Site Report: Big Mountain RRS SS009

Site Name:	Big Mountain RRS SS009
Address:	Septic Tank & Pump House, aka AOC09, Iliamna, AK 99606
File Number:	2518.38.001
Hazard ID:	85
Status:	Cleanup Complete
Staff:	No Longer Assigned, 9074655229 dec.icunit@alaska.gov
Latitude:	59.390833
Longitude:	-155.225833
Horizontal Datum:

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.

Site Chronology
IC / Closure Details
Documents
Associated Sites

Problems/Comments

The Big Mountain Radio Relay Station (RRS) is located approximately 220 air miles southwest of Anchorage, AK on the southern shore of Iliamna Lake. The RRS consisted of two main camp areas referred to as the Lower Camp and the Upper Camp. The Lower Camp facility included a gravel airstrip and former operational support facilities. The Upper Camp was an antennae array and support facilities, including living quarters for site personnel who supported the installation’s operational mission. The septic tank and fire pump house (SS09) were separate facilities that serviced the Upper Camp. Petroleum constituents were detected in soil samples collected at the fire pump house at concentrations below the ADEC cleanup levels. The Former Septic Tank and Outfall area (SS010b) is located in the Upper Camp area, east of the Lower Camp access road, and south of the Former Auxiliary Dormitory Building and Former Auto/Storage and Shop. The septic tank had a 4-inch outfall pipe approximately 100 feet long, which was the sole discharge point and was oriented approximately north- south. The outfall piping was removed during Clean Sweep activities and the septic tank was removed in 2006. PCB contamination was documented in surface soil at the former septic tank and outfall, and was removed during the 2011/2012 Removal Action. Former file number 2518.38.006 consolidated with 2518.38.001.

Action Information

Action Date	Action	Description	DEC Staff
6/13/1988	Update or Other Action	Hazardous Materials Technical Center Preliminary Assessment identified small quantities of hazardous materials at site. Several lead-acid batteries were observed ruptured from being frozen, asbestos tiling in various stages of decomposition due to reaction from spilled chemicals were found on building floors. A mound 4' above surrounding landscape may be a landfill site or burial site for construction debris. No organic vapors were detected with PID and no hazardous wastes were reported to have been disposed of in this area.	Former Staff
5/4/1989	Preliminary Assessment Approved	Preliminary Assessment (dated April 1989) prepared for HQ AAC/DEPV and by Hazardous Materials Technical Center; received by ADEC on May 4, 1989.	Former Staff
2/5/1997	Update or Other Action	Final Environmental Assessment Big Mountain Radio Relay Station Demolition (dated October 1996) received on February 5, 1997.	Gretchen Pikul
10/29/1997	Update or Other Action	Final Management Action Plan (dated October 24, 1997).	Gretchen Pikul
1/9/1998	Site Added to Database	Site added by staff.	Gretchen Pikul
6/15/1998	Update or Other Action	ADEC participated in a site visit.	Gretchen Pikul
7/6/1998	Meeting or Teleconference Held	ADEC participated in public meetings regarding the RI/FS workplan in Iliamna/New Halen on August 6 and in Kokhanok on August 7.	Gretchen Pikul
7/15/1998	Update or Other Action	Community Relations Plan (dated July 1998).	Gretchen Pikul
7/20/1998	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Preliminary Draft: Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment Work Plan comment resolution meeting and workplans were not approved.	Gretchen Pikul
7/24/1998	Update or Other Action	Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study Workplans (draft version dated June 1998, final version dated August 1998 and received on October 4, 1999).	Gretchen Pikul
5/3/1999	Update or Other Action	ADEC review and comment on 1st draft version of RI/FS report - report not complete, therefore ADEC review not complete.	Gretchen Pikul
5/6/1999	Update or Other Action	Site Characterization Technical Memorandum (dated December 1998); received by ADEC on May 6, 1999.	Gretchen Pikul
10/1/1999	Update or Other Action	ADEC review and calls on 2nd draft RI/FS version. A complete ADEC review and comment letter cannot be produced until necessary information and tables (requested in May 1999) are forwarded.	Gretchen Pikul
10/26/1999	Meeting or Teleconference Held	ADEC participtated in a meeting regarding 2nd draft RI/FS version. A complete ADEC review and comment letter cannot be produced until necessary information and tables (requested in May 1999) are forwarded. December 20, 1999 ADEC received some of the requested data from the October meeting.	Gretchen Pikul
11/10/1999	Update or Other Action	ADEC review and comment on Risk Assessment portions of RI/FS (dated June 1999); please note that ADEC did not approve the risk assessment workplan and the decision during the comment resolution meeting was to set aside the risk assessment until it was determined whether or not one would be necessary, based on the future RI/FS data. These risk assessment portions of the RI/FS were also not approved by ADEC; risk assessment fundamentals were missing in the report.	Gretchen Pikul
3/8/2000	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Comment resolution meeting for Risk Assessment portions of RI/FS on 3-8-00 - decision to consider report a risk evaluation instead of a risk assessment - Air Force not ready to address ADEC comment letter dated 11-99, but discussed general direction - human health risk evaluation needs extensive reworking.	Gretchen Pikul
4/7/2000	Update or Other Action	ADEC comment letter on 2nd version of draft RI/FS.	Gretchen Pikul
6/7/2000	Update or Other Action	ADEC sent out community update letter.	Gretchen Pikul
7/20/2000	Update or Other Action	Hazardous Substances Investigation at Big Mountain White Alice Communication Systems Site (dated August 1983) prepared for the Village of Levelock and by DOWL Engineers; received by ADEC on July 20, 2000.	Gretchen Pikul
7/20/2000	Update or Other Action	Draft Preliminary Assessment Report (dated February 12, 1993, no final submitted) prepared for USAF 11 CEOS/DEVR and by Science Applications International Corporation; received by ADEC on July 20, 2000.	Gretchen Pikul
7/20/2000	Update or Other Action	Proposed Big Mountain Communication Relay Station - Final Environmental Baseline Survey Report (dated September 1995) prepared for Bristol Bay Housing Authority and by DOWL Engineers; received by ADEC on July 20, 2000.	Gretchen Pikul
8/28/2000	Meeting or Teleconference Held	ADEC participated in 2 meetings (August 25 and 28) with Air Force, COE and their consultant for update and discussion of project general direction.	Gretchen Pikul
8/29/2000	Meeting or Teleconference Held	ADEC participated in public meetings in Iliamna.	Gretchen Pikul
4/15/2001	Update or Other Action	Final RI/FS report (dated Feburary 2001) received February 21, 2001; ADEC comment letter dated April 15, 2001 - still outstanding issues not addressed in this 3rd version; contract end, this version considered final and ADEC comment letter listing outstanding issues is attached.	Gretchen Pikul
10/10/2001	Update or Other Action	Year 2000 Clean Sweep Environmental Survey Report (dated August 20, 2001) received on October 10, 2001.	Gretchen Pikul
5/12/2003	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Meeting on draft newsletter and 2003 field work.	Gretchen Pikul
6/5/2003	Meeting or Teleconference Held	ADEC participated in public meetings at Iliamna and Kokhanok, and a site visit.	Gretchen Pikul
6/12/2003	Update or Other Action	The Big Mountain RRS Newsletter (draft received May 26, 2003; ADEC comments on May 27, 2003; final dated May 31, 2003 and received June 12, 2003).	Gretchen Pikul
7/2/2003	Meeting or Teleconference Held	ADEC participated in meeting for 2003 work plan and 2004 scope of work; draft work plan is due July 15.	Gretchen Pikul
8/8/2003	Site Characterization Workplan Approved	Work Plan - SS009 and SS010 Remedial Investigation (draft dated July 15; ADEC comments July 17; Air Force Comment Response received July 21; final dated July 21 and received August 8).	Gretchen Pikul
9/26/2003	Update or Other Action	Work Plan Clean Sweep Demolition - Phase I (draft dated May 19, 2003; final dated August 27 and received September 26, 2003).	Gretchen Pikul
11/10/2003	Update or Other Action	Interim Report Clean Sweep Demolition - Phase I; draft dated October 31, 2003 and received on November 5; ADEC approval letter dated November 10, 2003.	Gretchen Pikul
11/13/2003	Update or Other Action	The Big Mountain RRS Newsletter (dated October 13, 2003) received on November 13, 2003.	Gretchen Pikul
11/13/2003	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Meeting on 2003 field work and results: RI findings and data gaps; Feasibility Study and cleanup volumes; 2004 sampling to fill data gaps and refine cleanup; and POL remedial options. Remediation projects have been delayed until 2005 due to funding.	Gretchen Pikul
6/7/2004	Update or Other Action	Clean Sweep Phase 2 work plan; draft dated May 7, 2004 and received on May 10, Air Force requested expedited review; ADEC sent comments via e-mail on May 21, 2004; ADEC received Air Force Comment Response on June 3, and sent approval letter on June 4; final dated June 2 and received on June 7.	Gretchen Pikul
6/24/2004	Update or Other Action	2004 Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study and Environmental Monitoring work plan; draft dated and received on June 14, expedited review requested by Air Force; ADEC comment letter dated June 24.	Gretchen Pikul
9/1/2004	Proposed Plan	Proposed Plan for Final Remedial Actions at Two IRP Sites (SS009 and SS010); draft dated December 15, 2003; ADEC internal briefing on December 17, 2003; comment resolution meeting December 19, 2003; sent to PACAF for review in January 2004; June 30 update was Air Staff and PACAF comments still pending; comment resolution meeting held on August 18; ADEC received and sent comments on Air Force Comment Response on August 26; in September ADEC informed that Proposed Plan is being delayed based on PACAF comment that the Comment Response to Air Staff is not adequate on the PCB field screening issue, and the Proposed Plan will be revised when the 2004 PCB data is available.	Gretchen Pikul
9/2/2004	Site Characterization Report Approved	Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for Upper Camp Sites SS009 and SS010; draft dated December 15, 2003; ADEC comment letter dated December 23, 2003; draft Air Force Comment Response received, ADEC sent back response, and participated in a conference call to resolve outstanding issues on July 2; final Air Force Comment Response received and ADEC approval letter sent August 6; final report received September 2, 2004.	Gretchen Pikul
6/14/2005	Update or Other Action	2005 Remedial Action Work Plan for Sites ST001, SS002, SS004, SS014, SS009, and SS010; draft dated and received May 25, 2005; ADEC comment letter dated June 9, 2004; Comment Response on June 13, 2005; ADEC approval letter issued and final dated June 14, 2005.	Jeff Norberg
11/10/2005	Update or Other Action	Phase 2 Clean Sweep Demolition Report for Big Mountain RRS; draft dated January 2005 submitted December 2, 2004; ADEC approval letter dated March 14, 2005; Final dated March 11 received November 10, 2005.	Jeff Norberg
6/14/2006	Update or Other Action	Report - 2005 Remedial Action for Sites ST001, SS002, SS004, and SS014 (PCB assessment at Sites SS009 and SS010 was delayed and will be included within a separate document submitted at a later date); draft dated and received January 20, 2006; revisions to Section 4 submitted on May 8; ADEC comment letter dated June 14, 2006.	Jeff Norberg
2/29/2008	Update or Other Action	ADEC recieved the Final Report for 2006 Remedial Investigation regarding PCB contamination at SS009 and SS010.	Jonathan Schick
3/18/2008	Exposure Tracking Model Ranking	Initial ranking with ETM completed.	Jonathan Schick
5/6/2008	Update or Other Action	File number changed from CS77.08-1 to 2518.38.002.	Nicole Hurt
6/5/2008	Risk Assessment Report Approved	The Method Four human health risk assessment for PCBs in soil at the Upper Camp at the Air Force’s Big Mountain Radio Relay Station has been conducted according to the Risk Assessment Procedures Manual, adopted by reference at 18 AAC 75.340. It is therefore accepted and approved.	Jonathan Schick
7/15/2008	Site Visit	ADEC staff conducted a site visit at the Big Mountain RRS and inspected all of the sites that have been documented at the Radio Relay Station(RRS). USAF staff and their contractores accompanied ADEC staff on the site visit. Community meetings were organized to talk to citizens in the surrounding communities about the environmntal restoration work that is on-going at the Big Mountain RRS.	Jonathan Schick
8/12/2008	Update or Other Action	ADEC recieved response to comments from the USAF on the Treatability Study for PCB-Contaminated Soils as well as information concerning the substrate used in the study and additional requested figures.	Jonathan Schick
8/20/2008	Update or Other Action	ADEC staff approved the finalization of the PCB Treatibility Study Report on stockpiled soils from SS009 and SS010 to include text changes agreed upon in the review process.	Jonathan Schick
9/16/2008	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	ADEC recieved a copy of the Final vresion of the Technical Memorandum for the 2006 Treatability Study Performed on PCB contaminated soil. The Final version addresseed the state's comments.	Jonathan Schick
9/16/2010	Site Visit	Contaminated Sites staff travelled to Big Mountain Radio Repeater Site via Navajo on Thursday Septermber 16 to look at the various contaminated sites and to perform a fieldwork oversight inspection. The contractors on-site demonstrated an understanding of the workplan and of the tasks that were being conducted at the site during the visit. These activities included collection of a Multi-Incrimental sample from a treatment stockpile at lower camp, completion of a newly installed groundwater monitoring well at LF005 and collection of step-out samples to delineate the extent of PCB impacts on the mountain top at SS010. The landfill caps appear to be in good condition with no observed cracking or carsting. However, the runway at lower camp is being used for unauthorized purposes (i.e. hunter staging area) and access controls should be revisited for this site.	Jonathan Schick
2/18/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff recieved the Draft Initial Screening of Alternativesfor Big Mountain Sites LF005, ST001, SS010a and SS010b (aka SS009).	Jonathan Schick
4/4/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Draft copy of the Supplemental Field Investigation Report that addressed samples collected during the 2010 field event at LF005, ST001, SS010a and SS010b. The work also included collecting survey data to document the boudaries of sites SS002 and SS014 for the purpose of the Institutional Controls for the site. The main objective of the work was to delineate the PCB impacted soils at SS010a and SS010b for the proposed excavation work scheduled to be conducted in 2011.	Jonathan Schick
4/7/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the USAF with comments on the Draft Initial Screening of ALternatives Document. The State's main concerns were regarding the lack of analysis of the alternative that ADEC and USAF had discussed in scoping which proposed removing all of the PCB impacted soils from the sites and creating a new landfill where the soils impacted from 1 to 10 parts per million would be contained. Additional concerns were commented on regarding the land use as a subsistence hunting and gathering area, as well as other technical issues.	Jonathan Schick
4/8/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the USAF 611th CES project manager with comments on the Draft Supplemental Field Investitgation Report for several sites at Big Mountain. ADEC's main concerns were regarding the field screening samples at the upper camp sites where the field screening results were biased low. This low biascould lead to an underestimation of the amount of PCB impacted soils will need to be removed from the site. The other issue with this report is that it detailed only a portion of the work at LF005 and ST001 which was investigated during the same field mobilization but reported on under a separate Long-Term Monitoring report.	Jonathan Schick
4/25/2011	Update or Other Action	Contamintated Sites Staff recieved a copy of the Final Initial Screening of Alernatives for the four reaminaing active sites at the Big Mountain Radio Repeater Station. The comments submitted to the USAF were addressed in the Final version.	Jonathan Schick
5/5/2011	CERCLA FS	Contaminted Sites Staff recieved a copy of the Draft Feasibility Study for the 4 remaining active sites at Big Mountain including LF005, ST001, SS010a, and SS010b.	Jonathan Schick
5/5/2011	CERCLA Proposed Plan	Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Draft version of the Proposed Plan for the 4 remaining active IRP sites at Big Mountian including LF005, ST001, SS010a, and SS010b.	Jonathan Schick
5/17/2011	CERCLA FS	Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the USAF regarding the Draft Feasibility Study for the remaining 4 sites at Big Mountain. The State's main concerns with the Draft FS was that benzene, DDT, and lead were left off the list of contaminants of concern. Additionally, the alternatives were rated incorrectly meaning that a moderate score was given to alternatives for the overall protectiveness of the environment, and compliance with ARARs. The two Threshold Criteria should only be scored as pass or fail. Moderately complying with ARARs is not an option in this process.	Jonathan Schick
5/19/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites staff submitted a letter to the USAF approving the final version of the Initial Screening of Alternatives as all of our comments were addressed in the Final Version of the document. The Final version will be filed in our office.	Jonathan Schick
6/13/2011	CERCLA Proposed Plan	Contaminated Sites Staff submitted comments on the Proposed Plan for remedial work at Big Mountain to the Air Force remedial project manager. Comments were sent via email including a word version of the Proposed Plan with changes and numerous comments in an effort to make the plan more readable to the intended audience.	Jonathan Schick
7/7/2011	CERCLA Proposed Plan	Contaminated Sites Staff sent a letter to the Air Force approving the Proposed Plan to be presented at Public Meetings in the commmunities surrounding th Big Mountain Project site. Public meetins are scheduled to be conducted in villages surrounding the site over the 12th through the 14th of July.	Jonathan Schick
7/13/2011	Site Visit	Contaminated Sites Staff participated in a site visit and Public Meetings to present the Propsed Plan for Remedial Action at Big Mountain in the villages of Iliamna, Newhalen, and Igiugig. The main purpose of the site visit was to inspect the proposed location for a landfill that will contain the PCB soils that are to be excavated from three contaminated sites at Big Mountain.	Jonathan Schick
