THE PAST
The former Umiat Air Force Station (AFS) is located along the Colville River in the arctic foothills north of the Brooks Range, Alaska, approximately 105 miles southwest of Deadhorse, 170 miles southeast of Utqiagvik (Barrow), and 65 miles southwest of Nuiqsut. The landfill is located partially on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and partially on land owned by the State of Alaska, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
From 1945 to 1954, the Navy constructed facilities at Umiat for oil and gas exploration purposes. Improvements constructed at Umiat included living quarters, mess hall, latrines, shops, powerhouse, office, storage, and miscellaneous buildings, together with related utilities and gravel runway. Starting in 1946, the Navy established 11 oil exploration wells in the Umiat vicinity. In 1954, the Navy transferred the Umiat improvements to the U.S. Air Force (USAF).
In 1977, the site was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) as a result of Public Law 94-258, the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act (NPRPA) of 1976.
THE PRESENT
Today, DoD is responsible for the 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 prior to October 1986. Such properties are known as Formerly Used Defense Sites or FUDS. The U.S. Army is DoD's lead agent for the FUDS program.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) executes the FUDS program on behalf of the U.S. Army and DoD. The U.S. Army and DoD are dedicated to protecting human health and the environment by investigating and, if required, cleaning up potential contamination that may remain on these properties from past DoD activities.
USACE began investigating Umiat in 1986 under the FUDS program. The Umiat Landfill project addresses impacts associated with the approximately 8-acre Umiat dump located about one-half mile east of the Umiat AFS cantonment facilities, within a seasonal slough of the Colville River.
THE WORK
Description of Selected Remedy
The remedial action selected in this DD is protective of public health, welfare, and the environment. The selected remedy entails the following approach:
- The landfill contents will be removed from the Colville River channel and wastes will be properly disposed.
- Items containing hazardous substances such as batteries, transformers, drums with hazardous contents, etc. that cannot be treated onsite will be transported offsite (out of Umiat) for disposal at a permitted offsite disposal facility. Liquid waste (i.e., hazardous drum or transformer contents) that cannot be treated onsite will be containerized for transport and disposed at a permitted facility offsite.
- An inert waste monofill will be established out of the Colville River floodplain within the boundaries of the Umiat AFS FUDS Property that is designed, constructed, operated, and closed in accordance with Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs). Inert debris such as scrap metal, lumber, and other solid waste items will be placed into the monofill.
- PCB-contaminated sediment exceeding the Remedial Action Objective (RAO) will be removed or treated in Umiat, if feasible.
Remedial Design
Remedial Design Investigation (RDI) activities were conducted in September and October of 2024. Those activities will support development of the remedial design (RD) and planning for remedial action – construction (RA-C) activities to be conducted at the Umiat AFS FUDS.
GET INVOLVED
Join your local Restoration Advisory Board or make your voice heard in its meetings. Our goal is to keep you informed of the ongoing investigation and cleanup along with how and why they are conducted.
Visit with us live or via the web to have your questions addressed during our community meetings and join our email list to stay abreast of activities in your area or visit our website.