U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District YAKUTAT AIR BASE AND OCEAN CAPE RADIO RELAY SITE FORMERLY USED DEFENSE SITES JUNE 2020 ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District (USACE) is distributing this CONTACT update to provide interested parties with a brief overview of the ongoing environmental cleanup and remediation efforts being conducted under the Mike Macmillan Defense Environmental Restoration Program for the Formerly Used Defense FUDS/NALEMP Project Manager Sites (FUDS) at the former Yakutat Air Base and Ocean Cape Radio Relay Site (OCRRS). P.O. Box 6896 JBER, Alaska 99506-6898 This newsletter presents updates on restoration activities completed or planned at Yakutat Air Base and the OCRRS FUDS projects near the city of Yakutat, [email protected] Alaska. It has been prepared as part of the recommendations of the Public (907) 753-5597 Involvement Plan for the Yakutat Area FUDS properties, which encourages public involvement in the remediation planning process.

USACE is committed to consistent, reliable, and meaningful communications with the community and stakeholders. Anyone with specific questions or concerns is encouraged to reach out to the FUDS Project Manager.

Figure 1. Yakutat Area FUDS Vicinity Map

FUDS PROGRAM OBJECTIVE The Department of Defense (DoD) is responsible for environmental restoration (cleanup) of properties that were formerly owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed by the United States and under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense—i.e. the Army, Navy, Air Force, or any other DoD agency. Such properties are known as FUDS. The USACE is responsible for the FUDS program on behalf of the DoD. USACE employs a risk management approach in accomplishing the cleanups and is committed to addressing this contamination in a safe, timely, and responsive manner. Cleanup is a multi-step process that engages many community, tribal, state, and federal partners in identification, investigation, cleanup, and in some cases, long- term management. Timeline of PROJECT BACKGROUND Major USACE Yakutat Air Base U.S. military interest began in 1929 with the creation of the Yakutat Bay Naval Actions Reservation. The first government use of the area was a Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) radio range commissioned in June 1940 on a site near Yakutat village. The War Department acquired 46,083 acres for the establishment of an “Auxiliary Landing Field 1984 and Staging Area”. In October 1940, Army Engineer troops arrived to begin construction USACE conducted of the Yakutat Landing Field, also known as the Yakutat Air Base, which was completed wide-scale cleanup of on June 15, 1943. Yakutat area

In addition to living quarters, baracks and a mess hall for over 2,000 personnel, the DoD constucted two 7,500-ft. concrete runways, an operations building, storage for gasoline 1995 and oil, suitable gasoline servicing pits, facilities for radio communications, one steel Former Yakutat Air truss hangar, 118,316 square feet of storage, defense installations and aircraft revetments. Base Property approved Other constructed military facilities included communication facilities, coastal defense for FUDS Program gun batteries, a small arms range, an ammunition storage facility, and a U.S. Navy seaplane base. 1999-2008 Removal of Yakutat Air Base was established as an auxiliary airfield and staging area for military POL-contaminated soil, planes as well as an advanced airfield supporting pursuit and bombardment aircraft 700 drums, pipelines, against Japanese invasion forces. As western Aleutian bases expanded and the Japanese and 21 tons of debris were stopped on Attu and Kiska Islands, Yakutat’s military value diminished significantly. The base primarily served as a ferrying post and temporary station for aircraft squadrons and as a refueling stop between the 48 contiguous states and points in Alaska. After the 2015 Japanese were expelled from the Aleutians in December 1943, military activities were Creation of 12 new gradually reduced with personnel and equipment being transferred elsewhere. The projects comprised of airfield was placed on caretaker status in April 1944 until the end of the war. The seaplane 27 AOCs and closure of base was officially closed on July 22, 1944. 15 AOCs Yakutat Air Base was declared surplus by the Army in December 1945. On December 1, 2016 1945, the CAA (now known as the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA) assumed Removal of 5,700 tons resposibility for maintenance and operation of the base, leading to the transfer of the air of POL-contaminated base and all associated facilites from the Army to CAA on April 4, 1947. Pursuant to the soil at 2 AOCs Surplus Property Act of 1944, improvements, equipment, and materials not transferred to CAA were declared to the War Assets Administration for disposal in June 1948; 440 buildings and structures were inventoried for off-site disposal. 2017 Investigation of 8 AOCs

Photo 1. Historic aerial of the Yakutat Air Base from the 1940s. and closure of 3 AOCs 2018 Removal of 16,700 tons of POL-contaminated soil at 4 AOCs and closure of 14 AOCs 2020 Contract awarded to finish contaminated soil removal at C6

Closure of 11 AOCs underway Ownership of the site has transferred several times amongst various government organizations. Today, parts of the former air base are owned by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF), Alaska Department of Natural Resources, United States Forest Service (USFS), City and Borough of Yakutat, Yak-Tat Kwaan, Inc. (YTK), Sealaska Corporation, native allotments, and private landowners. ADOT&PF operates the Yakutat Airport on land that was once part of the historic air base.

Photo 2. Overlooking the runway of Yakutat Air Base; May 24, 1947.

Ocean Cape Radio Relay Site Approximately 5 miles west of Yakutat, the former OCRRS was acquired by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in 1960 to construct a tropospheric communication station for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) under the White Alice Communication System (WACS). The facility included eight industrial buildings, support facilities, water and fuel storage tanks, pipelines, billboard antennae, a bridge, roads, and utility lines. The site was operated as a government-owned contractor-operated facility.

