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Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge - Bering Sea Unit Contaminant Assessment

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Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge - Bering Sea Unit Contaminant Assessment U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge - Bering Sea Unit Contaminant Assessment Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge – Bering Sea Unit Contaminant Assessment Deborah D. Rudis August 2010 This report may be cited as: Rudis, D.D. 2010. Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge – Bering Sea Unit Contaminant Assessment. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Juneau Field Office, Alaska. 56 pp. On the cover: whiskered auklet. Photo: L. Lauber Executive Summary The purpose of the Contaminant Assessment Process (CAP) is to compile and summarize known past, present, and potential contaminant issues on National Wildlife Refuges. The CAP has gath- ered information to help U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service personnel make informed management deci- sions about contaminant threats to Refuge lands and resources. Because of the extent of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and significant contamination of some areas, CAP reports for this Refuge cover units, subunits, or individual islands within the Refuge. This report documents known and potential contaminant issues on the Bering Sea Unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Most people regard National Wildlife Refuges as pristine areas reserved for wildlife and fish. This unit of the Refuge includes biologically important remote islands whose coastal cliffs provide nesting habitat for millions of seabirds. Although managing these species is a primary manage- ment goal, the Refuge has, and continues to experience, a variety of other uses. These uses of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge – Bering Sea Unit have included government agency and military use, commercial fisheries, and limited recreational use. These activities can result in contamination of trust resources and their habitats that require cleanup and remediation. Some former governmental activities left facilities and other remains on-site after operations ceased, often due to costs of materials removal, transport, and cleanup. At some sites, hazardous materials were spilled with no subsequent or inadequate cleanup. These concerns have been identified and highlighted in this CAP report. Cleanup of some of these sites is or has been conducted. Post-closure sampling conducted by others should be reviewed if there are sites that pose a potential continued risk to Refuge lands or resources. This Refuge unit has several contaminant issues that are highlighted in this report. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operated numerous facilities on the Pribilof Islands, many of which had petroleum contamination problems. Most of these sites have undergone extensive cleanup actions. St. Matthew Island has Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) that need additional site assessment. In addition, oil spills have had adverse effects on seabirds and their habitats throughout the Bering Sea Unit, and these spill risks are anticipated to likely increase in the future, should shipping and resource development increase as the result of continued climate change. Climate change could also cause unanticipated changes in contami- nant bioavailability. If and when any potentially contaminated lands are considered for conveyance to the Refuge, a full contaminant preacquisition assessment is required by existing Service and Department of the Interior policies. When warranted, preacquisition assessments should include rigorous sampling by (or funded by) the transferring land managers before the Service accepts any of these properties. Because of the potential for future oil spills both from vessels and land-based fuel storage facilities, spill response preparedness through spill contingency planning and participation in spill exercises is one way for the Refuge to prepare for such potentially damaging events. Collection of adequate baseline data prior to spill events is important for damage assessment efforts when spill incidents occur that affect Service trust resources. Baseline data will also be important to document present conditions as climate change progresses with its potential to complicate contaminant effects. ii Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge – Bering Sea Unit Table of Contents 1. Contaminant Assessment Process. 1 1.1 The Contaminant Assessment Process in Alaska. 1 2. The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and the Bering Sea Unit. 3 3. Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) . 10 4. Contaminant Sources and Issues. 11 4.1.1 St. Paul Island–NOAA sites. 13 4.1.2 St. Paul Island–Other known and potential releases. 17 4.1.3 St. George Island. 19 4.2 Pribilof Islands Long-Term Groundwater Monitoring . 23 4.3 St. Matthew Island. 24 4.4 Hall Island. 27 4.5 Hagemeister Island. 27 4.6 Bluff Area. 27 4.7 Sledge Island . 27 4.8 Tin City. 28 4.9 Oil Spills. 