1. The meeting was held at the Bob Reeves High School, Adak, Alaska, with telephone connections to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) offices in Anchorage, EFA NW office in Poulsbo, Washington, as well as telephone connections to Olympia, Port Orchard and Seattle, Washington. The following people were in attendance:

Name	Affiliation	Location
Violet Pearl	Community Co-Chair	Adak, AK
Mark Wicklein	Navy Co-Chair	Adak, AK
Jason Weigle	ADEC	Adak, AK
John Halverson	ADEC	Anchorage, AK
Chris Riggio	A/PIA	Anchorage, AK
Alan Fuller	Adak Community Member	Adak, AK
Char Gisvold	RAB Community Member	Adak, AK
Mary Grisco	RAB Community Member	Anchorage, AK
Steve Hines	RAB Community Member	Adak, AK
Carrie Johnson (nee Long)	RAB Community Member	Adak, AK
Agafon Krufoff Jr.	RAB Community Member	Adak, AK
Jim Brown	Navy	Poulsbo, WA
Mark Murphy	Navy	Port Orchard, WA
JoAnn Grady	Grady & Associates	Anchorage, AK
Jim Rogers	TTFW	Adak, AK
Dave Hose	URS	Seattle, WA
Larry Namba	URS	Adak, AK
Wendy Oresik	URS	Seattle, WA
Sharon Quiring	URS	Seattle, WA
Bill Rohrer	URS	Olympia, WA
Mary Lou Sullivan	URS	Poulsbo, WA



2. Welcome and Opening Remarks:

Violet Pearl called the meeting to order at approximately 6 p.m. (Adak time). The agenda was changed slightly, to allow the "other issues/questions" segment to precede the Proposed Plan for No-Risk Free Product Sites presentation. The April 14, 2004 meeting minutes were approved.

3. 2004 Field Season Update

The 2004 field season update was presented jointly by Mark Murphy, Jim Brown and Mark Wicklein. The presentation generally followed the material presented in the printed Field Season Update, which had been provided to RAB members before the meeting (in the mailed RAB information packets).



• Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)

  Mark Murphy stated that the UXO field season, which had been scheduled to end September 23, 2004, might be extended to October 17, 2004. If the field season is extended, some additional work may be done at Lake Jean (LJ) 01 site.

  Char Gisvold wondered why the field season extension sounded like it was not definite. Mark Murphy responded that formal notification to proceed had not been given from the Navy to ECC (the UXO contractor). Char then asked if cleaning up the LJ 01 site completely was still an option. Mark stated he was unsure how far the Navy would get; but finishing the entire site was certainly a goal.

  Mark then discussed the disposal procedure for the munitions of concern (MEC). All items that have energetic materials, recovered this field season, will be disposed of on island by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Mobile Unit 11 (MU 11) Detachment, based out of Whidbey Island, Washington. EOD MU 11 will also sweep the Lake Andrew Seawall (an annual activity). Any explosive-free MEC scrap will be shipped to an off-island, Navy approved recycling facility. The Mt. Moffett areas will require subsequent field seasons to complete cleanup.

  Agafon Krukoff inquired how much explosive material a plane that landed on Adak toward the end of this field season removed. Mark reiterated that no material with any associated explosive hazard is shipped off island. EOD MU 11 brings explosives out to Adak via a military aircraft, in order to detonate any items found on Adak during the UXO field season.

  JoAnn Grady then asked about the status of the agreement between the Navy and Ft. Richardson, as it pertains to responding to suspect UXO items. Mark Murphy stated that Ft. Richardson has agreed to be the primary responder, and that a letter from the Navy was sent to the City of Adak in April, 2004 confirming this change. If Adak residents discover suspect UXO, they should notify Adak police authorities, which in turn will contact the appropriate responders at Ft. Richardson. Local authorities will initiate the response. This procedure has been covered, in brief, by fact sheets available on the adakupdate.com website (http://www.adakupdate.com/pdfs/news/UXO_Awareness.pdf and http://www.adakupdate.com/pdfs/news/new_eod_response.pdf).

  Mr. Murphy stated that Whidbey Island EOD MU 11 has expressed interest in continuing the disposal task for contractors during the summer field season, as well as the Andrew Lake Seawall beach sweeps.

• Annual Groundwater Monitoring and Institutional Controls (IC) Site Inspections

  Jim Brown explained that 6-7 people have been on Adak since September 9, 2004 conducting the annual long-term monitoring sampling event, and inspecting sites where institutional controls are in effect. ICRC (the contractor) is also collecting a small amount of data, at particular wells, to support the ongoing studies of the free product sites. The crew should be finished by the end of September. A summary report on the state of the institutional control site inspections should be available by late fall (2004). Landfill reports will be available in early 2005. Violet Pearl asked if any residential water samples were collected. Mark Wicklein responded that only groundwater monitoring was conducted, not drinking water monitoring.

• Free Product Recovery and Boom Maintenance

  Mark Wicklein gave a brief summary of free product recovery efforts this field season on Adak. Free product has been collected at the Tanker Shed site, NMCB, and South Runway 18-36. Booms are maintained in four areas on island. Tetra Tech Foster Wheeler (TTFW, the contractor hired to perform the product recovery and boom maintenance work) has been checking the relevant wells at the sites, once per week, and will continue to do so through July 2005. To this point, there has not been much free product recovered at the sites. It is possible that the Navy and ADEC will engage in a conversation, to see if the Navy can decrease the sampling frequency, and to determine whether or not sampling during the winter months is necessary.

  A question was raised about the frequency of use at Tanker Shed. It was stated that the maximum use was once/day at the Tanker Shed or 2-3 times a week. Carrie Johnson stated that tanker truck repair occurs at the Tanker Shed building. Future use at Tanker Shed for purposes of the risk assessment assumed aviation operations support (or consistent with current activities). Mark Wicklein indicated that this would be discussed later on in the RAB meeting during the free product site Proposed Plan briefing.

• Operable Unit (OU) B2 Investigation / Feasibility Study

  Mark Murphy provided a brief update on a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) report produced for OU B2 in June 2004. This is Parcel 4, the Navy-retained area on Adak. He stated that, in July, he traveled to a meeting with stakeholders in Anchorage. A number of comments were received on the document, and the Navy is trying to resolve their response to comments received in writing from ADEC and USFWS. The Navy is still awaiting final comments from EPA. It is likely that another project team/stakeholder meeting will be necessary after the document is revised, to address the adequacy of the Navy responses in the "responsiveness summary" section.

  Chris Riggio asked who from EPA would be submitting comments. Mark stated that EPA was awaiting comments from their legal council and would be submitting final comments for the agency with these comments included. John Halverson inquired whether the Navy had developed a preliminary response. Mark stated that responses to initial, informal comments were discussed at the July meeting in Anchorage. Mark also stated that the Navy wanted to wait until all comments were received, from all agencies involved, before providing written responses to comments and revising the OU B RI/FS. John Halverson then asked when Kevin Oates (the EPA Adak Project Manager) would provide comments. Mark said the date was unknown. Jason Weigle added that Kevin has been dodging hurricanes lately in Alabama; so, his life has had a number of recent interruptions.

  Mark then asked if there were any more questions. Receiving no comments, the meeting proceeded to the next agenda topic.

• Marine Monitoring

  Jim Brown, the Navy RPM who is managing the marine monitoring program, presented a summary of the findings from the last five years of fieldwork on Adak. Per the OU A Record of Decision (ROD), institutional controls were the selected remedial alternative for Kuluk Bay and Sweeper Cove. The institutional control selected for these two water bodies was an advisory for subsistence fishers on consumption of fish and shellfish containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The fish advisory will remain in place until a reduction of PCBs in fish and shellfish meet the prescribed cleanup goals of 6.5 ppb (0.0065 mg/kg) in fish and 31 ppb (0.031 mg/kg) in shellfish. Once cleanup levels have been attained, the consumption advisory can be removed.

  In addition to the fish advisory, a marine monitoring component was also included in the OUA ROD. The monitoring program has two objectives:
  
  

  • Document changes in PCB concentrations in fish and shellfish over time, and
  • Determine a date when the fish advisory could be lifted.

