Sundberg Gravel Pit Site Agreed Order and Public Participation Plan

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Comment From: BEVERLY BASSETT

9/16/24 @ 9:58 PM

I have been hearing about this contaminated site for many many years now and the time has come to do something meaningful about it! I won't go on and on citing documents, but there absolutely is a ton of significant documentation and damning verbal ...↓

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Comment From: Ronda Larson Kramer

9/16/24 @ 4:29 PM

Please do an extensive grid of soil sampling for the entire site. The current data is far too sparse to allow informed decision-making. It does not reflect eye-witness statements regarding past dumping. Also, there is a special need for extensive sam...↓

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Comment From: John Newman

9/16/24 @ 4:03 PM

There needs to be extensive sampling on the east side of the sight. There is very little data there. The neighbors have testified extensively about dumping at the whole site when the Port was hauling contaminated sediments and soils from the Port sit...↓

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Comment From: Devin River

9/16/24 @ 2:57 PM

Do better, Ecology. The water quality of the entire area rests on this decision. Choose to be on the right side of history.

1) Ecology identifies the site as a sand and gravel pit and log yard. The Work Plan's history of the property does not iden...↓tify the site as an illegal unpermitted solid and hazardous waste dump site despite decades of photographic, eyewitness and documentary evidence.

ECOLOGY MUST CORRECTLY CHARACTERIZE THE SITE AS AN UNREGULATED DUMPSITE THAT OPERATED OUTSIDE THE LAW FOR DECADES. This illegal activity is what distinguishes this site as uniquely hazardous, with ample evidence in the record. An accurate history of this site is critical to a thorough cleanup. ECOLOGY CANNOT BE COMPLICIT IN THE COVER UP OF THIS ILLEGAL ACTIVITY IF IT WANTS TO GAIN THE PUBLIC TRUST.

Ecology has no mandate to protect those persons and entities who illegally used this site.

2) ECOLOGY MUST TEST THE BELOW THE LEVEL OF ALL FILL TO ENSURE CITY AND NEIGHBORING WELLS ARE NOT BEING CONTAMINATED FROM THE TOXIC WASTE BURIED ON THE SITE.

Presently, Ecology assumes that there is a deep layer of impervious till above the deeper aquifer based on the developer's geotechnical consultant and the general geology of the area. However, there are reports of waste buried 40' deep and more and then covered with impermeable native soil. There is also a documented high pressure aquifer beneath the site and a geological fault that could provide a pathway from the surface to the deeper aquifer.

3) CONSIDERING THE SITE WAS A SHORT DRIVE FROM THE PORT OF OLYMPIA DURING THE WEST BAY AND CASCADE POLE CLEANUPS, ECOLOGY MUST TEST FOR CREOSOTE AND PENTACHLOROPHENOL, highly toxic substances found at the Port. It must also test for Agent Orange-type chemicals which were routinely sprayed by Weyerhaeuser in the 1970's on its forests and present in the logs that were deposited and debarked on site.

4) ECOLOGY MUST TEST STORMWATER LEAVING THE SITE AND DRAINING TO NEARBY PONDS, CREEKS AND THE PUGET SOUND.

Ecology states that there is no discharge of stormwater to a surface water of Washington State. This is not correct. There is an ERTS (Environmental Report Tracking System) complaint from January 12, 2021 submitted to Ecology which was not included in the Work Plan. It contains clear video evidence that stormwater drains downhill to a pond and wetlands (that feed Green Cove Creek) and then continues down Butler Creek to Budd Inlet. These are habitats for endangered and threatened species subject to federal laws and oversight.

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Comment From: Brandon Chambers

9/16/24 @ 8:35 AM

In the late 80's or early 90's (I can't remember exactly) I watched 10 large dump trucks loaded with treated green logs from the West Bay and Cascade Pole at the Port of Olympia go past my house. It was quite obvious what it was and where it came fro...↓

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Comment From: Olympia Ecosystems (GABRIEL TAYLOR)

9/15/24 @ 10:20 PM

Olympia Ecosystems owns and is actively restoring the Cooper Crest Preserve, located on the west side of Cooper Point Drive, across from the subject property. The Cooper Crest Preserve is a restoration area that allows for public access and includes...↓

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Comment From: Esther Kronenberg

9/14/24 @ 9:43 PM

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Comment From: Esther Kronenberg

