The City and Borough Assembly met with a delegation of the state’s project leads and contractors associated with the former Byford yard cleanup.
The purpose of the session was for the Department of Environmental Conservation to update the council about the ongoing project, the first phase of which had been completed in 2016. Sixty containers of the most heavily contaminated soil and debris – plus two containers of lead battery plates – were shipped off-island for disposal. Around 18,300 cubic yards of primarily lead-contaminated soil still remained, with shipment off-island deemed to be not cost effective due to the project’s already overrun budget.
“We ended up finding a lot more contaminants than we anticipated,” DEC project manager Sally Schlichting explained.
A dedicated monofill to consign the remaining soil in perpetuity was proposed, after it was treated with a phosphate-based compound to stabilize the lead present. The rock pit selected to house the layered monofill ended up raising local concerns due to its nearness to Pats Creek, a popular spot for recreational and subsistence fishing. Work slated to begin last August was delayed so DEC could address these concerns more directly, and a resumption deadline of April 1 has so far been postponed by additional input.
Wrangell Cooperative Association in November contracted an environmental consultant to review the state project, with a 19-page response put forward in March. For the past seven weeks, Schlichting said, the department has worked on responding to the concerns the paper raised. This included additional testing at the former Byford site, where the treated soil is still being kept, as well as at the prospective monofill site.
“The sample results from the stockpile… generally were pretty good,” Schlichting summarized. Lead concentrations in the pile appeared to remain stable, not leaching out. While phosphorus was obviously present in the treated soil, she noted no naturally-occurring presence was detected in the creek or surrounding area.
DEC has proposed additional monitoring of water outflow during the construction, as well as additional testing and monitoring at the site after the project’s completion. With the delays and the reassessment of the site design, Schlichting reported some modifications to the monofill itself will be implemented. A new subsurface cover material would divert more water from the pile’s overall throughput. Initially, the design would see an estimated 72,000 gallons flowing through it per year; the new design would yield only 280 gallons.
“The key difference in the infiltration rate was an engineered geocomposite liner,” said Schlichting. A ribbed, felted layer would channel off most water at the topmost level. “That really dramatically reduces the infiltration rate. … We think we’re going to get a much better cap design in the end.”
In short, the monofill is likely to move forward as planned, though it would be on a delayed start. Additionally, the work would have to be undertaken during dry weather, which in Southeast is not a guarantee and could further delay the project. However, there are potentially other options.
“It is, to us, a safe method of disposal for this waste,” said Kristin Ryan, director for DEC’s Spill Prevention and Response. “That said, we also know there are several people in your community and organizations that would prefer to have it moved off-island.”
As well as the present delay in starting the monofill, Ryan explained the department has put in a request with the Legislature for an additional $5 million in capital funding to augment already budgeted funds to allow for off-island barging. They were expecting word back this Wednesday, when a capital budget draft is released.
The state is comfortable with either option, she said, and DEC would reverse course from the monofill if the resources to do so became available.
“There’s pros and cons to each decision,” Ryan cautioned. “That solution will increase the traffic quite a bit through the community,” for one, with between 1,400 and 1,800 tractor-trailer truckloads required to move the material over the course of two summers, at a rate of between 40 and 50 containers per week.
These would run through the main section of town, due to having to make use of the boatyard dock facilities to load the barges. Mayor David Jack thought this would pose a problem, bearing in mind the summer tourist boat and pedestrian traffic.
WCA tribal administrator Esther Ashton explained their consultant has looked over the state’s response to her report since receiving it last week, but still has some questions to be answered. She will be putting together a counter-response to DEC’s findings.
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