30 4.9.1 St. Paul Island . 30 4.9.2 St George Island. 33 4.9.3 St. Matthew Island . 33 4.10 Air Quality. 34 4.10.1 FWS Role in Permit Review. 35 4.10.2 Monitoring and Data. 36 4.11 Seabird Tissue Archival Monitoring Project. 36 4.12 Northern Fur Seals and Contaminants. 37 4.13 Marine Debris . 38 5. Future Development. 40 6. Recreation. 41 7. Hunting and Fishing. 42 7.1 Subsistence Fishing . 42 7.2 Commercial Fishing . 42 7.3 Sport fishing. 42 8. Biotic Sources and Physical Transport . 43 8.1 Biotic Sources . 43 8.2 Physical Transport . 44 9. Climate Change. 45 9.1 Contaminant Fate and Transport . 45 9.2 Arctic Marine Traffic, Environmental Considerations and Impacts. 46 10. Areas of Concern and Future Sampling Needs . 47 11. Conclusion. 48 12. Bibliography and Literature Cited. 49 Contaminant Assessment iii Table of Contents Figures Figure 1. The 16 National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska. 2 Figure 2. Pribilof Subunit Map. 7 Figure 3. Shoreline remediation at the Salt Lagoon Diesel Seep on St. Paul (NOAA figure).. 15 Figure 4. Bering Sea Unit Map. 25 iv Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge – Bering Sea Unit Acronyms and Abbreviations ACOE Army Corps of Engineers AC&W Aircraft Control and Warning ADEC Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation ADIOS Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills ADNR Alaska Department of Natural Resources AMAP Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme AMNWR Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge ANILCA Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act ANCSA Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act AQRV air quality related values ARLIS Alaska Resources Library and Information Services AST above-ground storage tank BEST Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends bgs below ground surface BRD Biological Resources Division (USGS) CAP Contaminant Assessment Process CCP Comprehensive Conservation Plan DDE dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene DDT dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane DEQ Division of Environmental Quality (USFWS) DoD Department of Defense DRO diesel range organics EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ESA environmental site assessment FLM federal land manager FUDS Formerly Used Defense Sites GRO gasoline range organics HCB hexachlorobenzene HCH hexachlorocyclohexane LORAN Long Range Air Navigation LRRS Long Range Radar Site or Station MLLW Mean Lower Low Water mg/kg milligrams per kilogram NOAA National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration NPDES National Pollution Discharge Elimination System OPA Oil Pollution Act of 1990 ORV off-road vehicle Contaminant Assessment v Acronyms and Abbreviations PAHs polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PCBs polychlorinated biphenyls POL petroleum, oil, and lubricants POPs persistent organic pollutants ppm parts per million RAYDIST radio and distance Refuge Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge RRO residual range organics Service U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service SPCC Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures STAMP Seabird Tissue Archival Monitoring Project TAC The Aleut Corporation TAqH total aqueous hydrocarbons TDX Tanadgusix Corporation TPA two party agreement TPH total petroleum hydrocarbons ug/L micrograms per liter USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service USCG United States Coast Guard USGS U.S. Geological Survey USTs underground storage tanks WACS White Alice Communication System WQS Water Quality Standards WWII World War II vi Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge – Bering Sea Unit Acknowledgments Many individuals contributed to this report. The Alaska Maritime Nation- al Wildlife Refuge staff provided information, logistic support, and review of this document, in particular G. Siekaniec, J. Williams, and H. Renner. Staff at the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service, Alaska Regional Office, Division of Realty were helpful with records search and review, and map design, particularly D. Jerry, N. Walsh, and J. Brewer. The Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) and NOAA provided much of the historical information. P. Johnson provided support and feedback throughout this project and document review. Additional thanks are extended to B. Hanson and S. Brockmann for review and support. Much appreciation to Schatz Publishing’s staff for their professional expertise in final compilation and layout of this document. Author’s Notes This CAP report is a synthesis of available information on contaminant is- sues in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Many sources were used to produce this document and some passages have been reproduced from the Refuge’s Annual Narratives, Web site, and Land Conservation Plan. Files were reviewed at the Refuge office in Homer, and project- related files at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Anchorage Ecological Services Field Office. When appropriate, specific sources
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