9/14/24 @ 7:30 PM

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Comment From: Esther Kronenberg

9/14/24 @ 2:15 PM

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Comment From: Green Cove Defense Committee (Jerry Dierker)

9/13/24 @ 6:04 PM

Thank you for the opportunity to provide further comments on the Remedial Investigation Work Plan for the Sundberg site. We appreciate the public presentation Ecology gave on August 26 and the work it has so far done to clean up this decades old tox...↓

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Comment From: Elizabeth Grady

9/13/24 @ 5:48 PM

The Work Plan from the Dept. of Ecology must correctly characterize the Sundberg site as an illegal solid and hazardous waste dump site that operated outside the law for decades. The current residents deserve to know what has been dumped there and wh...↓

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Comment From: Janie Bowman

9/13/24 @ 1:27 PM

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Comment From: Gary Kline

9/12/24 @ 4:55 PM

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the Remedial Investigation Work Plan for the Sundberg Gravel Pit.

The Clean Black Alliance is a citizens group that formed to advocate for ecosystem based solutions in Black Lake and other lakes in Thurst...↓on County. We believe that the current routine use of herbicides and alum are short-sighted methods to remove what boaters referred to as nuisance plants and to prevent harmful algae blooms. We promote other methods such as aeration or adequate nuisance plant removal to appease boaters and remove phosphorus.

In reading the proposed RI Work Plan proposed for the Sundberg mine, we see parallels with our advocacy for lakes. We believe that the Sundberg mine has been used to unlawfully deposit wood waste, bark and construction debris and that poses a risk to the environment and public health.

One of our members is Laurie Gneiding, a retired environmental toxicologist who has submitted comments of her own on your webpage. We second her recommendations which are based on her 40 years of experience in hazardous waste investigations. As a group devoted to water quality, her suggestions for groundwater testing are especially critical.

The Sundberg site, more than a gravel pit and log yard, was an illegal hazardous and solid waste dumpsite for many decades. It was used by various entities, including the City of Olympia and the Port of Olympia, to dispose of construction and other waste. Because some of the waste dumped at the site came from the Port of Olympia and a large portion of the property was used by Weyerhaeuser as an export log yard where logs were debarked, we suggest that Ecology include chemical analyses of pentachlorophenol and other chemicals associated with wood treatment, as well as those chemicals commonly used in silviculture practices at the time the export log yard was operating.

We believe the dump site operated without oversight or regulation just minutes away from the Port of Olympia during the cleanup of the West Bay industrial area and the Cascade Pole site.

We request that Ecology include the history of the site which includes documentation from DNR and the City of Olympia, eyewitnesses and photographic evidence.

We have video footage that demonstrates that runoff from this site flows to Puget Sound. We believe it is possible that contaminants from this site reach federally protected waters for endangered species at concentrations that could potentially affect them. We suggest that Ecology analyze stormwater from the site prior to entry to the nearby Green Cove Creek and Butler Creek, which we believe are habitat for threatened species, and coordinate with federal agencies who have authority over these matters.

Thank you for your consideration and your good work.

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Comment From: Bob Jacobs

9/12/24 @ 3:49 PM

Department of Ecology:

I have been following this issue from afar for a number of years. The way it has been handled by various state and local entities has led me to wonder about their motives.

This is a serious issue regarding the health and safe...↓

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Comment From: Chas Dreyfus

9/10/24 @ 11:47 AM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

o Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
o Test below the leve...↓

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Comment From: Joyce Kilmer

9/09/24 @ 12:30 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".
My major concerns are:
Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of all...↓

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Comment From: Eliane Wilson

9/09/24 @ 12:27 PM

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of all fill to ensure city and neighboring wells are not being contaminated from the toxic waste burie...↓

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Comment From: Garth Cowan

9/09/24 @ 12:26 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of...↓

No attachments

Comment From: kathy Pruitt

9/09/24 @ 12:26 PM

Additional attention is needed to protect our environment at the Sunberg Gravel Pit Site.

