Tazlina Copper Valley School

Site Narrative

• Requested by the Native Village of Tazlina

The Catholic Church operated a mission boarding school in Tazlina for 15 years from 1956 until 1971. Alumni of the former Copper Valley School continue to hold annual gatherings in memory of their years at the school, which turned out many leaders in the Alaska Native community. In 1976, a fire destroyed the main buildings, and over the years the remaining outbuildings have deteriorated. Private housing has developed around the former school, which has become a common play area for the children who live in the area.

Potential contaminants of concern include asbestos used in the buildings for pipe insulation; pallets of bags of unknown powdery substances; underground fuel storage tanks; piles of unused cans of lead-based paint; and buried dumps containing lead-acid batteries and other refuse, with at least one dump eroding into the river.

Although this property is owned by the Catholic Church, Diocese of Anchorage, the Native Village of Tazlina, in conjunction with the Copper Valley School Alumni Association, would like to reuse this property for educational opportunities for the future Native leaders of Alaska. The community, which sees this site as a positive part of local history, would like to see the property used for outdoor education, and environmental and subsistence activities for the general public.

DEC services included a property assessment and cleanup plan, to inform decisions on remedial and restorative actions that could be taken to make the site ready for the desired reuse. In addition, EPA conducted a Targeted Brownfield Assessment Program that found contaminant releases to soil and groundwater were minimal; however, a significant concern was associated with exposure to uncontrolled friable asbestos from insultation and wall board, which led to an emergency action. Activities to address this concern were initiated in 2013 and the site was cleaned up in its entirety, and all debris and structures removed. The only remaining contaminants of concern at the primary property were determined to be negligible. A separate site was established (Tazlina River Dumpsite, file no. 2260.38.001) was created to document a Notice of Environmental Contamination on the deed, as small amount of lead contamination was identified but left in place to help mitigate potential erosion.