News Release
| Release Number: | 01-121 |
| Dated: | 9/4/2001 |
| Contact: | Public Affairs Office, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- Initial preparations for soil, sediment and groundwater sampling to evaluate potential contamination begin today at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' former Materials Laboratory and landfill site in Troutdale, Ore.
The work will be performed by URS Consultants, Seattle, Wash., under a $220,331 contract to conduct the sampling at the former Materials Laboratory site, which includes a landfill. Fieldwork is estimated to take about two weeks. Results will be reported in early 2002.
Fieldwork includes taking soil samples at various depths around a drywell at the Laboratory, around a transformer pad, in and around a drainage ditch, in and around the landfill, and beneath excavation where a fuel oil tank vault was removed. A sediment sample will be taken inside a concrete sump. Tests also will include groundwater sampling in monitoring wells onsite and groundwater surveys to verify groundwater gradient (flow direction). The landfill and ditch are about 300 yards from the Sandy River and about 2,000 yards from the Columbia River.
In addition, partially exposed drums in and at the edge of the landfill will be sampled, removed and disposed. All drums are reported to contain concrete used during Laboratory testing to determine the thermal characteristics of the concrete. URS consultants also will test soils from the Umatilla Army Depot (UMDA) that were tested at the Laboratory before it closed.
All samples, soil, sediment, concrete and water, will be tested for a wide spectrum of compounds and elements in three general groups: volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, and metals.
The testing plan was developed by the Corps and URS in coordination with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
For further information on the Materials Laboratory, and to track updated information as it becomes available, access: https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues.