As groundbreaking began and permits hang in the balance, concerns surface over contamination on the Olhava site and its behemoth new tenant in Poulsbo.

In the mid-1950s, America’s full-blown superpower rivalry with Russia entailed not only offensive developments, but also preparation of a “last line of defense” against the Communists presumed threat to the nation. The Nike air defense missiles, named after the Greek goddess of victory, were air defense systems used to detect, identify, and destroy enemy aircraft.

Nikes were once the most advanced surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile in their time and installed in more than 300 batteries in 40 U.S. cities and military posts by 1963. The Nike sites were given little publicity since they were strategically located well outside of major population areas to allow enough time to intercept enemy missiles before they reached their bomb-release point. Many were closed long before residents knew they had existed.

The Olhava properties, future site of Poulsbo’s Wal-Mart, were once highly armed military batteries with three Nike surface-to-air missiles. Indistinguishable from the properties that surrounded them, day-to-day operations at the batteries produced potential contamination in the soil and groundwater sources. At the missile assembly area, there was often contamination from Stoddard-type and chlorinated solvents, alcohol, paints, waste fuels and anti-corrosion compounds commonly funneled through floor drains to a seepage pit or disposed of via surface dumping. Research also indicates there were multiple seepage pits at each battery along with illegal dumping and other contamination sources that led to soil and groundwater contamination.

The DOD has been studying the potential and actual areas of contamination emanating from these sites and conducted a series of investigations. An environmental assessment of the Olhava property, called the “Superfund Technical Assessment & Response Team” referred to as the START report, was conducted in 1996 and can be found on EPA’s web site at www.epa.gov/r10earth/offices/oec/NIKE_PA/pa_rpt.pdf .

This describes the EPA’s efforts and determinations for placement of this site on the “National Priorities List” having housed three missile launch silos, generator, missile assembly building, acid fueling station, well house and infrastructures including septic and disposal sites. Some level of clean-up was performed and completed in 1999 by the Army Corps of Engineers with a final determination of “No Further Action” according to Jonathan Maas in the Seattle office for Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) program.

At many former Nike sites, underground storage tanks and contaminated soil have been removed, but the final cleanup may not be over. The scope of work was simplified in many cases because experience had shown there were likely to be consistent areas of contamination. Since operations were consistent from battery to battery, the same types of contamination were often found in similar areas at other batteries.

At Nike missile battery site C-70, located in Naperville, Illinois, most of the property was renovated into a business park with the remaining 14 acres used as a recreational sports complex. Recently, preliminary testing found a trichloroethylene (TCE) plume that has resulted in water contamination above the federal drinking water standards. An organic chemical used as a solvent, TCE is highly volatile and toxic. Though the drinking water had been tested and, where necessary, alternate water supplies provided, there is now concern because of the TCE contamination potential to affect more residential wells. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency prompted a full investigation and remediation of the former Nike sites by the Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sties (DERP-FUDS) and these are currently underway. For more information, go to www.epa.state.il.us/environmental-progress/v25/n2/brownfields-grants.html. Similar cases have surfaced in Alaska.

The fact that schools, homes and infrastructure are proposed for this site with another under consideration for a High School in Kingston concerns Karen Ahern, advocate for safe schools, member of the Washington Toxics Coalition, Coalition for Environmentally Safe Schools and national Healthy Schools Network.

“These sites need to be scrutinized with a different set of criteria when plans include schools and housing. Our first priority must be to choose safe sites and build on solid ground. We have a history of acquiring ‘cheap land’ then building over old mines, industrial waste sites and toxic dumps only to have a lot of sick kids, teachers and a legacy of ‘poison schools’ to deal with. With the known history of these sites, I would like to see more extensive soil or ground studies, independent testing and full disclosure than I believe has been done here,” Ahern stressed.

Ahern has been a tireless advocate for safe schools since her daughter, Alanna, had been diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) from an exposure to naphtha solvents — a toxic substance that can cause permanent brain and nervous system damage.

She was one of several children and teachers who became ill from a chemical exposure in the Blakely Elementary School on Bainbridge Island in 1993.

She periodically suffers from headaches, stomachaches, and memory loss typical in people with MCS and may suffer from this debilitation for the rest of her life.

Wal-Mart has left a legacy in Kitsap since the Washington State Department of Ecology issued a $64,000 penalty to the Corporation for continued and serious violations of the state’s water quality laws in 1996. The penalty, for the company’s store north of Bremerton, was the largest fine Ecology has issued in the history of this state for violations of the Industrial Stormwater Permit for Construction Activities.

“We issued the penalty for two reasons,” said Mike Llewelyn, Ecology’s water quality program manager. “One reason is that Wal-Mart is clearly responsible for serious on-going violations of the water quality in Steele Creek, and two, those violations likely harmed fish and other aquatic life.”