In June 1974, the BMEWS component of the WACS was terminated by the USAF. The facilities were leased to Radio Corporation of America (RCA) Alaska Communications, which took over operations of the WACS “A” Route between 1974 and 1976. RCA discontinued use of the site in June 1976 and the station closed. After declaring OCRRS excess, the USAF granted occupancy rights to Yak-Tat Kwaan, Inc. (YTK) for a 1-year term with the right to renew on a year-to-year basis. In May 1977, the property was relinquished to the Bureau of Land Management, and in 1983 ownership was formally conveyed to YTK, which still owns the property.

Photos 3 & 4. Ocean Cape Radio Relay Site in 1961. YAKUTAT AIR BASE

Previous Activities More than 67 areas of concern (AOCs) where contaminants may be present were originally identified at Yakutat Air Base in 1999.

Cleanup of the FUDS began in 1984 with a large building demolition and debris removal action at the former Yakutat Air Base and OCRRS. Environmental investigations and remediation efforts have been ongoing since.

Large, multi-AOC remedial investigations were conducted in Photo 5. Soil excavation at the former Garrison 2000, 2005, 2010, 2014, 2017, and 2019. The results from this Laundry Area (USACE, 2016) intensive fieldwork have enabled USACE to characterize and delineate sites with contamination requiring either additional sampling, contaminated soil removal, or No Further Action Project Closure. To date, 67 AOCs have been investigated: 33 of those AOCs have been closed out, and 14 additional AOCs are planned for closure in 2020 and 2021. Removal actions have been conducted at 13 AOCs.

Remedial actions between 1999 and 2003 removed petroleum, oil, and lubricant (POL)-contaminated soil, almost 700 drums, more than 6 tons of debris, and removed or rendered non- reactive an underground fuel pipeline. Following fuel removal and cleanup of POL-contaminated water, a containerized

Photo 6. POL-contaminated soil excavation at the hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste project for an C6 area of concern (USACE, 2018) underground pipeline at the former fuel tank farm was closed in 2008.

USACE conducted a removal action at the L Concern – ACOR Tank Farm and M2 – Garrison Laundry Area in 2016. 5,700 tons of POL-contaminated soil were excavated at the two sites and monitoring wells were installed. Hot spots remained at the M2 site, which is located at the USFS workshop.

In 2018, USACE conducted a larger removal action at 3 Point Carrew sites (C6, C4, & C5) and completed the removal at M2. In total 16,700 tons of POL-contaminated soil were excavated that summer. Due to the size and depth of the plume at C6, contamination remained on the northerly margin. Photo 7. Clean backfill to replace excavated soil at Point Carrew(USACE, 2018) Current Status Work is ongoing for 3 Yakutat Air Base projects: C6, E3, and M4. Removal of the remaining POL-contaminated soil at the C6 – 50,000-gallon reserve diesel fuel tank site will be completed later this summer.

The Draft Remedial Investigation Report for the E3 Hospital Loop and M4 – Post Powerhouse sites will be submitted for stakeholder review in July.

Research is underway on 17 inactive AOCs that require additional information to document eligibility for further action under the FUDS program.

Photo 8. Removal action activities at Pt. Carrew (USACE, 2018) OCEAN CAPE RADIO RELAY SITE

Previous Activities In 1984, USACE removed four tropospheric dishes, industrial buildings, and their associated equipment, in addition to filling sewer manholes with gravel.

At the request of YTK, the 74,000-gallon water storage tank and pumphouse, gasoline aboveground storage tank (AST), maintenance garage, 130,000-gallon bulk diesel fuel storage tank, POL pumphouse, and fuel pipelines were left on site to be Photo 9. YTT crew cutting pipe at OCRRS diesel incorporated into future development of Ocean Cape. These AST (YTT NALEMP, 2009) structures were later removed by the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe under the DoD Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP).

An inventory project report in 1994 concluded that the site contained contaminated areas and needed further investigations. Investigations in 1998 detected heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and petroleum contaminants in three areas. In 2013, USACE removed or closed in place the OCRRS sewer system, including the remaining sludge, 1,100 feet of concrete and cast iron piping, three manholes, and vaults. Photo 10. Confined space worker conducting Approximately 18 tons of contaminated sludge, sediment, and septic tank sludge removal (USACE, 2013) debris were also removed at that time.

The Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, acting under authority of NALEMP, performed removal actions between 2007 and 2013. The 130,000-gallon diesel aboveground storage tank was drained of 3,800 gallons of weathered diesel fuel and water for reuse by the community. The 75,000-gallon steel water tank was dismantled and recycled in the community. Water and fuel pumphouses were removed and disposed, along with 70 cubic yards of building debris. The maintenance garage, containing 6 tons of ACM and PCB-containing siding, was removed and disposed. Gasoline-contaminated sand was removed adjacent to the water pumphouse and approximately 555 tons of POL- Photo 11. Dismantling the 130,000-gallon diesel contaminated soil was removed adjacent to the former storage tank (YTT NALEMP, 2009) aboveground storage tanks. According to a 2018 investigation, up to 40 cubic yards of diesel-contaminated soil remains at a former fuel storage area.

Current Status In March of 2018 the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation named the Department of Defense and the commercial operators of the site as Potential Responsible Parties for the environmental contamination. Any further environmental action at the OCRSS will be conducted pursuant to section 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9607(a).

Photo 12. Contaminated soil removal from the water tower footing area (YTT NALEMP, 2012) LEARN MORE

Information regarding the Yakutat area FUDS properties is available for public review in the information repository located at:

Yakutat Tlingit Tribe Office 606 Forest Hwy #10 Yakutat, AK 99689 (907) 784-3238

Available documents may include community relations plans, technical memoranda, remedial investigations, and removal action work plans and reports.

Information is also available from the USACE-Alaska District Public Affairs Office by phone at (907) 753-2721 or by email at [email protected].

FIGURE 2. YAKUTAT AREAS OF CONCERN MAP

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