Amchitka Island

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The Amchitka Island Test Site location is administered by the Nevada Operations Office. A more thorough description of the environmental activities managed by the Nevada Operations Office can be found in the Nevada Offsite Program narrative. Amchitka Island is the southernmost island of the Rat Island Group in the Aleutian chain and is about 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) southwest of Anchorage.

FACILITY MISSION

Amchitka Island was the site of three nuclear detonations conducted in October 1965, October 1969, and November 1971. Long Shot was a nuclear detection research experiment detonated at a depth of 700 meters (2,300 feet). It had a yield of about 80 kilotons. Milrow was a high-yield seismic calibration test detonated at a depth of 1,220 meters (4,000 feet). It had a yield of about one megaton. Cannikin, a test of a proposed warhead for the Spartan missile, was detonated at a depth of about 1,790 meters (5,875 feet), with a yield of less than five megatons.

Contamination present on the island is a result of the activities that began in 1943, when American troops landed to establish an airfield. In addition to the airfield sites, other contaminated sites developed during use of the island for the Distant Early Warning network between 1950 and 1961, during nuclear testing between 1964 and 1973, and during construction and operation of the Relocatable Over the Horizon Radar between 1986 and 1993.

Nuclear testing caused radioactive contamination of deep ground water and rock around the shot cavities. The Department has identified hazardous contaminants in landfills, a sewage lagoon, docking areas, a drum dump, fuel storage areas, and ordnance disposal sites. Surface water is the most likely transport mechanism through which contaminant exposure to humans or wildlife could occur. There is currently no human population resident on the island. The biggest threat of exposure is to the wildlife.

The Army Corps of Engineers, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy share responsibility for Amchitka because all have conducted activities on the island. The Department of Energy and the State of Alaska have an Agreement-in-Principle concerning Amchitka Island. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency is currently recalculating the Hazard Ranking Score to determine whether Amchitka warrants placement on to the National Priorities List as defined by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Results of the rescoring will have a significant impact on the actions taken at the site. All Department of Energy activities at Amchitka Island are conducted within the scope of the Environmental Restoration program.

FUTURE USE

Once the assessment and remediation of this site is complete, the Department plans to restore the area as a restricted access wildlife preserve. The site was a part of the Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge before the testing was conducted. The Department will continue to monitor the vicinity of the site as part of the Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring program, which is funded by the Nevada Operations Office and operated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Following completion of remedial action, this report assumes the Fish and Wildlife Service will manage the site and continue to use the surface as a Wildlife Management area. However, the Department of Energy will maintain Controlled Access of the subsurface and retain all mineral rights; any disturbance of the subsurface (for example, well drilling, mining, excavation) will require Department approval.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

Contamination on the island is spread over 29 surface sites, where the Fish and Wildlife Service has determined action is necessary. These sites consist of landfills, a sewage lagoon, docking areas, a drum dump, fuel storage areas, ordnance disposal sites, and miscellaneous isolated locations contaminated with diesel fuel, oil, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals. There is minor tritium and hazardous waste contamination in the mud pits and the near-surface ground water at the Long Shot test site. This report assumes low-level waste will be left in place under long-term monitoring, using existing technology. Hazardous waste will be removed and disposed at an offsite commercial disposal facility.

This report assumes no remedial action will be required. If assessment activities determine remedial action is warranted, then the estimate will be modified accordingly.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment activities provide for the continued collection and evaluation of information gathered during the monitoring of the site. Contamination at the site is primarily in the surface soils water and the shallow ground water. Work on this task has been delayed pending the Environmental Protection Agency's rescoring of the site. After rescoring is completed, assessment activities will define the magnitude and extent of contamination from data developed from deep monitoring wells, and the Department will assess risks posed by contamination at the site. The evaluation process will include characterizing the physical setting and the testing area, defining the occurrence of surficial contamination, and identifying the pathways to a potential receptor. Evaluators will use standard risk assessment procedures to calculate risk to receptors. If risks exceed acceptable limits, the Department will initiate remedial actions at the Alaska test sites. Amchitka site assessment activities will begin in FY 1996.

Completed activities include biannual monitoring of the site, initial planning for assessment tasks, and support to the Environmental Protection Agency in rescoring the site. Soil, surface-water, and ground-water sampling have also been completed.

LONG-TERM SURVEILLANCE AND MONITORING

Monitoring the site to assist in assessment and remediation activities is part of the Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring program and is included in assessment costs. The Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring program will continue as part of assessment and remediation costs until FY 2005, when these costs will be broken out into independent action. Monitoring consists of sampling surface and ground water around the site. Sampling requires about two weeks per year, and about 40 samples are analyzed per year. The Department funds this program, and the Environmental Protection Agency operates it. This report assumes that it will operate for approximately 30 years (FY 2025) and will be performed on a biannual basis. However, the Department has not negotiated this agreement with the State of Alaska.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Amchitka Island site.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

Environmental Management program costs at the Amchitka Island Test Site are limited to Environmental Restoration program assessment and surveillance and monitoring costs. Neither the 1995 nor the 1996 estimate assume the need for remedial actions. The 1996 life-cycle cost estimate is $6.3 million, an increase of $2.3 million over the 1995 estimate. The increase reflects the inclusion of a contingency that was not assumed in the 1995 estimate and verification of technical assumptions associated with the long-term surveillance and monitoring program.