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Site Report: Drift River Facility 1968 Pipeline

Site Name: Drift River Facility 1968 Pipeline
Address: Mouth of Drift River, Redoubt Bay, Kenai, AK 99611
File Number: 2320.38.023
Hazard ID: 7
Status: Active
Staff: Dawn Wilburn, 9072628200 dawn.wilburn@alaska.gov
Latitude: 60.591417
Longitude: -152.165828
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

A leak in the 42-inch pipeline was discovered shortly after the facility was brought on line in 1968. The pipeline was excavated and the leak repaired, but no cleanup activities were performed. Test pits excavated in 1995 confirmed the presence of oil contaminated soils. A series of well points and hand auger borings were installed in 1996 to delineate the extent of soil and groundwater contamination. No remediation activities have been conducted. While part of the risk assessment to establish site-specific ACLs, further site assessment and cleanup activities need to occur.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
3/5/1997 Update or Other Action Risk Assessment received for 3 areas at the facility. Of the 3 areas in the RA, the 68 pipeline spill requires further site assessment and cleanup. When accepted, the RA will establish ACLs for this site. Donald Seagren
4/24/2001 Site Added to Database Petroleum. Donald Seagren
4/24/2001 Site Ranked Using the AHRM Initial ranking. Donald Seagren
4/25/2001 Update or Other Action Environmental matters at the facility are handled by Unocal Alaska Resources, one of the partners in CIPL. Contact information is: John Hammelman, Unocal Corporation, 260 Caviar Street, Kenai, Alaska 99611-7769; (907) 283-5507. Donald Seagren
5/7/2001 Update or Other Action Revised ROD to reflect ACLs pertaining only to this spill site. Final actions pending latest soil and GW monitoring reports from CIPL. Donald Seagren
7/12/2001 Site Characterization Report Approved Reviewed Confirmation Sampling Report for Tank Farm and AvGas Spills. GW sampling was done at this site indicating GW still contaminated above Method 2 levels for Benzene, GRO-aliphatics; Dro Aromatics and Aliphatics; and RRO - aromatics. No additional soil sampling was done. Waiting for Unocal to develop a work plan to address contamination. Also reviewing 350 determination request Donald Seagren
11/27/2001 Update or Other Action Sent letter requesting additional site specific information in order to make final determination on 350 determination request and the application of the 10X rule for the facility. Donald Seagren
10/23/2002 Meeting or Teleconference Held Meeting with Unocal and OilRisk Consultants to discuss 10X ROD and developing product recovery and remediation plan Donald Seagren
11/13/2002 Record of Decision ROD signed denying ACLs under 10 X Rule, 18AAC 75.350. Donald Seagren
3/5/2004 Update or Other Action File number assigned and entered into the Fileroom DB and CS DB. Alyce Hughey
5/12/2004 Update or Other Action Sent letter requesting required NAPL recovery, GW monitoring and Soil cleanup plan. Donald Seagren
6/22/2004 Cleanup Plan Approved Reviewed & approved Floating Product Recovery and Groundwater Monitoring Plan. Donald Seagren
3/8/2005 Update or Other Action Reviewed 2004 monitoring report. 3 MWs have floating product that was removed during 2004. Decreasing leves for Benzene and GRO in groundwater. DRO concentration slightly higher. No significant change to affect human health of the environment. Monitoring and product recovery to continue. Donald Seagren
6/27/2005 GIS Position Updated Using Figure 1-1 from a Confirmation Sampling Report, Tank Farm and AVGAS Spill Sites, Drift River Terminal, in conjunction with TopoZone Pro, entered the coordinates for this site. Metadata includes USGS Topo Map 1:63K, TopoZone Pro Street Map, on a Medium Size Map, View Scale 1:24,000, Coordinate Datum NAD83. Moderate to high degree of confidence in accuracy of location. Alyce Hughey
10/4/2005 Update or Other Action Reviewed 2005 GW monitrong report. Floating product (0.61') removed form MW 8. No floating product observed in any of the other MWs. Benzene is being used as a target analyte for the monitoring program. The benzene plume appears to be stable and slowly declining. No major changes to the contaminant plume that would pose a risk to human health and the environment. Donald Seagren
12/6/2006 Update or Other Action Reviewed 2006 Groundwater Monitoring Report. Free product found in WP-6 (0.02 feet) and WP-8 (0.01 feet). all other wells had no free product observed. The analytical results indicate an overall decline in benzene concentrations. Based on the July 06 results, the dissolved benzene plume measures about 0.2 acres above 0.005 mg/l, which is about 1/3 of its are in 1996. the contaminant plume appears to be stable and decreasing. Donald Seagren
4/5/2007 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Donald Seagren