7/14/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Draft Work Plan for Remedial Action at 4 sites at Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. The Work Plan details the excavation work planned at LF005, SS009, and SS010 for PCBs and sampling groundwater, surface water, and sediment for sites ST001, and LF005. This work is to be associated with the Draft Record of Decision for Remedial Action for the sites.	Jonathan Schick
8/10/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the US Air Force Remedial Project Manager with comments on the Draft Work Plan for remedial work scheduled to begin this summer at the Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. The work plan lacked the detail that ADEC requires for this type of remedial action and that detail was requested in the letter so that the work can be looked at after completion and compared to the plan to determine if the work was conducted correctly. The plan in its current state did not achieve this benchmark and was too vague for a field team to carry out the work. A comment resolution meeting will be held to discuss the necessary additions to the plan to make it usable in the field.	Jonathan Schick
8/25/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff sent a letter to the US Air Force Remedial Project Manager with comments on the Draft Record of Decision. The Record of Decision details the planned remedial activity at the site including the removal of PCB impacted soils from several sites, but also includes language for managing sediment contamination and long term management of the landfill at the lower camp.	Jonathan Schick
8/29/2011	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the US Air FOrce approving the design document for the to-be consturcted landfill to hold PCB impacted soils excavated at the site. The design is for the area of Site ST014 which was an old Above Ground Storage Tank site which has a large earthen berm around the outside of the area to be filled with PCB soils. The soils that are located within the berm may be impacted with petroleum hydrocarbons and so they will stay within the boundaries of the site and used as backfill and cap material for the landfill.	Jonathan Schick
8/29/2011	Meeting or Teleconference Held	Contaminated Sites Staff and US Air Force representatives met to discuss the status of comments and responses on the Draft Final Record of Decision for the 4 remaining sites at Big Mountain that will require additional remedial work. The meeting was held to finalize any outstanding issues and agree on language to move forward with the document. The main issues that required resolution were the handling of the sediments at the lower camp sites and how they would be managed and what endpoint would be the remedial action objectives since natural attenuation does not work well for PCB impacts.	Jonathan Schick
8/31/2011	CERCLA FS	Contaminated Sites Staff recieved the Final Version of the Feasibility Study for the 4 remaining sites at Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. The Feasibility Study reviewed the various alternatives and determined that the preferred alternative for the PCB impacted sites was excavation and off-site disposal for soils impacted at concentrations greater than 10 parts per million and on-site disposal of the soils impacted between 1 and 10 parts per million. At the Lower camp long term monitoring was selected as the preferred remedy to monitor the contaminant levels in the groundwater adn sediment at the 2 remaining lower camp sites.	Jonathan Schick
8/31/2011	Update or Other Action	Conatminated Sites Staff recieved the Final Version of the Supplemental Field Investigation that augmented the previous Remedial Investigation to further delineate the extent of PCB impacted soils at several sites at Big Mountain Radio Relay Station.	Jonathan Schick
9/8/2011	Site Characterization Workplan Approved	Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the US Air Force approving the implementation of the work plan for PCB soil removal at several sites at the Big Mouinatin Installation. The plan details the excavation and segregation activities for PCB soil remediation where any soils impacted with over 10 parts per million of PCBs will be packaged and shipped off site for disposal and soils impacted between 1 and 10 parts per milion will be disposed of in an on-site monofill located at the upper camp.	Jonathan Schick
9/9/2011	CERCLA ROD Approved	The CERCLA Record of Decision for the 4 remaining sites at Big Mountain was signed and delivered to our office. The Record of Decision details the remaining remedial activities that will be completed at the lower and upper camps at the site mostly regarding the removal and disposl aof PCB impacted soils where any soils with PCBs in excess of 10 parts per million will be packaged and shipped off-site to a hazardous waste disposal landfill and the soils impacted between 1 and 10 parts per million will be buried in the newly constructed landfill located at the upper camp.	Jonathan Schick
9/9/2011	Site Characterization Workplan Approved	Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Final version of the work plan for remedial action to be conducted at the Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. Additional details were added to aid in the execution of the work and the usability of the document. Most of the work detailed in the plan is regarding the excavatino and disposal of PCB impacted soils at several sites at Big Mountain.	Jonathan Schick
5/22/2012	Update or Other Action	Contamianted Sites Staff recievd a request for a Third Party Sampling Waiver for the 2012 work at the upper camp site's cleanup for PCBs. At this time ADEC has not recieved any information regarding what work was completed from last field season or any analytical results and so are withhiolding the approval of the Third Party waiver pending the submittal of some type of report detailing what was completed during 2011.	Jonathan Schick
5/29/2012	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites Staff recieved an interim report for the work completed at the active sites at Big Mountain in 2011. we reviewed the report and submitted comments and suggestions as to what type of information we were looking for in the report to support the third party waiver that was requested.	Jonathan Schick
6/1/2012	Update or Other Action	Contaminated Sites staff recieved an amended version of the interim report from the 2011 field activities. The report satisfied the State's requirement that the sampling and analysis program be summarized and the field activites were described in more detail.	Jonathan Schick
6/1/2012	Update or Other Action	Contamianted sites staff submitted a letter to the Air Force Project Manager approving the requested waiver for an independant third party sampler for the field program in 2012. Air Force personnel will collet and deliver the samples to an onsite laboratory for the analysis of PCBs.	Jonathan Schick
4/9/2014	Update or Other Action	The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program approved the March 2014 Remedial Action Report, Environmental Restoration at SS010a and SS010b, LF005, and Monitoring Well Decommissioning at ST001, Big Mountain Radio Relay Station, Alaska. The report summarizes the excavation and disposal activities for PCB-impacted soil at SS010a and SS010b. Soil confirmation samples indicate that PCB concentrations in the soil remaining are less than the ADEC cleanup level.	Jessica Morris
11/6/2014	Cleanup Complete Determination Issued	The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program submitted a letter to the USAF indicating that a cleanup complete determination was made for the site.	Jessica Morris
3/28/2017	Update or Other Action	Former file number 2518.38.006 consolidated with 2518.38.001.	Mitzi Read
10/5/2023	Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other	DEC reviewed the Draft Preliminary Assessment Report for Aqueous Film-Forming Foam Areas Big Mountain Radio Relay Station, Alaska, Dated September 2023.The preliminary assessment describes the document search and interviews to identify the potential presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) associated with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) at the Big Mountain Radio Relay Station, Alaska. No evidence of AFFF use at the site was encountered at the Former Fire Station or the Fire Pump House. Jugs of deteriorated AFFF were observed at the Former Flight Operations Building Area. The assessment recommended no further remedial action planned at the Former Fire Station and the Fire Pump House. A site investigation was recommended at the Former Flight Operations Building Area.	Ginna Quesada