Stormwater carried silt and sediment from the 38 acre Wal-Mart development into Steele Creek, home to salmon, steelhead and trout. The creek flows into Burke Bay. The silt and sediment contaminated stormwater may have harmed fish and aquatic habitat that could take years to recover. According to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Steele Creek is one of the more productive salmon streams in north Kitsap County.

“The tribes and fisheries organizations in the area are very concerned about what the silt and sediment discharges from the Wal-Mart site have done to smelt spawning, geoducks, eel grass beds and aquatic marine habitat. Silt and sediment flowing into creeks and bays can harm many kinds of fish and shellfish and can ruin their habitat,” said Bob Wright, the Ecology water quality inspector for the Wal-Mart site.

Art Schick, Water Resources Program Manager for the Suquamish Tribe, cites personal concerns based on that past experience. “Steele Creek flows into the bay in my neighborhood at Brownsville and was silted twice during that Wal-Mart construction along Highway 303 a few years ago. After the first incident they brought in out-of-state experts to help their public image and stormwater practices. The second failure was bigger and worse.”

“Wal-Mart was allowed to clear a large area of sandy loam soil north of Bremerton in the middle of the rainy season. You could see this was inviting disaster. When the mud flowed down Steele Creek, Wal-Mart’s experts tried to solve the problem by building a stormwater detention pond using the same sandy loam for dikes. Guess what? This time the storm had a whole pond of water to wash the mud and sand down Steele Creek. The mud flow colored the bay in front of my house 1/2 mile north of the mouth of Steele Creek at Brownsville,” Schick recalled.

At this writing, the General Permit to Discharge Stormwater and the associated Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for the Olhava project in Poulsbo is under review and request for comments to Ecology will continue through June 2. There will be 30 days to appeal the issuance of the general stormwater permit for construction once it is issued. Ecology does not approve the SWPPP but reviews it to make sure the public concerns have been addressed and to assure that the Water Quality Standards will not be violated.

“We can only review these and try to keep tabs through monitoring. Until they stop developing and impacting salmon-bearing creeks, that’s about all we can do,” replied Rob Purser, Fisheries Director for the tribe.

“A general stormwater permit for construction with an attached order to require monitoring was issued for the 215-acre site on 6/5/02. Permit number is SO3-004675. Each private developer that constructs on the site where 1+ acres is involved is required to obtain their own general stormwater permit for construction,” Linda Matlock, from Ecology’s Lacey office wrote in response to questions regarding new reports of silt-laden run-off.

Stuart Whitford, Water Quality Program Manager for the Kitsap County Health District, observed turbid discharge emerging from the stormwater pond on the construction site into a headwater wetland of Johnson Creek. Whitford inserted a Hydrolab Multiprobe into the discharge and obtained a turbidity reading of 36.8 ntu. To confirm, a water sample for turbidity analysis was sent to Twiss Analytical and photographs were taken. A result of 53 ntu was received from Twiss.

The 53ntu turbidity reading in the stormwater discharge was 50 times readings taken at the mouth, and five times the average stream turbidity concentration in the Liberty Bay/Miller Bay watershed (4.8 ntu). Since the health district has enforcement authority for only bacterial water quality violations, a water quality complaint was filed with Ecology to determine whether there were surface water violations. Ecology recently determined to issue only warnings at this time.

Sean Callahan, from the Department of Ecology Northwest Regional Office (NWRO) based in Bellevue, is responsible for enforcement of the entire NW portion of the state. While it is not feasible for Ecology to oversee all potential violations that may occur at a site, he advised local citizens to monitor the creek, and to watch especially for “turbid water” that looks like it might be carrying runoff from the construction site.

The Liberty Bay Foundation has been monitoring the mouth of this creek, funded in part by a $214,000 grant from a DOE-EPA 319 nonpoint pollution fund, in conjunction with the Kitsap County Health District. They will continue recruiting streamside property owners to watch the creek, or give permission to enter their property for monitoring. To volunteer, visit www.libertybayfoundation.com for contact information.

Richard Boughner, who owns property along the creek and the point where it enters Liberty Bay, recalls, “I had 18 inches of silt deposited on my property when they did the state highway widening project. I am concerned with the amount of construction and lack of controls in this Wal-Mart project. The stormwater detention design they’re using at this site is not sensitive to salmon. It will create anaerobic conditions, stagnant water, that when discharged from the last pond into the creek will cause oxygen depletion for fish and other life.”

Boughner is no stranger to water quality, having worked as an environmental engineer for over 27 years. He was once responsible for 14 pulp mills and hundreds of acres of Olympia oyster beds, while working for the state pollution control commission in Southwest Washington. He has now retired from the naval facilities engineering command and accounts for enough water sampling experience to have drained the Columbia!

Reports of turbidity in the surface waters of this region, or any other observed environmental problem, should be reported to Ecology’s “Emergency Response Tracking System” (ERTS). Call the main number in the Bellevue NWRO at 425-649-7000 and ask for the ERTS Response Line.