12/4/2007 Update or Other Action Reviewed August 07 monitroing report. Previous results indicate that a narrow plume of soil contamination parallels the 42 inch pipeline for a distance of approximately 350'. The contamination extends fron about 4 too 6 feet below grade, and floating crude oil has been observed in well points WP-1, WP-6 and WP-8. In August 07sampling event, the water flow dierction was more southerly that usual, whcih may be related to the relatively low groundwater elevation. Floating crude has been previously observed in well points WP-1, WP-6 and WP-8, but only 0.1 feet was present in WP-6 on 8 August 07. After removal of the free product, absorbent pads were suspended in WP-6 & WP-8. The analytical results indicate an overall decline in benzene concentrations. Based on the August 07 results, the didsolved benzene plume measures about 0.14 acres above 0.005 mg/l, which is less than 1/3 of its area in 1996. Donald Seagren
6/12/2008 Update or Other Action Site transferred from Don Seagren to Paul Horwath per Linda Nuechterlein. Alyce Hughey
11/17/2011 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the 2010 Groundwater Monitoring Report, 1968 Pipeline Spill Site, dated September 2011, from OilRisk Consultants. During the August 24, 2010 groundwater sampling event three monitoring wells detected Benzene above the groundwater cleanup levels at concentrations of 0.00866 to 0.0304 mg/L. For the January 8, 2010 oil thickness measurement only WP-8 had 0.10 feet of product. For the August 24, 2010 oil thickness measurement WP-6 had 0.02 feet and WP-8 had 0.45 feet of product. Groundwater was flowing towards the west, which has only once been observed in 2003. It is thought that the groundwater flow is being influenced by flowing water in the ditches on both sides of the road. Alyce Hughey
1/24/2012 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the 2011 Groundwater Monitoring Report, 1968 Spill Site, Drift River Terminal, dated December 28, 2011 for OilRisk Consultants. During the July 27, 2011 groundwater sampling event three monitoring wells remain with Benzene above the groundwater cleanup levels at concentrations of 0.0105 to 0.0302 mg/L. The July 27, 2011 oil thickness measurement in WP-6 had 0.02 feet and WP-8 had 0.6 feet of product. For the October 19, 2011 oil thickness measurement WP-6 had 0.08 feet and WP-8 had 0.45 feet of product. The groundwater was found to be flowing towards the west once again, as observed during the 2010 sampling event and had only once been observed in 2003. It is thought that the groundwater flow is being influenced by flowing water in the ditches on both sides of the road, and the change in groundwater elevation. Alyce Hughey
8/17/2015 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Review the 2014 Groundwater Monitoring Report, prepared by Jacobs Engineering on behalf of Hilcorp Alaska, LLC. Cover letter from Drew Anderson dated 8/14/2015. Paul Horwath
4/18/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Review the 2015 Groundwater Monitoring Report, prepared by Brice Environmental Services. LNAPL measured in well points WP-6 and WP-8, 0.2feet thickness. Paul Horwath
2/14/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Receive Weston Solutions' November 2016 Groundwater Monitoring Report. Paul Horwath
4/18/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Review and respond to the November 2016 Groundwater Monitoring Report, prepared by Weston Solutions, Inc., for Harvest Alaska's Diane Dunham. Paul Horwath
8/28/2017 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed and approved a GW monitoring event work plan, prepared and provided by Williwaw Environmental. Paul Horwath
4/9/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Review and approve Harvest Alaska's revision 1 of their Soil and Water Management Plan for the decommissioning and cleaning of the 42" buried pipeline at this former crude oil handling facility. Soil stockpiling plan prepared by Jacob's Engineering. Paul Horwath
8/9/2019 Site Characterization Workplan Approved ADEC approves the "2019 Drift River Terminal 1968 Spill Site Groundwater Monitoring Work Plan" dated July 2019. Kara Kusche
11/21/2019 Update or Other Action Sent no objections and no additional comments letter for the Drift River Terminal Soil and Water Management Plan – Addendum 1 dated May, 17 2019. ADEC can expect to see a report from RP early 2020. Jessica Hall
12/10/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Sent RP ADEC comments letter on the 2018 Drift River Terminal 1968 Spill Groundwater Monitoring Report, dated May 2019. Jessica Hall
12/23/2019 Update or Other Action Received updated 2018 Drift River Terminal 1968 Spill Groundwater Monitoring Report, dated May 2019 on 12/20/2019. Jessica Hall
12/26/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Sent approval of comments letter to RP and requested updated 2018 Drift River Terminal 1968 Spill Groundwater Monitoring Report. Jessica Hall
1/3/2020 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed the updated 2018 DRT 1968 Spill Groundwater Monitoring Report, dated December 2019 and received by ADEC on January 02, 2020. Approval letter sent to the RP. Jessica Hall