Action Date

Action

Description

DEC Staff

6/13/1988

Update or Other Action

Hazardous Materials Technical Center Preliminary Assessment identified small quantities of hazardous materials at site. Several lead-acid batteries were observed ruptured from being frozen, asbestos tiling in various stages of decomposition due to reaction from spilled chemicals were found on building floors. A mound 4' above surrounding landscape may be a landfill site or burial site for construction debris. No organic vapors were detected with PID and no hazardous wastes were reported to have been disposed of in this area.

Former Staff

5/4/1989

Preliminary Assessment Approved

Preliminary Assessment (dated April 1989) prepared for HQ AAC/DEPV and by Hazardous Materials Technical Center; received by ADEC on May 4, 1989.

Former Staff

2/5/1997

Update or Other Action

Final Environmental Assessment Big Mountain Radio Relay Station Demolition (dated October 1996) received on February 5, 1997.

Gretchen Pikul

10/29/1997

Update or Other Action

Final Management Action Plan (dated October 24, 1997).

Gretchen Pikul

1/9/1998

Site Added to Database

Site added by staff.

Gretchen Pikul

6/15/1998

Update or Other Action

ADEC participated in a site visit.

Gretchen Pikul

7/6/1998

Meeting or Teleconference Held

ADEC participated in public meetings regarding the RI/FS workplan in Iliamna/New Halen on August 6 and in Kokhanok on August 7.

Gretchen Pikul

7/15/1998

Update or Other Action

Community Relations Plan (dated July 1998).

Gretchen Pikul

7/20/1998

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Preliminary Draft: Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment Work Plan comment resolution meeting and workplans were not approved.

Gretchen Pikul

7/24/1998

Update or Other Action

Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study Workplans (draft version dated June 1998, final version dated August 1998 and received on October 4, 1999).

Gretchen Pikul

5/3/1999

Update or Other Action

ADEC review and comment on 1st draft version of RI/FS report - report not complete, therefore ADEC review not complete.

Gretchen Pikul

5/6/1999

Update or Other Action

Site Characterization Technical Memorandum (dated December 1998); received by ADEC on May 6, 1999.

Gretchen Pikul

10/1/1999

Update or Other Action

ADEC review and calls on 2nd draft RI/FS version. A complete ADEC review and comment letter cannot be produced until necessary information and tables (requested in May 1999) are forwarded.

Gretchen Pikul

10/26/1999

Meeting or Teleconference Held

ADEC participtated in a meeting regarding 2nd draft RI/FS version. A complete ADEC review and comment letter cannot be produced until necessary information and tables (requested in May 1999) are forwarded. December 20, 1999 ADEC received some of the requested data from the October meeting.

Gretchen Pikul

11/10/1999

Update or Other Action

ADEC review and comment on Risk Assessment portions of RI/FS (dated June 1999); please note that ADEC did not approve the risk assessment workplan and the decision during the comment resolution meeting was to set aside the risk assessment until it was determined whether or not one would be necessary, based on the future RI/FS data. These risk assessment portions of the RI/FS were also not approved by ADEC; risk assessment fundamentals were missing in the report.

Gretchen Pikul

3/8/2000

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Comment resolution meeting for Risk Assessment portions of RI/FS on 3-8-00 - decision to consider report a risk evaluation instead of a risk assessment - Air Force not ready to address ADEC comment letter dated 11-99, but discussed general direction - human health risk evaluation needs extensive reworking.

Gretchen Pikul

4/7/2000

Update or Other Action

ADEC comment letter on 2nd version of draft RI/FS.

Gretchen Pikul

6/7/2000

Update or Other Action

ADEC sent out community update letter.

Gretchen Pikul

7/20/2000

Update or Other Action

Hazardous Substances Investigation at Big Mountain White Alice Communication Systems Site (dated August 1983) prepared for the Village of Levelock and by DOWL Engineers; received by ADEC on July 20, 2000.

Gretchen Pikul

7/20/2000

Update or Other Action

Draft Preliminary Assessment Report (dated February 12, 1993, no final submitted) prepared for USAF 11 CEOS/DEVR and by Science Applications International Corporation; received by ADEC on July 20, 2000.

Gretchen Pikul

7/20/2000

Update or Other Action

Proposed Big Mountain Communication Relay Station - Final Environmental Baseline Survey Report (dated September 1995) prepared for Bristol Bay Housing Authority and by DOWL Engineers; received by ADEC on July 20, 2000.

Gretchen Pikul

8/28/2000

Meeting or Teleconference Held

ADEC participated in 2 meetings (August 25 and 28) with Air Force, COE and their consultant for update and discussion of project general direction.

Gretchen Pikul

8/29/2000

Meeting or Teleconference Held

ADEC participated in public meetings in Iliamna.

Gretchen Pikul

4/15/2001

Update or Other Action

Final RI/FS report (dated Feburary 2001) received February 21, 2001; ADEC comment letter dated April 15, 2001 - still outstanding issues not addressed in this 3rd version; contract end, this version considered final and ADEC comment letter listing outstanding issues is attached.

Gretchen Pikul

10/10/2001

Update or Other Action

Year 2000 Clean Sweep Environmental Survey Report (dated August 20, 2001) received on October 10, 2001.

Gretchen Pikul

5/12/2003

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Meeting on draft newsletter and 2003 field work.

Gretchen Pikul

6/5/2003

Meeting or Teleconference Held

ADEC participated in public meetings at Iliamna and Kokhanok, and a site visit.

Gretchen Pikul

6/12/2003

Update or Other Action

The Big Mountain RRS Newsletter (draft received May 26, 2003; ADEC comments on May 27, 2003; final dated May 31, 2003 and received June 12, 2003).