  The OU A ROD stated that monitoring would be annually for the first five years. The frequency of monitoring after that would be based on the results of the first five years of data.

  In compliance with the OU A ROD, the Navy has collected marine tissue data from Kuluk Bay and Sweeper Cove since 1999. The results of the five years of monitoring (1999 through 2003) are presented in a technical memorandum. A copy of the Marine Monitoring Technical Memorandum can be found on the AdakUpdate.com web site (http://www.adakupdate.com/pdfs/docs/FinalAdakMarineTechMemowoComments.pdf).

  In addition, copies can also be found at the local repositories in Anchorage and at Adak. A shorter, 3-page "fact sheet" summarizing the results of the marine monitoring was also prepared and posted on the web site, as well as mailed to RAB members and Adak residents (http://www.adakupdate.com/pdfs/news/AdakFinalFactSheetJuly2004.pdf).

  In brief, the results of the five years of marine monitoring are:
  
  

  • Rock Sole:
    
    The average PCB levels in rock sole from Sweeper Cover range from 53 to 96 ppb. The average PCB level has increased each year since 1999 and is above the action level of 6.5 ppb.
    
    The average PCB levels in rock sole from Kuluk Bay range from 5 to 14 ppb. The average PCB level from this area shows little change over the 5 years and is just slightly above the action level of 6.5 ppb.
    
    
  • Blue Mussel:
    
    The average PCB levels in blue mussel from Sweeper Cover range from 24 to 61 ppb. The average PCB levels from this area have decreased over time, with two out of the last three years being below the action level. The 2003 levels were just slightly or 3 ppb above the action level of 31 ppb (2003 at 34 ppb).
    
    The average PCB levels in blue mussel from Kuluk Bay range from 7 to 17 ppb. The average PCB levels from this area show a general but slow increase over time; but all results for the five years of monitoring are below the action level of 6.5 ppb.
    
    
  • Recommendations:
    
    The Technical Memorandum presented several recommendations based on the data collected to date:
    
    The first recommendation is to continue sampling fish and shellfish in Sweeper Cove and Kuluk Bay every other year through the next five-year review period (2009). At that time, the data will be evaluated and longer term monitoring requirements established. In the interim, technical memorandums will be drafted after each monitoring event (every other year). These technical memos will ensure periodic review of the data as it is generated, should conditions change and the need for additional action (or reduction in controls) be warranted.
    
    The second recommendation is to remove the fish advisory for blue mussel in Kuluk Bay, since the average PCB levels over the five-year period are all below the action level. The remaining fish advisories for rock sole in Kuluk Bay and Sweeper Cove and blue mussel in Sweeper Cover are to remain in place.
    
    

  After the presentation, Jim asked if anyone had questions. Carrie Johnson asked which of the recommendations the RAB was in favor of. Jim repeated that the recommendations were based on the review of five years worth of data, and all involved regulatory agencies agreed with the two recommendations previously stated. Agafon Krukoff wanted to know if the Navy had any idea why the levels of PCBs in blue mussels were going up in Sweeper Cove. Jim Brown speculated that the blue mussels collected may reflect an older population, and perhaps the levels would decrease as new mussels replenished the beds in the future. Jim stated that Sweeper Creek was the last PCB removal action that took place, and it occurred in 1999. Perhaps fish and shellfish collected over the past five years are older adults, reflecting the pre-cleanup environment. Char Gisvold inquired about the typical size and weight of older fish. Jim responded that, from his reading, a 30-70 centimeter fish might be 7 years or older.

