Team Goes Above and Beyond to Complete Amchitka Island Projects

The team flew in and out from Adak and set up camp at the end of Fox Runway.

In May, a team of experts sent to Alaska by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management to conduct maintenance and repair work on Amchitka Island accomplished their mission and then some.

Back at camp, sediment samples are placed in appropriate jars. Great care was taken to make sure the jars were labeled correctly. Four shipments of samples were sent from Amchitka to Adak, loaded onto a commercial flight to Anchorage, then shipped to Denver and Canton, Ohio. In all, 54 sediment samples were processed.

The Alaskan island is not easy to get to. Surrounded by a rugged coastline of sea cliffs and grassy slopes, Amchitka Island is over 1,300 miles west-southwest of Anchorage, near the end of the Aleutian Island chain. Today, the uninhabited island is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and access is restricted.

"Since we were there, we took the next step to collect additional sample information," LM's Stephen Pitton said. "Due to the extreme remote location, we try and maximize our efforts when we're there."

The team collects samples of the mud pits on Amchitka Island.

In addition to fixing a mud-pit cover, which was the main goal, the team repaired access roads, collected data on soils, sediments, and surface water, and surveyed the island's geography. This information helps the site team better understand site conditions and supports effective long-term stewardship.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. government conducted three underground nuclear tests on the island. Drilling for the three nuclear test sites and the three emplacement/exploratory locations generated large quantities of drilling mud, which consisted of water, diesel fuel, and other additives. The drilling mud pits were left in place and remained open until DOE began reclamation work in 2001. Reclamation included the removal of standing water and the mixing of native soils with the drilling muds in the form of windrows. Once the drilling muds were secure, geosynthetic caps consisting of a 30-millimeter geomembrane and three feet of cover soil were constructed.

The team used a drill rig at Site D to assist with repairs.

In June 2014, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck about 11 miles northwest of Amchitka Island. A subsequent site inspection found that three of the caps had minor cracks along their edges. This year's work included fixing the caps' cover material, placing native material at the site, and repairing a drainage channel.

In addition to the damage associated with the caps, a road needed repairs to make it passable for all-terrain vehicle traffic. The road work conducted this spring will allow future heavy equipment and utility access to the mud pits.

"We couldn't have asked for a better team in the field," Pitton said. "Everyone performed their tasks with top-notch execution. This was one of my best trips out there."