Gretchen Pikul

7/2/2003

Meeting or Teleconference Held

ADEC participated in meeting for 2003 work plan and 2004 scope of work; draft work plan is due July 15.

Gretchen Pikul

8/8/2003

Site Characterization Workplan Approved

Work Plan - SS009 and SS010 Remedial Investigation (draft dated July 15; ADEC comments July 17; Air Force Comment Response received July 21; final dated July 21 and received August 8).

Gretchen Pikul

9/26/2003

Update or Other Action

Work Plan Clean Sweep Demolition - Phase I (draft dated May 19, 2003; final dated August 27 and received September 26, 2003).

Gretchen Pikul

11/10/2003

Update or Other Action

Interim Report Clean Sweep Demolition - Phase I; draft dated October 31, 2003 and received on November 5; ADEC approval letter dated November 10, 2003.

Gretchen Pikul

11/13/2003

Update or Other Action

The Big Mountain RRS Newsletter (dated October 13, 2003) received on November 13, 2003.

Gretchen Pikul

11/13/2003

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Meeting on 2003 field work and results: RI findings and data gaps; Feasibility Study and cleanup volumes; 2004 sampling to fill data gaps and refine cleanup; and POL remedial options. Remediation projects have been delayed until 2005 due to funding.

Gretchen Pikul

6/7/2004

Update or Other Action

Clean Sweep Phase 2 work plan; draft dated May 7, 2004 and received on May 10, Air Force requested expedited review; ADEC sent comments via e-mail on May 21, 2004; ADEC received Air Force Comment Response on June 3, and sent approval letter on June 4; final dated June 2 and received on June 7.

Gretchen Pikul

6/24/2004

Update or Other Action

2004 Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study and Environmental Monitoring work plan; draft dated and received on June 14, expedited review requested by Air Force; ADEC comment letter dated June 24.

Gretchen Pikul

9/1/2004

Proposed Plan

Proposed Plan for Final Remedial Actions at Two IRP Sites (SS009 and SS010); draft dated December 15, 2003; ADEC internal briefing on December 17, 2003; comment resolution meeting December 19, 2003; sent to PACAF for review in January 2004; June 30 update was Air Staff and PACAF comments still pending; comment resolution meeting held on August 18; ADEC received and sent comments on Air Force Comment Response on August 26; in September ADEC informed that Proposed Plan is being delayed based on PACAF comment that the Comment Response to Air Staff is not adequate on the PCB field screening issue, and the Proposed Plan will be revised when the 2004 PCB data is available.

Gretchen Pikul

9/2/2004

Site Characterization Report Approved

Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study Report for Upper Camp Sites SS009 and SS010; draft dated December 15, 2003; ADEC comment letter dated December 23, 2003; draft Air Force Comment Response received, ADEC sent back response, and participated in a conference call to resolve outstanding issues on July 2; final Air Force Comment Response received and ADEC approval letter sent August 6; final report received September 2, 2004.

Gretchen Pikul

6/14/2005

Update or Other Action

2005 Remedial Action Work Plan for Sites ST001, SS002, SS004, SS014, SS009, and SS010; draft dated and received May 25, 2005; ADEC comment letter dated June 9, 2004; Comment Response on June 13, 2005; ADEC approval letter issued and final dated June 14, 2005.

Jeff Norberg

11/10/2005

Update or Other Action

Phase 2 Clean Sweep Demolition Report for Big Mountain RRS; draft dated January 2005 submitted December 2, 2004; ADEC approval letter dated March 14, 2005; Final dated March 11 received November 10, 2005.

Jeff Norberg

6/14/2006

Update or Other Action

Report - 2005 Remedial Action for Sites ST001, SS002, SS004, and SS014 (PCB assessment at Sites SS009 and SS010 was delayed and will be included within a separate document submitted at a later date); draft dated and received January 20, 2006; revisions to Section 4 submitted on May 8; ADEC comment letter dated June 14, 2006.

Jeff Norberg

2/29/2008

Update or Other Action

ADEC recieved the Final Report for 2006 Remedial Investigation regarding PCB contamination at SS009 and SS010.

Jonathan Schick

3/18/2008

Exposure Tracking Model Ranking

Initial ranking with ETM completed.

Jonathan Schick

5/6/2008

Update or Other Action

File number changed from CS77.08-1 to 2518.38.002.

Nicole Hurt

6/5/2008

Risk Assessment Report Approved

The Method Four human health risk assessment for PCBs in soil at the Upper Camp at the Air Force’s Big Mountain Radio Relay Station has been conducted according to the Risk Assessment Procedures Manual, adopted by reference at 18 AAC 75.340. It is therefore accepted and approved.

Jonathan Schick

7/15/2008

Site Visit

ADEC staff conducted a site visit at the Big Mountain RRS and inspected all of the sites that have been documented at the Radio Relay Station(RRS). USAF staff and their contractores accompanied ADEC staff on the site visit. Community meetings were organized to talk to citizens in the surrounding communities about the environmntal restoration work that is on-going at the Big Mountain RRS.

Jonathan Schick

8/12/2008

Update or Other Action

ADEC recieved response to comments from the USAF on the Treatability Study for PCB-Contaminated Soils as well as information concerning the substrate used in the study and additional requested figures.

Jonathan Schick

8/20/2008

Update or Other Action

ADEC staff approved the finalization of the PCB Treatibility Study Report on stockpiled soils from SS009 and SS010 to include text changes agreed upon in the review process.

Jonathan Schick

9/16/2008

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

ADEC recieved a copy of the Final vresion of the Technical Memorandum for the 2006 Treatability Study Performed on PCB contaminated soil. The Final version addresseed the state's comments.

Jonathan Schick

9/16/2010

Site Visit

Contaminated Sites staff travelled to Big Mountain Radio Repeater Site via Navajo on Thursday Septermber 16 to look at the various contaminated sites and to perform a fieldwork oversight inspection. The contractors on-site demonstrated an understanding of the workplan and of the tasks that were being conducted at the site during the visit. These activities included collection of a Multi-Incrimental sample from a treatment stockpile at lower camp, completion of a newly installed groundwater monitoring well at LF005 and collection of step-out samples to delineate the extent of PCB impacts on the mountain top at SS010. The landfill caps appear to be in good condition with no observed cracking or carsting. However, the runway at lower camp is being used for unauthorized purposes (i.e. hunter staging area) and access controls should be revisited for this site.

