SWMU 67, White Alice PCB Spill Site CERCLA Site

Background
This site is a former military communications complex located about 2 miles west of downtown Adak. It is situated on a flattened hilltop about 595 feet above MLLW. It consists of three building foundations and abandoned concrete pads surrounded by graded gravel. Given the relative elevation and the lack of vegetation and structures, the site does not provide any valuable habitat. The White Alice complex, constructed in 1956, consisted of large transmitting and receiving dish antennas. The site was dismantled between 1980 and 1982. During demolition, PCB-containing oil was spilled throughout the complex (US Navy 1996). Based on the results of the investigations and the estimated risk associated with PCB, a multilayered cap was placed on this site as a removal action.

The remedial action objective is to maintain this area as an outdoor recreational area and maintain the protective cap. Excavation by non-Navy personnel is absolutely prohibited although recreational land uses, which add additional cover, may be permissible. Navy personnel will be allowed to excavate for the purposes of repairing caps.

Identified Contaminants
The chemical of concern is PCBs, primarily Aroclor 1260. Since this site includes a capped area, no residential use is allowed and a residential ICR was not calculated. The estimated recreational ICR is 7x10E-6 and estimated the industrial use ICR is 2x10E-6.

CERCLA Institutional Controls

Equitable Servitude

Inspections and Reporting
The ICs identified in this plan will be inspected and reported on an annual basis, or as necessary. Annual site inspection reports will present the results of inspections. The annual reporting requirements will be included in CERCLA 5-year reviews.

Land Use Restrictions
Outdoor recreational and commercial and industrial land uses for the CERCLA Downtown Area sites are allowable under the OU A ROD. Examples of recreational land uses include hiking, bird watching, hunting, nature watching or any other short-term, non-intrusive activity on the land. Examples of commercial and industrial uses include manufacturing, industrial research and development, utilities, commercial warehouse operations, retail gas stations, auto service stations, equipment repair and service stations, professional offices, financial institutions, publicly owned office buildings, retail business where the principal activity is the sale of food or merchandise, personal service establishments (health clubs, barber/beauty salons, mortuaries, photographic studios, etc.), churches providing worship services (excluding daycare services), and motels/hotels (excluding those that allow residences). The planned land use at the Downtown Area CERCLA sites (except landfills) is consistent with these land use restrictions.

Soil Excavation Restrictions
Excavation Notifications are required for all the Downtown Area CERCLA sites as an IC. The excavation notifications will be required for all proposed excavations below 2 feet at each of the ICs sites. The notifications will be evaluated to determine whether a proposed project at an IC site is consistent with the land use restrictions. The notifications are an additional tool for the Navy to receive timely information (in the absence of local zoning requirements) to monitor land use restrictions. The primary purpose of the IC Excavation Notification is to apprise the Navy of any changes in land use. Information regarding the depth to contamination present is available in the information repository on the second floor of Bob Reeves High School. In the event of an emergency excavation for utility repairs, the requester shall notify the Navy within three working days after the emergency repair has been completed to provide the name, location, depth, and duration of the excavation.

CERCLA Engineering Controls

Engineering controls encompass a variety of engineered remedies to contain or reduce contamination, or physical barriers intended to limit access to property. Engineering controls, as they relate to Adak Island, include fences, signs, caps or barriers, and treatment systems including monitoring wells. The engineering controls identified in the OU A ROD, petroleum cleanup sites, and those that will apply as interim measures to OU B are described below.

Under the OU A ROD signed in 2000, fishing advisory signs were posted for subsistence fishers because of low levels of PCBs detected in bottom fish (rock sole) and shellfish (blue mussels) of Sweeper Cove and Kuluk Bay. The OU A ROD Amendment removes the requirement for fish advisory signs. Instead, the Navy will provide an information pamphlet to the residents of the City of Adak, because they are the most likely people to eat locally caught fish and shellfish as part of a subsistence diet. Fish information pamphlets will be updated as new information is collected and trends are analyzed. Copies of the updated pamphlets will be put in residence mail boxes, and copies will be placed at the City of Adak and U.S. Fish and Wildlife offices. The consumption of rock sole or blue mussels by recreational fishers poses no unacceptable health risks.

Ordnance hazard signs are in place on fencing around the part of the perimeter of the access restricted area adjacent to Lake Andrew. As of the end of the 2002 field season, remediation has been completed on all areas outside the access-restricted area adjacent to Lake Andrew. For this reason, with the exception of the signs at the perimeter of the Lake Andrew area, these signs are no longer required and were removed in 2003. Fences and gates at the access-restricted areas adjacent to Lake Andrew will be retained and maintained until the OU B-2 ROD is executed. Thereafter, ICs and ECs will be subject to the terms of the OU B-2 ROD.

Other Engineering Controls
Other engineering controls/remedies listed in the Comprehensive Monitoring Plan, Revision 1 are listed below.

Excavation and treatment by thermal desorption of contaminated sediments and soils and recycling of treated sediment and soils as cover material at Roberts Landfill;
Placement of a soil cover on one non-landfill site;
Recycling of treated soils from CERCLA sites as cover material at Roberts Landfill;
Monitoring groundwater at CERCLA sites for volatile compounds and semivolatile compounds;
Removal and treatment of petroleum-contaminated soils to meet State of Alaska cleanup requirements;
Monitored natural attenuation of petroleum chemicals in soil and groundwater;
Free-product recovery to the maximum extent practicable as an interim remedial measure, followed by final remediation to achieve cleanup levels under State of Alaska requirements for soils and groundwater; and
Maintenance of an Munitions Awareness educational program for on-island residents and visitors.

swmu 67 survey