4. RAB Members Issues / Questions



• Debris Adjacent to Metals Landfill

  The next topic that was introduced by the RAB community members was debris adjacent to Metals Landfill. Carrie Johnson stated that she thought that the pictures included in the letter from Jason Weigle (included in the mailed RAB packet) were good. Char Gisvold then said that the Navy had taken no action, and she was concerned about that. Mark Wicklein responded that the Navy Environmental Department is funded to deal with sites contaminated by chemicals or potential UXO. The Navy is not the current property owner. This area doesn't appear to have chemical contamination associated with it. If we had to repair the Metals Landfill, the Navy could perhaps address this area, at that time. But, we don't have a need to repair Metals Landfill at this time. This area is separate from Metals Landfill. The community is concerned that, if it erodes, it would slough on to the beach. Jason Weigle stated that the debris on the beach is not considered by ADEC to be part of Metals Landfill. Mark said that the wall in question was at the south end of Kuluk Bay, about 50 - 75 feet away from the rip rap wall. He stated that it would be unlikely that chemical contamination from Metals Landfill would migrate that far. Agafon Krukoff understood that the Navy was not funded to conduct work out of the environmental area. He expressed a desire for the Navy to expand their scope of work. Mark said that, in the future, if the Navy is conducting work in the area, they would consider taking action on this debris job. Mr. Krukoff requested that this be recorded as a possible option to consider in the future.

  Jason Weigle then said that he would like to address Char's comment. He stated that, back in July, community members mentioned that they were waiting for the Navy to come up with the money to remediate the metal debris. Jason commented that there were other sources of money available for communities to pursue. For instance, this debris cleanup may fall under the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program. John Halverson mentioned that, statewide, Alaska has 140 sites in that category that have some level of work planned; with hundreds more without work plans. Jason then suggested that the community could partner with some entity and go after grants, to try to expedite removal actions.

  Steve Hines asked if Rommel stakes were considered FUDS debris. Mark Murphy responded that the Rommel stake removal project was paid for by money available, at that time, as part of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Operations and Maintenance (O&M), and not by funds dedicated to environmental projects. It was a discretionary BRAC O & M account, and ADEC suggested, via a letter to the Navy, that the state could pursue an enforcement action if the debris, posing a clear safety hazard, was not removed. Mark said such funding is no longer available. John Halverson concurred with Mark, stating that the state did draft a Nuisance Abatement Order, as the Rommel stakes were designed and installed to cause injury. John asked whether the current debris under discussion was an "eye sore," or a true safety hazard. If the answer to that question is the subject of some debate, he suggested the Navy and the community working together, for a common resolution, seemed to be a good idea.

  Agafon Krukoff suggested that the City of Adak representatives should sit down with ADEC to discuss options for grants. In Mr. Krukoff's opinion, the debris poses a safety issue that needs to be dealt with. Both John Halverson and Mark Wicklein suggested that interested City of Adak personnel meet with Jason before he leaves Adak on Thursday (Sept. 23).

• Proposed Plan for Free Product Petroleum Sites with No Unacceptable Risks

  At this point, the Power Point presentation on the Proposed Plan for Free Product Petroleum Sites with No Unacceptable Risks was given. The slides presented on Adak were presented simultaneously at Anchorage. Other parties to the conference call had copies available to refer to (either printed from adakupdate.com website or from e-mail versions). There were additional printed copies available on-island for Adak residents to review. The complete set of slides is available at: http://www.adakupdate.com/September_2004_RAB_presentation.ppt

  Mark Wicklein started by providing an overview of the presentation, including: purpose of the Proposed Plan, site background information, cleanup levels, risk assessments, Remedial Action Objectives (RAOs), Remedial Action alternatives, approach to selection of remedies, preferred alternatives, additional activities above and beyond the selected remedies, and the forum to provide public input. The public comment period is scheduled from October 1, 2004 to November 1, 2004. The Proposed Plan will be completed in about a week and a half, and then the final document will be sent out to the information repositories, to provide the public a chance to review and provide comments. These 10 sites have already undergone a significant amount of remediation, including Underground Storage Tank (UST) and Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) removals, soil and free product removal, annual monitoring of groundwater, and monitored natural attenuation (MNA) sampling (prior to finial remedial actions being selected and applied).

  Char Gisvold asked where contaminated soil had been removed to and/or stored. Mark Wicklein indicated soil had been thermally treated and either returned to the site excavations or stored in a warehouse on Bering Hill. Were it not for funding constraints, Mark stated that the material on Bering Hill would have been treated and removed from Bering Hill.