Jonathan Schick

2/18/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff recieved the Draft Initial Screening of Alternativesfor Big Mountain Sites LF005, ST001, SS010a and SS010b (aka SS009).

Jonathan Schick

4/4/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Draft copy of the Supplemental Field Investigation Report that addressed samples collected during the 2010 field event at LF005, ST001, SS010a and SS010b. The work also included collecting survey data to document the boudaries of sites SS002 and SS014 for the purpose of the Institutional Controls for the site. The main objective of the work was to delineate the PCB impacted soils at SS010a and SS010b for the proposed excavation work scheduled to be conducted in 2011.

Jonathan Schick

4/7/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the USAF with comments on the Draft Initial Screening of ALternatives Document. The State's main concerns were regarding the lack of analysis of the alternative that ADEC and USAF had discussed in scoping which proposed removing all of the PCB impacted soils from the sites and creating a new landfill where the soils impacted from 1 to 10 parts per million would be contained. Additional concerns were commented on regarding the land use as a subsistence hunting and gathering area, as well as other technical issues.

Jonathan Schick

4/8/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the USAF 611th CES project manager with comments on the Draft Supplemental Field Investitgation Report for several sites at Big Mountain. ADEC's main concerns were regarding the field screening samples at the upper camp sites where the field screening results were biased low. This low biascould lead to an underestimation of the amount of PCB impacted soils will need to be removed from the site. The other issue with this report is that it detailed only a portion of the work at LF005 and ST001 which was investigated during the same field mobilization but reported on under a separate Long-Term Monitoring report.

Jonathan Schick

4/25/2011

Update or Other Action

Contamintated Sites Staff recieved a copy of the Final Initial Screening of Alernatives for the four reaminaing active sites at the Big Mountain Radio Repeater Station. The comments submitted to the USAF were addressed in the Final version.

Jonathan Schick

5/5/2011

CERCLA FS

Contaminted Sites Staff recieved a copy of the Draft Feasibility Study for the 4 remaining active sites at Big Mountain including LF005, ST001, SS010a, and SS010b.

Jonathan Schick

5/5/2011

CERCLA Proposed Plan

Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Draft version of the Proposed Plan for the 4 remaining active IRP sites at Big Mountian including LF005, ST001, SS010a, and SS010b.

Jonathan Schick

5/17/2011

CERCLA FS

Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the USAF regarding the Draft Feasibility Study for the remaining 4 sites at Big Mountain. The State's main concerns with the Draft FS was that benzene, DDT, and lead were left off the list of contaminants of concern. Additionally, the alternatives were rated incorrectly meaning that a moderate score was given to alternatives for the overall protectiveness of the environment, and compliance with ARARs. The two Threshold Criteria should only be scored as pass or fail. Moderately complying with ARARs is not an option in this process.

Jonathan Schick

5/19/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites staff submitted a letter to the USAF approving the final version of the Initial Screening of Alternatives as all of our comments were addressed in the Final Version of the document. The Final version will be filed in our office.

Jonathan Schick

6/13/2011

CERCLA Proposed Plan

Contaminated Sites Staff submitted comments on the Proposed Plan for remedial work at Big Mountain to the Air Force remedial project manager. Comments were sent via email including a word version of the Proposed Plan with changes and numerous comments in an effort to make the plan more readable to the intended audience.

Jonathan Schick

7/7/2011

CERCLA Proposed Plan

Contaminated Sites Staff sent a letter to the Air Force approving the Proposed Plan to be presented at Public Meetings in the commmunities surrounding th Big Mountain Project site. Public meetins are scheduled to be conducted in villages surrounding the site over the 12th through the 14th of July.

Jonathan Schick

7/13/2011

Site Visit

Contaminated Sites Staff participated in a site visit and Public Meetings to present the Propsed Plan for Remedial Action at Big Mountain in the villages of Iliamna, Newhalen, and Igiugig. The main purpose of the site visit was to inspect the proposed location for a landfill that will contain the PCB soils that are to be excavated from three contaminated sites at Big Mountain.

Jonathan Schick

7/14/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Draft Work Plan for Remedial Action at 4 sites at Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. The Work Plan details the excavation work planned at LF005, SS009, and SS010 for PCBs and sampling groundwater, surface water, and sediment for sites ST001, and LF005. This work is to be associated with the Draft Record of Decision for Remedial Action for the sites.

Jonathan Schick

8/10/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the US Air Force Remedial Project Manager with comments on the Draft Work Plan for remedial work scheduled to begin this summer at the Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. The work plan lacked the detail that ADEC requires for this type of remedial action and that detail was requested in the letter so that the work can be looked at after completion and compared to the plan to determine if the work was conducted correctly. The plan in its current state did not achieve this benchmark and was too vague for a field team to carry out the work. A comment resolution meeting will be held to discuss the necessary additions to the plan to make it usable in the field.

Jonathan Schick

8/25/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff sent a letter to the US Air Force Remedial Project Manager with comments on the Draft Record of Decision. The Record of Decision details the planned remedial activity at the site including the removal of PCB impacted soils from several sites, but also includes language for managing sediment contamination and long term management of the landfill at the lower camp.

Jonathan Schick

8/29/2011

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the US Air FOrce approving the design document for the to-be consturcted landfill to hold PCB impacted soils excavated at the site. The design is for the area of Site ST014 which was an old Above Ground Storage Tank site which has a large earthen berm around the outside of the area to be filled with PCB soils. The soils that are located within the berm may be impacted with petroleum hydrocarbons and so they will stay within the boundaries of the site and used as backfill and cap material for the landfill.