Key concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of all fill to ...↓

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Comment From: Sara Roundtree

9/09/24 @ 12:25 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of...↓

No attachments

Comment From: John Murphy

9/09/24 @ 12:25 PM

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Comment From: Glen Hubbard

9/09/24 @ 12:24 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of...↓

No attachments

Comment From: Lisa Ornstein

9/09/24 @ 12:24 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of...↓

No attachments

Comment From: Margaret Dreyfus

9/09/24 @ 12:21 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of...↓

No attachments

Comment From: Garrett Tatsumi

9/09/24 @ 11:19 AM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of...↓

No attachments

Comment From: Robyn Chance

9/09/24 @ 8:28 AM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:
Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of ...↓

No attachments

Comment From: Phyllis Farrell

9/08/24 @ 4:05 PM

Greetings, I attended the ECY public meeting at the Olympia Center on Aug. 26th to learn more about ECY's plan at address environmental concerns about the Sundberg/Green Cove site in West Olympia and a needed Clean Up Plan.

I appreciated the inf...↓

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Comment From: Judy Olmstead

9/08/24 @ 3:03 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:
Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level of ...↓

No attachments

Comment From: Judith Dasilva

9/08/24 @ 8:05 AM

We live near the site and have a private well. We are very concerned about contamination from this site and ask that Ecology include the following items in their investigation which to date have been missing:

1) Ecology identifies the site as a sand...↓ and gravel pit and log yard. The Work Plan's history of the property does not identify the site as an illegal unpermitted solid and hazardous waste dump site despite decades of photographic, eyewitness and documentary evidence.

ECOLOGY MUST CORRECTLY CHARACTERIZE THE SITE AS AN UNREGULATED DUMPSITE THAT OPERATED OUTSIDE THE LAW FOR DECADES. This illegal activity is what distinguishes this site as uniquely hazardous, with ample evidence in the record. An accurate history of this site is critical to a thorough cleanup. ECOLOGY CANNOT BE COMPLICIT IN THE COVER UP OF THIS ILLEGAL ACTIVITY IF IT WANTS TO GAIN THE PUBLIC TRUST.

Ecology has no mandate to protect those persons and entities who illegally used this site.

2) ECOLOGY MUST TEST THE BELOW THE LEVEL OF ALL FILL TO ENSURE CITY AND NEIGHBORING WELLS ARE NOT BEING CONTAMINATED FROM THE TOXIC WASTE BURIED ON THE SITE.

Presently, Ecology assumes that there is a deep layer of impervious till above the deeper aquifer based on the developer's geotechnical consultant and the general geology of the area. However, there are reports of waste buried 40' deep and more and then covered with impermeable native soil. There is also a documented high pressure aquifer beneath the site and a geological fault that could provide a pathway from the surface to the deeper aquifer.

3) CONSIDERING THE SITE WAS A SHORT DRIVE FROM THE PORT OF OLYMPIA DURING THE WEST BAY AND CASCADE POLE CLEANUPS, ECOLOGY MUST TEST FOR CREOSOTE AND PENTACHLOROPHENOL, highly toxic substances found at the Port. It must also test for Agent Orange-type chemicals which were routinely sprayed by Weyerhaeuser in the 1970's on its forests and present in the logs that were deposited and debarked on site.

4) ECOLOGY MUST TEST STORMWATER LEAVING THE SITE AND DRAINING TO NEARBY PONDS, CREEKS AND THE PUGET SOUND.

Ecology states that there is no discharge of stormwater to a surface water of Washington State. This is not correct. There is an ERTS (Environmental Report Tracking System) complaint from January 12, 2021 submitted to Ecology which was not included in the Work Plan. It contains clear video evidence that stormwater drains downhill to a pond and wetlands (that feed Green Cove Creek) and then continues down Butler Creek to Budd Inlet. These are habitats for endangered and threatened species subject to federal laws and oversight.

Please add these issues to your investigation and report.

Thank you

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Comment From: Maureen Canny

9/03/24 @ 7:01 PM

The Work Plan from the Dept. of Ecology must correctly characterize the Sundberg site as an illegal solid and hazardous waste dump site that operated outside the law for decades. Ecology must test the below the level of all fill to ensure city and ne...↓

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Comment From: Madeline Bishop

9/03/24 @ 1:08 PM

Please fill in the gaps of the proposed "Remedial Investigation of the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site".