1/21/2020 Update or Other Action ADEC received 2019 Groundwater Monitoring Report, dated January 2020. Jessica Hall
2/6/2020 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Sent Comment letter to RP for the 2019 GW Monitoring report. LNAPL was observed in WP-6 and WP-8. Benzene and naphthalene are the only contaminants that remain on site in exceedance of ADEC Table C groundwater cleanup levels. Benzene concentrations in 2019 are similar to previous years, but are higher in wells WP-1, WP-2, and WP-7 when compared to the previous two years. This indicates that natural attenuation is not occurring to a significant degree and monitoring should continue. Groundwater monitoring and LNAPL recovery are recommended to continue in 2020. Existing wells without LNAPL present (WP-1, WP-2, and WP-7) should be sampled in 2020 and analyzed for benzene and naphthalene. Once LNAPL is no longer present in wells WP-6 and WP-8, they should be analyzed for petroleum-related VOCs and PAHs. ADEC comments on the 2018 Groundwater Monitoring Report recommended additional monitoring wells be installed to the west of wells WP-2, WP-1, and WP-7 and north of well WP-1 to characterize the extent of contamination and analyzed for VOCs and PAHs. Jessica Hall
5/6/2020 Update or Other Action The request to pause in-field activities for the 2020 field season and defer the below tasks to 2021 has been Approved by ADEC. Annual groundwater monitoring and product recovery for the 1968 Pipeline Release. Absorbents socks that were installed in fall 2019, will remain in place until 2021.Harvest will submit a groundwater sampling work plan early 2021 for ADEC review and approval prior to 2021 in-field work. Jessica Hall
12/23/2020 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other ADEC reviewed and prepared comment on the Water Management Plan for the Drift River Terminal Landfarm, Contaminated Sites, and Spill Sites. Awaiting Final draft with updates. Jessica Hall
1/27/2021 Update or Other Action Cook Inlet Pipe Line (CIPL) is 100% owned by Harvest Alaska, LLC. Updated Affiliates from Hilcorp, Alaska, LLC. to Harvest Alaska, LLC. and Point of Contacts. Jessica Hall
4/14/2021 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Sent RP approval letter for 2019 GW report dated April 2021. Measurable LNAPL was observed in WP-6 and WP-8 from 2015 through 2019 and efforts to recover free product were conducted throughout the summer of 2019. Analytical groundwater results indicate that benzene and naphthalene are the only contaminants that remain on site in exceedance of ADEC Table C groundwater cleanup levels (ADEC 2018).Benzene concentrations in 2019 are higher in wells WP-1, WP-2, and WP-7 when compared to the previous two years. Groundwater monitoring and LNAPL recovery are recommended to continue in 2022. Existing wells without LNAPL present (WP-1, WP-2, and WP-7) should be sampled in 2022 and analyzed for benzene and naphthalene only by method SW8260 since those are the only analytes to exceed ADEC Table C groundwater cleanup levels in 2019. Once LNAPL is no longer present in wells WP-6 and WP-8, they should be analyzed for petroleum-related VOCs and PAHs In addition, ADEC comments on the 2018 Groundwater Monitoring Report (Hilcorp 2019b) recommended additional monitoring wells be installed to the west of wells WP-2, WP-1, and WP-7 and north of well WP-1 to characterize the extent of contamination in groundwater and to provide further insight into the groundwater flow direction at the site. Newly installed wells at this site should be analyzed for petroleum-related VOCs and PAHs. Following initial sampling of new wells and wells WP-6 and WP-8, the analytical suite should be re-evaluated for future sampling events. As part of this continued monitoring, low-flow sampling techniques should be used. In addition, product recovery devices should continue to be used in the two monitoring wells where LNAPL is present. Jessica Hall
6/17/2021 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Sent RP approval letter for Water Management Plan for the Drift River Terminal, dated June 2021. Jessica Hall
7/14/2021 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Sent RP comments on Delineation Work Plan Drift River Terminal, dated July, 2021. Requested updated work plan be submitted. Jessica Hall
8/30/2021 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Sent RP comments on 2021 Groundwater Monitoring Work Plan Drift River Terminal 1968 Spill, dated August 2021. Requested an updated work plan be submitted. Jessica Hall
