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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-09-19 KRSMA Board PacketSpecial Managemen4 Area "Working [ogePher.../or fhe river" *** Meeting Agenda*** Thursday, September 19, 2002 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Rol] Call B. Approval of 5/16/02 minutes C. Agenda Changes and Approval II. PUBLIC COMMENT III. NEW BUSINESS A. Contaminated Sites Strategic Planning Forum Update, Robert Ruffner B. Kenai River 2002 Season Recap, Suzanne Fisler C. KRCMP Accomplishments to Date/ Recommendations for Further Work, Suzanne Fisler D. Establishing Board Priorities for the 2002/2003 season, Chris Degernes E. Board Member Appointments IV. OLD BUSINESS A. ADEC Update on Contaminated Sites B. Update on Fuel Truck Spill Cleanup near Gwin's Lodge C. Kenai River Center Update v. PUBLIC COM1ViENT VI. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting Committee Meeting: Commercial Operator Committee Meeting, 9/19/02, 3pm at the KRC; contact Committee Chair Joe Connors for additional info e ~ Kenai Area Office, Soz 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-5581 Kenai Peninsula Borough, Box 850, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-4441 p Alaska Division of Parks and Outtloor Recreation, ~epatlment of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes Thursday, May 16, 2002 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Call Present: Joe Connors, Ted Wellman., Jim Golden, Janette Cadieux, Charles Quarre, Steve Boncbrake (for Rick Wood), Robin West, Bill Shuster, Chris Degemes, Lance Trasky, Linda Snow, Brett Huber Absent: Doric Marcorelle, Dave Westerman, Paul Shadura, .4rm Whitmore-Painter, and Tim Navarre B. Approval of Q/18/02 minutes Approved as written. C. Agenda Changes and Approval Add New Business, Item B. Contaminated Sites Strategic Plaiming Forum, Robert Ruffner Add item Old Business, Item D. Cooper Lake Update, Bill Shuster Agenda approved as amended. II. PUBLIC COMMENT None offered. III. NEW BUSINESS A. Upper Kenai River Area Restoration Efforts -Dean Davidson, Chugach National Forest Dean provided the Board with a sumrr!ary of efforts ro restore and protect habitat along the Russian River, as well as Cooper Creels The US Forest Service has been working on various projects on the Russian River for the past 7 years, with efforts at Cooper Creek underway for the past couple of years. The Russian River is one of the most important red salmon streams in the U.S., with 50-60,000 anglers using the river and another 200,000 accessing the confluence area via the ferry. The Youth Restoration Corps has been a major source of assistance in recent projects, employing 12 local youth in a combination program of education and restoration work efforts. The YRC crews have been assisting with sod transplanting, seeding, installation of root wads, and willow planting. Dean discussed the various techniques used to stabilize different slopes or riverbank configurations. The goal of the USFS, with the help of the YRC is to restore impacted habitat while maintaining recreational access to the Russian River. B. Contaminated Sites Strategic Planning Forum, Robert Ruffner, Kenai Watershed Forum Robert announced that a number of groups are sponsoring a forum to discuss how to deal with contaminated sites on a community level. The forum is scheduled for May 23 $om 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. He stated he was also seeking support from the I>RSMA Board. Motion: Charles moved that the KRSMA Board offer support and be a sponsor fqr the Contaminated Sites Strategic Planning Forum, Seconded by Lance. Board discussion that ensued included recommendations that the public be permitted to air concerns, understand what is known about contaminated sites and what plans there might be to clean up known sites, recommendations that certain activities not be permitted too close to the river and monitor and inspect those that are already located near the river, etc. Ted asked that information from the Forum be communicated back to the Board. Motion approved by Board. N. OLD BUSINESS A. River Terrace Contamination Update, Rich Sundet and Steve Bainbridge, ADEC Steve Bainbridge, the DEC Contaminated Sites Program Manager, had asked to speak to the Board to gain a better understanding of flze Board's concerns about contaminated sites, while providing information on the Dep~utment's actions. He wanted fne Board to know that they have the frill attention of the Commissioner. They have been concerned that the letters from the Board indicated that their department hadn't been communicating well enough with the public on the local contaminated site cleanup. He explained that DEC uses ahazard-ranking model to sort out high priority sites, which are essentially those that threaten drinking water or water bodies. DEC has been stressing spill prevention, but has required that all rnderground storage tanks be upgraded (effective Dec. 1998). A cathodic protection system is now required for all underground fuel tanks, with mandatory inspections required too. