What Our Clients Are Saying
Thank you for your assistance through this circus of errors, misinformation, lack of communication, and inefficiency. At times it seemed beyond redemption. Your project manager was magnificent, and we wish to emphasize that he had the only clear mind, the only steady hand, the only source of common sense in the whole battery of bureaus, departments, and businesses.
Otis Wilson
ESA: Peace Health/Sacred Heart Medical Center University Campus
Client
Project Type
Project Services
Project Description
BB&A Environmental was retained by Sacred Heart Medical Center to perform a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) of the hospital campus which includes commercial properties in a multi-block area located in Eugene, Oregon. The Phase I ESA included a site history review, a government agency list review, and a site walkover survey undertaken in accordance with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) protocol.
A site history review was performed and included compilation and evaluation of available public information including property deed records, permit filings, aerial photographs, and city directories. The review of this information identified two (2) former gasoline service stations and two (2) former dry cleaning facilities on the subject property. The site history review also identified four (4) former gasoline service stations, two (2) former dry cleaning facilities, and a former truck sales and service facility in the area surrounding the subject property.
A government agency list review was also performed and included a search of public information related to the documented use and management of hazardous chemicals and wastes and/or reported releases to the environment. The subject property was identified by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) as a conditionally exempt generator of hazardous waste, as a registered UST facility, and as a leaking underground storage tank (LUST) site. The on-site service stations and dry cleaning facilities were not identified during the government agency list review.
A site survey was performed and focused on exterior features of the site that may be related to potential environmental liabilities, including: 1) soil staining and/or stressed vegetation; 2) the presence of hazardous materials on the property or on neighboring properties; and 3) any other conditions relative to the presence of material which may present an environmental liability. The site inspection identified conditions (i.e., sunken asphalt, possible fill ports) at one of the two (2) former gasoline service station sites located on-site that suggested the USTs may still be present. No obvious indications of the other former gasoline service station or the two (2) former dry cleaner facilities located on-site were observed during the site inspection.
Based on the findings of the Phase I ESA, two (2) specific areas were recommended for further investigation (i.e., Phase II ESA). The area identified as Site #1 included the former gasoline service station site with sunken asphalt and possible fill ports. The area identified as Site #2 included the other former gasoline service station site and one (1) former dry cleaner site. The remaining former dry cleaning site was inaccessible due to current building facilities.
Further investigation of Site #1 discovered two (2) abandoned USTs. One (1) empty 1,000-gallon UST and one (1) 500-gallon UST containing toxicity characteristic hazardous waste. The collection of soil and groundwater samples for laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of gasoline- and lube oil-range petroleum hydrocarbon impact. The two (2) USTs were subsequently decommissioned by removal.
Groundwater sampling at Site #2 detected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly associated with dry cleaning operations in the groundwater beneath the site at concentrations in excess of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). Based on the results of the Phase II ESA, additional investigation was recommended to further characterize the lateral extent of the VOC impact.
