Grant will allow for clean-up work

WASILLA — What do a former Nike missile site landfill, a Talkeetna FAA radio tower, and the City of Palmer public works yard all have in common?

It’s not a riddle. Instead, those locations are all examples of sites that test higher for contaminants as a result of the way they were used in the past, making them locations known in environmental circles as “brownfields.” The sites usually contain spilled diesel fuel, pesticides, or other chemicals potentially hazardous to humans. Former uses associated with brownfield sites include industrial plants, rail yards, and fuel storage facilities.

According to a Department of Environmental Conservation-maintained database of brownfields across Alaska, at least 48 sites across the Mat-Su Borough are listed as having open issues with the contaminants, most involving spilled petroleum products. An additional 27 area sites have initial cleanups completed, but have what are known as “institutional controls,” or special conditions that constrain how the sites in question can be used. More than 230 additional sites — ranging from churches to a former dye-works to private residences — have completed clean-up regimes. Nationwide, about 450,000 brownfields exist, according to Mary Goolie, the Alaska brownfields lead for the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The DEC database contains about 7,500 total listings, with 2,230 listing their status as open.

The 48 sites with known problems will be the subject of a boroughwide assessment of brownfield sites funded by a $550,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, issued to both the borough and the cities of Palmer and Wasilla.

The intent of rehabilitating the brownfield sites is ultimately about returning the properties to use for the public, Goolie said. In some cases, that means allowing for public facilities: the brownfield site of the old Talkeetna public library, which DEC officials believe may have been contaminated with benzene from a 1956 train derailment, may return as a skate park.

Benzene is a petrochemical commonly found in gasoline that increases the risk of leukemia in those exposed to it above safe levels, according to the American Cancer Society.

In other cases, the goal is less obviously altruistic, Goolie said.

“We really want these things in the tax base, right?” she said.

Mat-Su Borough planner Frankie Barker said additional sites could be added, including a large gravel pit near Home Depot which Wasilla city officials have said they want to turn into a train station. In many cases, the site locations are already known, but the extent of contamination, and possible risks to surrounding properties, isn’t, Barker said.

The assessment will clarify the extent to which contaminants may have spread to surrounding properties, but it will also allow planners to prioritize sites for rehabilitation, Barker said.

“We’re primarily looking at (sites) that have some development potential,” she said.

City of Palmer officials have spoken about the possibility of developing the former site of the Mat-Maid Diary for years, but testing has showed elevated levels of chromium, arsenic and nickel in the groundwater, according to the entry for that project. Officials can’t tell if the heavy metals are coming from a natural source or human-made source.

Officials are also focused on sites with contaminants that could prevent them from being used for other purposes, Barker said.

“This is a really good opportunity for us to look at sites, to see what the potential costs would be for clean-up and then get them ready,” she said.

Once state, federal and local assessments are completed in 2019, a full public report will be issued, and officials will start searching for ways to fund clean up operations, Barker said.

“The next step will involve shovels,” she said.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.