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board May 16, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5 He then provided a brief review on the status of the contamination at Cook's Tesoro, Zip Mart, and River Terrace. For Zip Mart, DEC is in the process of doing a site assessment and characterization of the contamination, prior to developing a clean up plan. Their goal is to recover as much free product as possible. This assessment is being funded by the state, as the responsible party cannot afford to take care of this. At Cook's Tesoro, the state has completed cleanup and is monitoring the area. Questions from the Board followed. Janette stated that she was concerned that some contamination was known at Zipmart for 6 years before this major spill was found, and that DEC had notified Zipmart 6 years ago that they were to deal with the initial leak. She asked if that was acceptable? Steve replied that because Zipmart had an upgraded system with a new tarsi<, it was not expected that any additional contamination would be found. Grants were provided to Zipmart, but they still failed to take action, so DEC stepped in. Janette asked if DEC would address these kinds of issues differently in the future? Steve replied that They would. Brett asked if any sediment sampling would be done around the Cook's Tesoro, as the Board previously requested. Steve replied that they do plan to do this, as well as have an independent third party evaluation. Ted said one of the Board's concerns was the lack of notice to the public that a major spill had occurred. It would be helpful if the public knew earlier that a problem existed. How would the general public find out about these sihiations? Steve said DEC has a spill database that is public information, accessible through DEC's website. The Depaz-tment also performs tests on neighboring water wells. Ted requested that DEC provide more detailed update in the future regarding the Zipmart and Cook's Tesoro sites. A representative from Oasis/Bristol provided a brief status update of the River Terrace cleamip. Following injection of HRC, it was noted that the pce levels dropped as the compounds were reduced to dce. One concern that has evolved is why the dce is not degrading further to vinyl chloride, as expected. Why has dce not degraded? Specific bacteria that are needed to degrade it may not be present, or there might be competition with other bacteria. Sti11, they feel that the HRC has been effective in degrading pce and tce in both the upper and lower plumes, even though it has stalled at the dce level in the lower plume. Additional technology is being considered: bio- augmentation to inject microbes, permeable reactive barriers with iron Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board May 16, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5 filings, air sparging wells, groundwater extraction with treatment and re- injection. Recommendation: Upper phime. additional assessment, confirm that dee is being completely degraded, assess suspected source area near farmer dry cleaning building, continue with TIRC treatments. Lower plume: bioaugmentation pilot study, continue with HRC treatments outside pilot study area. Also, plan to do a sediment study along the Kenai River, once the ice has melted. Bioaugmentationtyill involve the injection of microbes in July 2003, with results expected in 90-180 days. Ifthe pilot study is successful, the process will be fully implemented in the spring of 2003. B. Soldotna Urban DOT Project Update, Judy Dougherty and Laurie Mulcahy, DOT In February Judy had addressed the Board about this project, which would widen the Soldotna Bridge over the Kenai River. Since that time, DOT has held a public meeting and has heard from a number of people. At this time, DOT is considering constniction of a temporary bridge as the best solution to minimize impact on traffic during the construction. A temporary bridge would be the same height above the river as the current one, at 18 feet. The temporary bridge would have 5 spans with 4 steel pilings in the river.. It is expected that this bridge would be needed for about 1 %z years. At the end of the project the temporary bridge and pilings will be completely removed. Rill ShllSteT Said that `.:ith 1;hP d piarc nn the temin,Orary bridge arld ~ ..n the existing bridge, boaters will have quite a navigation maze. Judy replied that they will have to have an understanding of how the river is being used so that impacts can be minimized. Steve $onebrake asked if there have been any alternatives developed to the original storm drain sedimentation basin idea. 3udy: they're looking at alternatives, but so far have not identified anything in particular. Jim G asked if the increased footprints from pilings will cause an increase in ice jams. Judy: they'll need to evaluate that. C. Kenai River Center Update Suzanne reported that the KRC has received a number ofpermit requests for bank restoration work, and that about 200 Kenai River guides have registered so far. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board May 16, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5 D. Cooper Lake Update, Bill Shuster Agencies have been meeting with Chugach Electric Association to identify the data gathering needs for this summer. CEA is going to request permission to raise the level of Cooper Lake to 1206 feet, which is higher than it's been since 1960. Some concerns expressed are the consequence of lake level fluctuations on other resources at Cooper Lake. Lance said there is not mach time to do the studies as CEA has only until 2005 to make their fmal application. Bill invited suggestions on other data needs. V. PtiBLIC COMMENT None offered. VI. ADJOURNMENfi A. Board Comments Linda wanted to thank the DBC staff for coming to the Board and answering questions. She also appreciates the efforts of Robert Ruffner to provide a forum for fiu-ther discussion Steve Bonebralce: also thanks to Robert Ruffner as this will be helpful to the City of Soldotna. - Bi11 Shuster: annormced that the Chugach National Forest Plan will signed tomorrow 7anette: thanks to Steve Bainbridge for taking the tone to come to the Board tolllgh.t. Toe: have a g'i Cat Siunn'ier aiid be Saii~. Chris: 350,000 have been appropriated to Parks to upgrade the Kasilof River boat ramp access site. A fitnding request for the boat wake study did not pass. She thanked the board for being so dedicated to the Kenai River. Ted: thanks to all the Board members for their hard work this past year. B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting September 19, at the Kenai River Center. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board May 16, 2002 Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5