be analyzed for GRO, DRO, RRO, BTEX, naphthalene, 1,2-DCA, EDB, and PAH. Lisa Krebs-Barsis
7/24/2023 Site Characterization Report Approved DEC reviewed and approved the 2022 Groundwater Sampling Report for the Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline Gate Valve #52 site. This report detailed the 2022 sampling of eleven groundwater monitoring wells to evaluate concentrations of contaminants resulting from historic use of the property. Results show groundwater contamination is still present in the groundwater above Table C Groundwater Cleanup Levels. Site contaminants of concern (COC) detected above cleanup levels in 2022 include: gasoline range organics (GRO), diesel range organics (DRO), residual range organics (RRO), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, naphthalene, ethylene dibromide (EDB), and 2-methylnaphthalene. Additional groundwater monitoring will occur in 2023. Kelly Walker
7/27/2023 Site Characterization Workplan Approved DEC reviewed and approved the Sampling Analysis Plan Addendum-2023 for the Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline Gate Valve #52 site. This document details the planned sampling of eleven groundwater monitoring wells to evaluate contamination present in groundwater at the site. This work plan is an addendum to the Final 2022 Groundwater Sampling Work Plan, Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline Gate Valve #52, Tok, Alaska. Kelly Walker
11/20/2024 Site Characterization Report Approved DEC reviewed and approved the '2023 Groundwater Sampling Report' for the GV52 site. This report documented the sampling of eleven monitoring wells to evaluate contaminant concentrations in groundwater. Groundwater sample results were used to evaluate if increasing, decreasing or stable concentration trends were present. Trend evaluation indicates several contaminants are increasing in concentration, whereas other contaminants displayed no discernible trend. Kelly Walker

Contaminant Information

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Description Details

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