  After the land was conveyed in March of 2004, the petroleum sites were transferred to The Aleut Corporation (TAC) and the City of Adak. The Tanker Shed is currently owned by Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT). Institutional controls and land use restrictions are in place at all of these sites. Use of groundwater for drinking water in the downtown area is prohibited as part of imposed institutional controls. An excavation notification process is also required prior to performing any intrusive activities at these sites. The risk assessments conducted for all sites, except NORPAC Hill, assumed future commercial land use. The Navy will manage excavated contaminated materials from these sites.

  The Navy followed ADEC risk assessment guidance in order to develop Method 4 cleanup levels. Approval was obtained from ADEC for the risk assessment work plans. The results of the risk assessments demonstrated that there is no unacceptable risk to human health or the environment from any of the 10 sites, given that groundwater is not used for drinking water and that IC s remain in place.

  Site characterization and risk assessment reports are companion documents for the Proposed Plan. Site maps showing groundwater and the extent of free product are included in these documents. The maps are also posted to the Adakupdate website (in the Power Point presentation mentioned previously). Mark Wicklein described the various exposure scenarios included in the risk assessments. No unacceptable risks were found from exposure of residents, site workers, or construction workers to soil. Risks were found for three downtown sites from ingestion of groundwater; but, since use of groundwater for drinking water is prohibited, there is no complete exposure pathway. No unacceptable risks were found for ecological receptors either, primarily because of the absence of quality terrestrial habitat.

  Mark stated that RAOs included preventing exposure to petroleum-contaminated soil and groundwater and reducing petroleum groundwater contamination to levels below ADEC groundwater cleanup levels.

  Mark then described various remedial alternatives to achieve these RAOs. The remedial alternatives selected for analysis included: No action, limited groundwater monitoring, MNA and institutional controls, product recovery, limited source removal and thermal desorption, Ex and/or In situ Bioremediation of soil, soil cover, and soil vapor extraction (SVE). The 1988 Focused Feasibility study (and the nine EPA and ADEC criteria) was used as a baseline for evaluating the remedial alternatives for the 10 no-risk sites.

  Additional activities were selected for a few sites to fill data gaps, continue product recovery, and perform limited soil removal. Mark concluded the presentation by describing how the public can provide input on the Proposed Plan by submitting comments to the Navy or ADEC. Comments will be incorporated into a Responsiveness Summary, as part of a decision document. This document will list the selected remedies, wells to be monitored, and sites where additional activities will be performed.

  For the four risk sites, Mark stated that the Navy would be going through the same process. Site Characterization and Risk Assessments are being prepared and will be reviewed by ADEC and the land owners (TAC, City of Adak, and ADOT). Remedies will be identified and evaluated in Focused Feasibility studies for the four sites. These will be followed by one (or four separate) Proposed Plans for these sites and one (or four) Decision Documents.

  At the end of the presentation, Mark asked if anyone had questions. Alan Fuller asked what the timeframe for MNA to occur on Adak was expected to be. Mark Wicklein stated that, in the past, the Navy had estimated 75 years. Mr. Fuller asked if the Navy had thought about adding chemicals to help increase the rate of degradation. Mark said that this was a cost vs. value question. As the on-island plumes were not expanding, he thought that it might not be the best use of funds. Mr. Fuller mentioned that studies have shown that, when chemicals are added, degradation occurs rapidly at first, then at a slower rate over time. The questions concluded the Proposed Plan portion of the RAB meeting.

5. Next RAB Meeting

   There was a discussion about the date for the next Adak RAB meeting. Mark Wicklein proposed a meeting in March or April 2005. Violet Pearl thought that April sounded reasonable. Mark then asked if the RAB community members found the pre-RAB teleconferences useful. Mary Grisco stated that she found them useful. Agafon Krukoff said meetings, in general, would be better if everyone could gather in the same room, at the same place. Mark Wicklein stated, due to funding and logistics, that was often hard to achieve.

   Mark Wicklein suggested a pre-RAB teleconference the last week of January, with a RAB meeting toward the end of March. All agreed that would be acceptable.

   As a last note, Agafon Krukoff suggested setting up a meeting with ADEC people to talk about Metals Landfill, and ways to follow up on suggestions to partner with other groups for grant funding.

   The meeting was adjourned around 7:45 PM (Adak time).

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