Faculty Mentor

Chad Pritchard

Presentation Type

Poster

Primary Discipline of Presentation

Geosciences

Abstract

Eastern State Hospital (ESH) dumped and buried construction related material along the south west shores of West Medical Lake. Based on aerial photos from 1957, the dump was established with pine trees growing on the landfill. The dump is approximately 400 feet long, 50 ft wide and about 30 ft deep or about 6000,00 cubic feet of material. On August 18, 2023, during the Gray Road Fire, the buried site was ignited and has since continued to burn underground. Department of Health Services hired a consultant to analyze soils from the dump using the TCLP method for standard RCRA metals and only barium (Ba) was detected. Radioactive waste was considered a possible contaminant, but not observed by FAFB crews that assessed the site. However, Department of Ecology representatives reported temperatures of 200 degrees Fahrenheit and elevated volatile organic compounds (VOC) readings in the area. The presence of asbestos has also halted digging up the dump until a better cataloging of the contamination is conducted. A separate sampling event north of the dump was conducted in the mid-2010’s to assess the input of heavy metals and PFAS from discharge of reclaimed water from ESH into West Medical Lake, which reported increasing heavy metal concentrations with depth in lake sediments and decreasing PFAS with depth, indicating that heavy metal contamination was historic and PFAS contamination is more recent, which makes sense since PFAS wasn’t widely used until the late 1970’s. This project tests if heavy metals and PFAS may have been released by the fire and migrated to West Medical Lake via stormwater or the thousands of gallons that have been sprayed on the fire in an attempt to put it out. Understanding transport of subsurface contamination is unique in our area due to the presence of scabland topography resulting from Pleistocene megafloods that scoured the region.

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Sampling potential hydrologic impacts from an underground fire lit by the Gray Road Fire, West Medical Lake

Eastern State Hospital (ESH) dumped and buried construction related material along the south west shores of West Medical Lake. Based on aerial photos from 1957, the dump was established with pine trees growing on the landfill. The dump is approximately 400 feet long, 50 ft wide and about 30 ft deep or about 6000,00 cubic feet of material. On August 18, 2023, during the Gray Road Fire, the buried site was ignited and has since continued to burn underground. Department of Health Services hired a consultant to analyze soils from the dump using the TCLP method for standard RCRA metals and only barium (Ba) was detected. Radioactive waste was considered a possible contaminant, but not observed by FAFB crews that assessed the site. However, Department of Ecology representatives reported temperatures of 200 degrees Fahrenheit and elevated volatile organic compounds (VOC) readings in the area. The presence of asbestos has also halted digging up the dump until a better cataloging of the contamination is conducted. A separate sampling event north of the dump was conducted in the mid-2010’s to assess the input of heavy metals and PFAS from discharge of reclaimed water from ESH into West Medical Lake, which reported increasing heavy metal concentrations with depth in lake sediments and decreasing PFAS with depth, indicating that heavy metal contamination was historic and PFAS contamination is more recent, which makes sense since PFAS wasn’t widely used until the late 1970’s. This project tests if heavy metals and PFAS may have been released by the fire and migrated to West Medical Lake via stormwater or the thousands of gallons that have been sprayed on the fire in an attempt to put it out. Understanding transport of subsurface contamination is unique in our area due to the presence of scabland topography resulting from Pleistocene megafloods that scoured the region.