The state says there is no immediate risk to public health after workers found contaminated soil late last month while removing an underground storage tank at the defunct Second Avenue gas station near downtown Haines. But the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said it could take until the middle of the month before they receive test results and determine the scope of the leaks and find out if any hazardous material has leaked into the groundwater.
“At this point, the safety concerns are the same as what you’d have at any sort of construction site,” said Lisa Krebs-Barsis, a program manager at DEC, in an email to CVN.
She said the state hasn’t yet determined whether the contamination has reached the groundwater. But she said because borough code requires residents of downtown to use city water, “it is unlikely that anyone around the Haines Express is using groundwater as drinking water.”
Gregg Richmond, one of the owners of the station, which is registered with the state under the name Haines Express Gas, said he was “surprised and disappointed” about the discovery of contaminated soil. “We’re as surprised as anybody to find something,” he said. “We’ll find out from the experts where this goes.”
Haines Express hasn’t been selling gas for years. Richmond said he decided to remove the 4,000-gallon tank, which had been installed in 1993, because it was “near the end of its life,” but declined to elaborate on his plans for the property. The permit for receiving fuel in the tank expired in fall 2021, state records show.
According to DEC, workers started removing the tank in April but stopped after owners realized they hadn’t notified the DEC Contaminated Sites Program. Under state rules, operators need to have a licensed tank worker to supervise underground tank removal and a state-certified third-party environmental consultant to do a site assessment. On June 29, workers resumed the removal of the tank with DEC workers supervising.
During that time, the consultant found contamination from the underground tank. Crews bagged up about 50 cubic yards in white bags known as “super sacks.” Under state rules, gas station owners have six months to dispose Skater rolls 750 miles from Anchorage heliport permit restricted of those bags.
Meanwhile, samples of the contaminated soil were sent to a lab in Anchorage to find out what substance had seeped into it. Results could take three weeks, said Krebs-Barsis. She said after the test results come back, the next step is to figure out the extent of the contamination, and whether more soil needs to be removed. From there, DEC suggests fixes and ways to minimize the possibility of future spills.
“That could be the removal of soil or other mitigation, but you have to have an idea of the extent of the contamination before you can determine the right mitigation tactics,” said Krebs-Barsis.