10/6/2021 Site Characterization Workplan Approved ADEC sent the RP an approval for the “Delineation Work Plan Drift River Terminal”, dated September, 2021. Work is ongoing at the site and expected to continue through the Fall of 2022. Soil contamination extends approximately 4 to 6 feet bgs for a distance of approximately 350 feet along the pipeline. Floating crude has been consistently observed in two of the well points but appears to be declining in thickness. Over the course of monitoring, benzene and petroleum hydrocarbons in the gasoline, diesel, and motor oil range have been detected above ADEC Table C groundwater cleanup levels. Results from 2019 indicate that previously suspected declines in benzene concentrations at wells WP-2 and WP-7 have rebounded toward the average concentrations detected since sampling began. In the case of WP-1, it appears there has been a positive trend in benzene concentrations, but major fluctuations in concentrations continue to occur. Further rounds of monitoring would be required to identify patterns in benzene concentrations. Jessica Hall
10/20/2021 Site Characterization Workplan Approved ADEC sent the RP an Approval Letter for the “2021 Groundwater Monitoring Work Plan Drift River Terminal 1968 Spill”, dated October, 2021. Jessica Hall
2/16/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other ADEC sent RP comments on the “Groundwater Monitoring Report – 1968 Pipeline Spill”, dated January 25, 2022 and requested and updated report be submitted. Jessica Hall
3/3/2022 Update or Other Action Attached February 10, 1998 EPA consent order to database. Jessica Hall
3/14/2022 Update or Other Action Review Draft ADEC transport treatment and disposal forms. ADEC requested updated forms be submitted for review. Review response to comments received February 25, 2022 on “Groundwater Monitoring Report – 1968 Pipeline Spill”, dated January 25, 2022. ADEC requested update report be submitted for review. Jessica Hall
4/11/2022 Update or Other Action Phone call with Harvest LLC, and Weston. Introductions of staff were made and schedule was discussed. A recon flight and visit will be taken early May to see if site conditions are agreeable to start field work. Jessica Hall
4/18/2022 Site Characterization Report Approved ADEC sent RP approval letter for the “Groundwater Monitoring Report – 1968 Pipeline Spill”, dated April 13, 2022. Jessica Hall
5/4/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Sent RP comments on "2022 Groundwater Monitoring Report-1968 Pipeline Release Former Drift Terminal" dated March 6, 2023. Requested updated report be submitted. Dawn Wilburn
6/1/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Sent RP comments on 2023 Groundwater Monitoring Work Plan Drift River Terminal 1968 Spill, dated April 2023. Requested an updated work plan be submitted Dawn Wilburn
6/14/2023 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Sent RP approval letter for the “2022 Groundwater Monitoring Report – 1968 Pipeline Spill”, prepared by Weston Solutions and dated May 18, 2023. Dawn Wilburn
7/11/2023 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Sent RP approval for revised 2023 Groundwater Monitoring Work Plan. Dawn Wilburn
9/11/2023 Site Characterization Report Approved Sent RP approval letter for Drift River Terminal Site Characterization report dated August 2023.This report summarizes site characterization activities (soil borings and groundwater sampling) at 10 different DEC contaminated sites within the Drift River Terminal facility. More site characterization is needed at most sites and DEC requested a new site characterization work plan. Dawn Wilburn
11/27/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Reviewed 2023 Groundwater Monitoring Report dated November 2023. Sent RP comments and requested a revised report be submitted. Dawn Wilburn
4/24/2024 Site Characterization Report Approved Reviewed and approved revised 2023 Groundwater Monitoring Report dated January 2024 and received on April 23, 2024. Activities included gauging and surveying monitoring wells, light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) gauging and removal in wells with LNAPL, groundwater sampling, and in-situ parameter collection. The lack of product in July (monitoring wells WP6 and WP8)after removing absorbent socks from the wells in June indicated that LNAPL transmissivity testing is not feasible. Water level surveys at WP3 indicated the site may be tidally influenced. Groundwater samples were collected from wells WP1-WP5, WP7, MW9, and MW10 and analyzed for diesel range organics (DRO), gasoline range organics (GRO), residual range organics (RRO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Benzene was detected in WP1, WP2, and WP7 at concentrations above the cleanup level of 4.5 µg/L with a maximum concentration of 21.5 µg/L in WP1. Naphthalene was also detected above the cleanup level of 1.7 µg/L in WP1 with a concentration of 3.61 µg/L. The remaining tested analytes were not detected or below cleanup levels. DEC requested a workplan for additional groundwater characterization and investigation into the tidal influence on water level. Dawn Wilburn
5/28/2024 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Reviewed and approved the revised "Site Characterization Work Plan - Former Drift River Terminal," dated May 2024. This work plan proposes soil and groundwater site characterization activities at 9 different DEC contaminated sites within the Drift River Terminal facility. Dawn Wilburn

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