Jonathan Schick

8/29/2011

Meeting or Teleconference Held

Contaminated Sites Staff and US Air Force representatives met to discuss the status of comments and responses on the Draft Final Record of Decision for the 4 remaining sites at Big Mountain that will require additional remedial work. The meeting was held to finalize any outstanding issues and agree on language to move forward with the document. The main issues that required resolution were the handling of the sediments at the lower camp sites and how they would be managed and what endpoint would be the remedial action objectives since natural attenuation does not work well for PCB impacts.

Jonathan Schick

8/31/2011

CERCLA FS

Contaminated Sites Staff recieved the Final Version of the Feasibility Study for the 4 remaining sites at Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. The Feasibility Study reviewed the various alternatives and determined that the preferred alternative for the PCB impacted sites was excavation and off-site disposal for soils impacted at concentrations greater than 10 parts per million and on-site disposal of the soils impacted between 1 and 10 parts per million. At the Lower camp long term monitoring was selected as the preferred remedy to monitor the contaminant levels in the groundwater adn sediment at the 2 remaining lower camp sites.

Jonathan Schick

8/31/2011

Update or Other Action

Conatminated Sites Staff recieved the Final Version of the Supplemental Field Investigation that augmented the previous Remedial Investigation to further delineate the extent of PCB impacted soils at several sites at Big Mountain Radio Relay Station.

Jonathan Schick

9/8/2011

Site Characterization Workplan Approved

Contaminated Sites Staff submitted a letter to the US Air Force approving the implementation of the work plan for PCB soil removal at several sites at the Big Mouinatin Installation. The plan details the excavation and segregation activities for PCB soil remediation where any soils impacted with over 10 parts per million of PCBs will be packaged and shipped off site for disposal and soils impacted between 1 and 10 parts per milion will be disposed of in an on-site monofill located at the upper camp.

Jonathan Schick

9/9/2011

CERCLA ROD Approved

The CERCLA Record of Decision for the 4 remaining sites at Big Mountain was signed and delivered to our office. The Record of Decision details the remaining remedial activities that will be completed at the lower and upper camps at the site mostly regarding the removal and disposl aof PCB impacted soils where any soils with PCBs in excess of 10 parts per million will be packaged and shipped off-site to a hazardous waste disposal landfill and the soils impacted between 1 and 10 parts per million will be buried in the newly constructed landfill located at the upper camp.

Jonathan Schick

9/9/2011

Site Characterization Workplan Approved

Contaminated Sites Staff recieved a Final version of the work plan for remedial action to be conducted at the Big Mountain Radio Relay Station. Additional details were added to aid in the execution of the work and the usability of the document. Most of the work detailed in the plan is regarding the excavatino and disposal of PCB impacted soils at several sites at Big Mountain.

Jonathan Schick

5/22/2012

Update or Other Action

Contamianted Sites Staff recievd a request for a Third Party Sampling Waiver for the 2012 work at the upper camp site's cleanup for PCBs. At this time ADEC has not recieved any information regarding what work was completed from last field season or any analytical results and so are withhiolding the approval of the Third Party waiver pending the submittal of some type of report detailing what was completed during 2011.

Jonathan Schick

5/29/2012

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites Staff recieved an interim report for the work completed at the active sites at Big Mountain in 2011. we reviewed the report and submitted comments and suggestions as to what type of information we were looking for in the report to support the third party waiver that was requested.

Jonathan Schick

6/1/2012

Update or Other Action

Contaminated Sites staff recieved an amended version of the interim report from the 2011 field activities. The report satisfied the State's requirement that the sampling and analysis program be summarized and the field activites were described in more detail.

Jonathan Schick

6/1/2012

Update or Other Action

Contamianted sites staff submitted a letter to the Air Force Project Manager approving the requested waiver for an independant third party sampler for the field program in 2012. Air Force personnel will collet and deliver the samples to an onsite laboratory for the analysis of PCBs.

Jonathan Schick

4/9/2014

Update or Other Action

The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program approved the March 2014 Remedial Action Report, Environmental Restoration at SS010a and SS010b, LF005, and Monitoring Well Decommissioning at ST001, Big Mountain Radio Relay Station, Alaska. The report summarizes the excavation and disposal activities for PCB-impacted soil at SS010a and SS010b. Soil confirmation samples indicate that PCB concentrations in the soil remaining are less than the ADEC cleanup level.

Jessica Morris

11/6/2014

Cleanup Complete Determination Issued

The ADEC Contaminated Sites Program submitted a letter to the USAF indicating that a cleanup complete determination was made for the site.

Jessica Morris

3/28/2017

Update or Other Action

Former file number 2518.38.006 consolidated with 2518.38.001.

Mitzi Read

10/5/2023

Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other

DEC reviewed the Draft Preliminary Assessment Report for Aqueous Film-Forming Foam Areas Big Mountain Radio Relay Station, Alaska, Dated September 2023.The preliminary assessment describes the document search and interviews to identify the potential presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) associated with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) at the Big Mountain Radio Relay Station, Alaska. No evidence of AFFF use at the site was encountered at the Former Fire Station or the Fire Pump House. Jugs of deteriorated AFFF were observed at the Former Flight Operations Building Area. The assessment recommended no further remedial action planned at the Former Fire Station and the Fire Pump House. A site investigation was recommended at the Former Flight Operations Building Area.

Ginna Quesada

Contaminant Information

Name	Level Description	Media	Comments
PCBs - Total	< Method 2 Most Stringent	Soil

Name

Level Description

Media

Comments

PCBs - Total

< Method 2 Most Stringent

Soil

Control Type

Type	Details
No ICs Required

Type

Details

No ICs Required

Requirements

Description	Details
Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site.

Description

Details

Advance approval required to transport soil or groundwater off-site.

Cleanup Complete Determination

No associated sites were found.

Missing Location Data

Because the GIS location data for this site has not been entered, we cannot direct you to its position on the map. Click "Continue" to proceed to the Contaminated Sites Web Map or "Close" to return to the site report.

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Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Site Report: Big Mountain RRS SS009

Site Chronology

IC / Closure Details

Documents

Associated Sites

Problems/Comments

Action Information

Contaminant Information

Control Type

Requirements

Cleanup Complete Determination

Missing Location Data

State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation