MEETING MINUTES of the FORT GREELY INSTALLATION RESTORATION ADVISORY BOARD (RAB) PUBLIC MEETING April 25, 2018 6:00 p.m. Delta Junction City Hall Delta Junction, Alaska Members present: Ms. Audrey A. Brown, Community Member Ms. Melinda Brunner, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Ms. Flower Cole, Community Member Lt. Col. Michael J. Foote, Garrison Commander, U.S. Army, Fort Greely, Military Co-Chair Mr. Stephen Hammond, Community Co-Chair Ms. Mary Leith, Community Member Members absent: Mr. Pete Hallgren, Community Member Guests present: Mr. Brian Adams, Restoration Program Manager, U.S. Army, Fort Wainwright Ms. Brenda Barber, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mr. Hans Honerlah, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mr. Glen Shonkwiler, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command General public present: Mr. Richard Barth, FGA ENV Mr. Roman Bienier, Fort Greely Mr. Brandon Bier, Project Time & Cost Ms. Christine Boerst, Acting Deputy Garrison Commander Dr. Karen L. Charley-Barnes, Director of Environmental Planning, KFS, LLC Buff Crosby, MDA Mr. Craig Cugini, USAG, Fort Greely Mr. Chris Gardner, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mr. Brian Hearty, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ms. Tina Lemmond Mr. Darrell Liles, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Char Lundy Mr. Chris Maestas, USAG, Fort Greely Mr. Ron Maj, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mr. David Mays, Environmental Support Manager, U.S. Army, Environmental Command Ms. Audrey Murphy Mr. Mike Murphy, Delta Junction resident Mr. J.W. Musgrove, City of Delta Junction Mr. Matt Narus, AECOM Mr. Leopold Palmer, USAG, Fort Greely Mr. Isaac Parker Mr. Michael Phelan 1
Ms. Leslie Reed, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mr. Martin Roberts, Environmental Support Manager, U.S. Army, Environmental Command Mr. Stephen B. Shafer, AECOM Mr. Dave Watters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ms. Patricia White, City of Delta Junction Mr. Michael Paschall Mr. Ryan A. Skaw, Delta Junction resident Welcome, Purpose, and Introductions Mr. Hammond called the Fort Greely Restoration Advisory Board meeting to order just after 6:00 p.m. and welcomed everyone . He expressed that the purpose of the meeting was to share with the public information about the environmental restoration, cleanup, and environmental activities occurring on Fort Greely. He requested that everyone use the sign-in sheet to identify themselves and who they represent. Mr. Hammond then requested that the people conducting the meeting introduce themselves, beginning with the court reporter, Mary Vavrick. The rest of the members, and Mr. Shonkwiler, then briefly introduced themselves. Agenda Review Mr. Hammond asked if there were any changes or comments to the draft agenda. Mr. Shonkwiler requested that the order of items of new business be reversed so that the Fort Wainwright team could get back on the road. After clarification, the amended agenda was unanimously adopted. Review and Approval of the Minutes from the April 26, 2017 Meeting Mr. Hammond asked if there were any changes or comments to the April 26, 2017 meeting minutes. Ms. Brown asked if there was such a thing as an “excused absence , ” to indicate that an absent member did not ignore a meeting. Mr. Hammond indicated that this was probably unnecessary, but offered to have the subject researched. After additional discussion, Ms. Brown made a motion that “Excused” be added to her name in the 2017 minutes . The minutes were adopted, as amended. Ms. Brown noted for the record that the meeting planners coordinated with the RAB members regarding their availability to reduce absences due to travel. Mr. Hammond commented on the organizers’ proficiency and efficiency over the years in encouraging attendance. Comments or Questions from the Public Mr. Murphy had the following question: “It looks like -- the impression I get is it looks like the Army is trying to make the SM-1A power plant disappear. And if that's true, I'd like to know why, if anybody has an answer.” Mr. Shonkwiler deferred the question for the Corps of Engineers to answer after their presentation, and asked that Mr. Murphy’s question be kept verbatim. At this point Mr. Gardner of the Corps indicated to Ms. Leith that their presentation was ready to print, and Ms. Leith left to do so. Mr. Hammond then closed the public comment portion of the meeting and called for the agency reports. Agency Reports Ms. Brunner, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) project manager for Fort Greely, said that DEC was waiting for revised proposed plans, and that Mr. Shonkwiler would 2
be discussing some of those later. She indicated that several meetings would occur in the next few days to discuss a path forward. She said that she is new to Fort Greely, but has lived in Fairbanks for about 20 years. Mr. Paschall asked about the “plans” to which Ms. Brunner had referred. Ms. Brunner clarified that she meant some proposed plans for moving forward on contaminated sites, not having to do with the power plant. Mr. Hammond thanked Ms. Brunner and moved to old business, starting with Mr. Shonk wiler’s Fort Greely Installation Restoration Program schedule and status update. Mr. Shonkwiler reintroduced himself as the Army cleanup manager working from the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) in Huntsville, Alabama since 2004. Mr. Shonkwiler said that many of the cleanup activities on Fort Greely were wrapping up. He indicated that SMDC is currently working to establish closeout documentation for field work that has already been accomplished. He said that little field work is ongoing, but that he would talk about the sites with remaining activities. He mentioned that the RAB website has a lot of documents that document the history of the cleanup program, the investigations, and the remediations that have been completed. He reiterated that a number of documents are currently in draft, which SMDC is trying to complete to close out some of the remaining sites. Mr. Shonkwiler presented a slide listing some of the documents added to the website since the April 2017 RAB meeting. 3
Mr. Shonkwiler reported that last summer's field work was very simple. The post-wide semi-annual groundwater sampling was completed to make sure contaminant concentrations continue to degrade where there are contaminants in the groundwater, which is very limited. Maintenance of warning signs around the sites and close-out a few of unused monitoring wells were also completed. 4
Mr. Shonkwiler said that he would talk briefly about four of the sites that do have some actions that are left that are being discussed with the State. As Ms. Brunner mentioned earlier, Mr. Shonkwiler said there would be meetings tomorrow and Friday in Fairbanks to discuss a lot of these sites and how to resolve a path forward. He stated that one of the sites is a former metal scrap yard located in the middle of the post. It has a lot of metal burial pits that the State is concerned could contain unexploded ordnance, thus they are working through how to resolve this site. Mr. Shonkwiler mentioned another site, which is on the airfield at the former tar and asphalt disposal area for airfield renovation in the 1950s. This site has a burial pit that consists of debris and drums left over from that project. The State has concerns that there could be solvents in those drums. Some limited investigative data shows there are no contaminants migrating from the burial pit, so they are proposing not to dig it up as the State has asked. This will be discussed with DEC in the next few days. 5
Mr. Shonkwiler stated that two sites with groundwater contamination include an old underground tank farm near the airfield that has fuel contaminants in the groundwater. He said that the groundwater plume extends about a quarter of a mile at this site to the northeast. He said that the Army has been monitoring, and the contaminants levels are reducing in groundwater, so the Army is proposing to monitor this site until the groundwater contamination is below the safe drinking water limits. 6
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