Granite Creek Recreation Area HazMat Cleanup
Granite Creek, Alaska
In June 2018, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) was notified that an individual had illegally abandoned 17 55-gallon drums containing an unknown substance, resembling petroleum-based material. In addition, a pile of construction material near the entrance gate to the site coated with material consistent with the content of the drums was identified.
The drums in question had no markings, were steel, rusted, and were either not sealed or only partially sealed. Some drums were visibly compromised with punctures.
Due to the lack of markings, identification of the material within the drums was not possible.
Ahtna Global was contracted to characterize and safely containerize and store the material pending disposal. Ahtna successfully performed the following tasks in support of the USFS cleanup mission:
- Drum characterization, to include labeling, photo logs, field screening, collection of composite samples, recording GPS locations, overpacking, labeling, and securing of material pending disposal.
- Soil removal and confirmation sampling, to include excavating all visibly contaminated soil, super sacking, labeling, PID screening, and recording GPS locations.
- Miscellaneous building material and trash removal, including recording GPS locations, separating visibly contaminated materials and storing for disposal, and containerizing all non-contaminated materials and trash for disposal.
