January 25, 2012 in Idaho

Kaiser unveils $16 million cleanup plan

Trentwood site top priority for Department of Ecology

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The cleanup plan for Kaiser’s Trentwood plant, seen here Tuesday, is estimated to cost $16 million.
(Full-size photo)

Kaiser Trentwood’s plant along the Spokane River has a long, illustrative history.

Built to produce aluminum for military planes during World War II, the factory later became a steady source of blue-collar jobs for generations of Spokane-area residents.

But the site bears the scars of nearly 70 years of heavy industrial use. The soil and groundwater surrounding the plant are polluted with hydrocarbons, some dating back to the Bunker C fuel oil used at the factory during the 1940s.

PCBs – which were added to hydraulic oils as flame retardants – are also present in the groundwater.

Kaiser Aluminum’s plans for a $16 million cleanup of historic pollution at the property over the next 30 years will be discussed at a Thursday meeting. Public comments on the plan will be accepted through March 6.

Cleanup of the 512-acre site is a top priority for the Washington Department of Ecology.

“It’s a large site with a significant amount of contamination over the aquifer and it’s very close to the Spokane River,” said Jani Gilbert, an Ecology Department spokeswoman.

The Spokane River violates state standards for cancer-causing PCBs, also known as polychlorinated biphenyls, which has led to health advisories for limiting meals of fish from the river. The Ecology Department is working with other agencies and partners to identify how the long-banned PCBs are getting into the river.

“Here’s a source that’s known, and it’s a big source, so we need to get it cleaned up,” Gilbert said.

Bud Leber, Kaiser Trentwood’s environmental manager, said the company is committed to cleaning up the site and protecting the river’s water quality.

Kaiser has already spent $12 million on environmental remediation, he said. The company has installed 160 monitoring wells at the Trentwood property, skimmed 4,000 of gallons of oil from groundwater, removed underground petroleum tanks and hauled off 23,000 cubic yards of tainted soil. To keep plumes of polluted groundwater from reaching the Spokane River, an ongoing pumping and treatment system is in place, Leber said.

Based on extensive analysis, including tracking the chemical “fingerprints” of PCBs on the site, Kaiser officials believe that contaminants aren’t leaving the Trentwood property, Leber said. But Ecology Department officials say they need assurance that low levels of PCBs aren’t migrating into the river.

The company’s cleanup plans call for removing up to 20 feet of soil in polluted areas. Where pollution is deeper, the ground would be capped to prevent water from filtering through the site and mobilizing contaminants.

Kaiser officials have also been intrigued by a site where bacteria in the soil appear to be breaking down PCBs.

“The biological activity is a bonus,” Leber said. “It’s almost like Mother Nature is saying, ‘We’ll jump on it from here.’ ”

Kaiser has proposed additional monitoring and studies of the bacteria’s actions. To date, company officials haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly what is happening, Leber said.

Ecology officials, however, say they would need hard evidence that bacteria is breaking down PCBs before the state officials would accept it as a cleanup remedy at Trentwood.

“We have no scientific documentation that that would work,” Gilbert said. “The whole thing about PCBs is that they persist for so long in the environment. We have not heard of a process that breaks them down.”

Seven comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  oldarmy on January 25 at 3:13 a.m.

  Where do the operating engineers apply? Can I leave my janitor job yet??

• 

  The_Seer on January 25 at 8:28 a.m.

  What about the monstrous pools of “red mud” that contain mercury, arsenic and a host of other heavy metals and ecological toxins?

  What about the Mead plant? Studies indicate that site is much more contaminated than Trentwood.

• 

  RedCedar on January 25 at 9:52 a.m.

  “We have no scientific documentation that that would work,” Gilbert said. “The whole thing about PCBs is that they persist for so long in the environment. We have not heard of a process that breaks them down.”

  
  Maybe they just now heard about it. Bioremediation is a very solid science. Plants, animal, and especially microbes have been waging chemical warfare against each other or billions of years, while also trying to colonize environments that nothing else could live in. Soil bacteria and fungi, in particular, have developed some amazing biochemical processes. This certainly seems like something worth looking into, rather than dismissing it with “we’ve not heard of it”.

  What about the monstrous pools of “red mud” that contain mercury, arsenic and a host of other heavy metals and ecological toxins?

  
  What about them? How about you tell us about them, since it’s something I’ve certainly never heard of. What have you seen?

• 

  D Statler on January 25 at 10:10 a.m.

  What about the grren antifreeze dis coloration 150 yards below KAISER’s treatment facility in the Spokane river? What about the spent pot liners full of hazardous waste at Mead ? I suppose the taxpayers will be stuck with that mess while KAISER reels in record profits. What a GREAT company :^(

• 

  nslopeofw on January 25 at 10:36 a.m.

  Cradle to grave. Its a federal law! That is what Kaiser has to deal with. They will be forced at some point if they dont start by themselves, and if forced, it will be much worse for them in terms of remediation.

  These morons need to step up, and clean up their mess. As far as i’m concerned, after what they did to their employee’s with the lock out and plant closure, i hope they get forced to re-mediate like a superfund.

• 

  zelda on January 25 at 12:49 p.m.

  So what is going on w/the Kaiser Mead site? It’s just sitting there, a big heap o’ defunct potlines. Never any news coverage about what will ultimately happen to this piece of scorched earth. That would be interesting to know.

• 

  herewegoagain on January 25 at 11:38 p.m.

  $16 million is a drop in the bucket to cleanup 70 years of PCBs and other carcinogens that are 20 ft. into the soil. I have never heard of bacteria consuming PCBs and think that statement to be a pile of crap.

  Do a read on the Sydney Tar Ponds cleanup in Sydney Nova Scotia Canada.
  It surprises me that Kiaser can come up with a cleanup method so quickly.
  The site in Sydney was also contaminated with PCBs and other carcinogens from 100 years of steel making. It took many years of research and study to finally come up with a plan on how to cleanup and contain the PCB pollution.
  That cleanup cost several $100 millions, the PCBs were 30 ft into the soil and also in the water table
  People living close to the site were moved and compensated and many people in the area died with cancers. Sydney N.S has the highest percentage of cancer in all of Canada.

  People living near this PCB, carcinogen polluted area from Kiaser should be asking questions about what effect all this has had on their health over the years and also what the cleanup is going to involve. The last thing you want is PCB and carcinogens becoming airborne or trucked on roadways to a disposal site..