My major concerns are:

Correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that operated outside the law for decades.
Test below the level o...↓

No attachments

Comment From: Mark Kaufman

9/03/24 @ 12:57 PM

I read the information about the August 26 meeting and want to reinforce several issues that have been raised by the Green Cove Defense Committee.
The Department of Ecology should:
- correctly characterize the site as an unregulated dumpsite that o...↓

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Comment From: Esther Kronenberg

9/02/24 @ 10:49 PM

https://olywip.org/real-hope-for-green-cove-cleanup/

Link to article in Works in Progress September 1, 2024

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Comment From: Green Cove Defense Committee (Esther Kronenberg)

9/02/24 @ 10:46 PM

QUESTIONS FOR ECOLOGY

1. Why does Ecology state that the site was only a sand and gravel mine and log yard when it was also an unpermitted and illegal hazardous and solid waste dump from the 1940's until 2015, when the current owner was told by Ecol...↓

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Comment From: Anita Thomson

9/01/24 @ 8:20 PM

In regard to the Sundberg Gravel Pit Site, the public information involved and the investigation of soil at the site, I would appreciate the addition of the words "and Toxic Dump" in the title of the site. I don't feel like unregulated dumping at the...↓

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Comment From: Dennis Becker

8/29/24 @ 9:26 AM

Connie and Nancy; much appreciate your informative meeting on 26 August, after some reflection on the information provided, I have the following comments.

During future Sundberg Gravel Pit parcel/site investigations, should additional contamination...↓ in well water be found, will Green Cove Park LLC. be required to test home water wells for property directly adjacent to the Sundberg Gravel Pit? And should these tests find well water containments linked to the parcel/site will Green Cove Park LLC be financially responsible to remedy the situation to the property owner's satisfaction? The proposed Agreed Order No. DE 21913 paragraph 5.10 states 8 out of 10 monitoring wells exceeded MTCA cleanup levels. This indicates arsenic, iron and manganese to potentially leach to surrounding water well sources. This poses a direct on-going hazard to those families using well water in their households. Water in 'perched aquifers' that is contaminated over time would reach depths of water wells. How is this to be addressed?

Paragraph 5.2 of the proposed Agreed Order characterizes the Sundberg parcel as a 'log-storage yard and gravel pit' from 1960 through the 1990s. Extensive evidence has been provided by the community to Ecology the parcel was also a well know 'dumping' ground for many years before, during, and after these 30 years. The current characterization of the parcel is mis-leading as to the actual site conditions and illegal dumping activities that have taken place for many years. This mischaracterization will have a negative impact on effectively and correctly evaluating & testing current and future risks to the community and human health. This should be corrected/updated in paragraph 5.2.

How will the Remedial Investigation Work Plan specifically address hazardous substances 'Release Potential' into the environment, the characteristics of toxic waste, and its impact to the environment, people, plants and animals that live in the area?

During the public meeting held on 26 August, many in attendance were concerned as to the 'depth' of the soil investigations. What measures will be put in place to ensure the testing will be conducted at depths to ensure all contaminants/toxic debris, etc. will be discovered as there is evidence of trenches being as deep as 20 feet filled with these materials?

Kind Regards,
Dennis Becker

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Comment From: Laurie Gneiding

8/29/24 @ 8:24 AM

Attachments:

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Comment From: Harry Branch

8/28/24 @ 4:08 PM

There are repeated references elsewhere to the removal of contaminated soils around the Port Peninsula to a special site and the picking up of clean gravel from a site, sort of a back and forth, presumably to and from the same general locations. If s...↓

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Comment From: Laurie Gneiding

8/28/24 @ 2:37 PM

Comments to the December 23, 2022 "Data Gap Report and Remedial Investigation Work Plan for Sundberg Gravel Pit". Submitted by Laurie R. Gneiding, CEP, CPPS
I have reviewed the aforementioned document and have tabulated in the attached document.

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Comment From: MICHAEL MOORE

8/28/24 @ 9:27 AM

Dear Connie, Nancy and the Crew,
Thank you for the very informative meeting at the Community Center on Monday night. I learned a great deal about the process for cleanup of the Sundberg site. I live on Grove Road across from the 53 acres of the old...↓

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Comment From: Colleen Graney

8/27/24 @ 12:57 PM

Attachments:

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Comment From: Lisa Riener

8/27/24 @ 10:01 AM

Attachments:

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Comment From: Linda Malanchuk-Finnan

8/25/24 @ 5:01 PM

What will Ecology and Green Cove do to protect the safety of this site that has arsenic, heavy metals and numerous toxins demonstrated in its reports but which there is no current written plan to ameliorate despite the words of the bodies concerned? ...↓

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