News Release
| Release Number: | 01-122 |
| Dated: | 9/6/2001 |
| 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. In 1994, prior to construction of the chemical demilitarization facility, soils from potential borrow areas for the UMDA construction were collected and were tested for grain size and water content analysis at the laboratory. The samples were collected from areas considered to be unaffected by waste and munitions management at UMDA. The samples have been stored at the Laboratory since testing. They will be appropriately disposed of after the current tests are conducted.
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).
In 1999, the District conducted a small-scale cleanup (50 cubic yards of soil), removing soils in the ditch and drywell. Those areas were lightly contaminated by past disposal practices. The results of that cleanup were submitted to the DEQ in June 1999. The agency indicated they needed more information. The current investigation is being conducted to provide that information and also information requested by EPA.
The Laboratory was used as a testing lab for a variety of materials (concrete, rock, soils, asphalt, paint and other related construction materials) from 1949 through 1997. From 1988 through 1997, environmental samples also were tested there. Besides the laboratory buildings, other features are considered part of the laboratory site and of the ongoing investigations: a one-half acre landfill north of the laboratory; a drywell; a drainage ditch; a concrete sump; a transformer pad; and a fuel oil tank vault. Water level surveys also will be conducted at 10 locations to determine gradient (flow direction) of ground water.
The one-half acre landfill contains primarily rock and concrete, with potentially minimal amounts of other materials (paint cans, oils, construction materials) and concrete-filled drums. When the landfill was established in 1949, private landfills were not subject to the regulations that are in place today. The landfill was closed in 1994 and materials handled in the Laboratory were disposed of in approved commercial facilities permitted to handle hazardous materials.
The drywell, a shallow excavation in gravel, was used to dispose of dissolved paints, solvents, tar and asphalts in the ‘60s and ‘70s. The Laboratory stopped disposing into the drywell in about 1980.
The ditch, which begins about 20 feet away from the southeast corner of the laboratory building, continues north toward landfill portion of the property. Wastewater from the laboratory went the ditch until about 1996. Hazardous waste investigations at the Lab began with a Preliminary Assessment in 1990, which documented hazardous material handling and practices. In June 1991, the Corps submitted the Assessment to the EPA. In November 1992, EPA issued a determination of No Further Remedial Action Needed based on the Assessment. In an October 23, 2000, letter, EPA rescinded that designation, and requested additional environmental investigation at the site.
In 1995 the Corps conducted an internal audit to determine Lab compliance to waste regulations. Corrective actions were initiated to address the problems identified, i.e. use of the ditch for disposal of waste materials. In 1997, the Corps began a limited investigation (Environmental Baseline Study) focused on potentially contaminated areas: the ditch, the drywell where some wastes were disposed, and a sump. That investigation included a general site investigation of the Lab buildings and the landfill.
Low levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), oils and solvents were found in soil samples from the drywell, and metals were found in the ditch. No contamination was found in groundwater. The contamination detected was the focus of the 1999 cleanup.
For further information on the Materials Laboratory, and to track updated information as it becomes available, access: https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues.