Under a $5.2 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract, Bristol Environmental and Engineering Services Corp. is tasked to complete by summer's end demolition of remaining buildings and removal of debris, said Carey Cossaboom, project manager for the corps' Alaska district.

Bristol Environmental will also be removing 200 tons of PCB-contaminated soils, he said.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are a group of toxic, persistent chemicals classified as possibly carcinogenic. Sale and new use of PCBs was banned in 1979. Prior to that time, PCBs were commonly found in oils used in electrical equipment and hydraulic fluids. PCBs attach to plants, soils and sediments, and can migrate to ground or surface waters.

Northeast Cape was operated by the Air Force from 1952 to 1972 as part of the Cold War North American Air Defense Command. Then, beginning in 1982, the Navy used the area as a White Alice communications site. White Alice sites are distance early-warning sites from World War II that were converted later from radar to listening sites. Within an area that encompasses about 9 square miles, the corps has identified at least 23 contaminated sites that require environmental investigation and cleanup, according to Alaska Community Action on Toxics.

ABOVE: Bristol Environmental uses two of its excavators equipped with hydraulic shears to topple and demolish four antenna arrays at the former White Alice Communications Site at Northeast Cape on remote St. Lawrence Island. RIGHT: The main electronics center at Northeast Cape is demolished using an excavator equipped with a bucket/thumb. Most of the debris from this building was transported off-island for disposal. PHOTOS Courtesy of Bristol Environmental and Engineering Services Corp.

Island residents have expressed concern over cancer rates and a possible link to the presence of the former military sites at Northeast Cape. There is also concern over possible impacts to subsistence foods, such as reindeer and fish from the area, state officials said.

"In 2003, we removed approximately 5,500 tons of debris from the island, including primarily solid waste, asbestos-containing materials and hazardous waste materials," said Steve Johnson, project manager for Bristol Environmental. "During that work, we found other debris items that the corps hadn't realized were there and were outside the scope of work for 2003."

The following year, Bristol Environmental bid on the continuation of the project and was awarded another contract for this summer.

"We hope to have the work essentially done by Aug. 30 and have our camp off the island by Sept. 7 to Sept. 10," he said.

About 20 workers, including residents of Gambell and Savoonga, will be employed on the project, he said. "All those folks are excited about coming back for us."

Northeast Cape "is somewhat of a high-profile project," Cossaboom said. "It has been one of the highest-priority projects in Alaska for the last few years. It has significant infrastructure still there, buildings and antenna systems. They cost a lot to tear down."

The next big concern is the contaminated soil and groundwater, Cossaboom said.

"The next step is to go in there and decide what the (clean up) options are," he said. "We would hope to get through the decision document by 2007 and start that cleanup, and that's going to take a long time, probably. It could involve long-term monitoring."

Alaska Community Action on Toxics, in its report on military site contamination in Alaska, notes that corps of engineers' contractors have identified at least 23 contaminated sites that require environmental investigation and cleanup. That contamination includes fuel spills totaling more than 220,000 gallons, as well as solvents, heavy metals, asbestos and PCBs, the environmental group said.

"We found at least two significant contaminants that were not previously identified by corps of engineers' contractors," said Pam Miller, executive director of the group. Those included mercury and a chemical called mirex, used as a pesticide and flame retardant. "We think the military was using it as a flame retardant chemical," Miller said. "It is an extremely persistent and toxic chemical, which causes serious health problems at low concentrations."

Cleaning up Northeast Cape is the latest of several such projects for Bristol Environmental, an Anchorage-based firm providing environmental, civil engineering, and construction and construction management services. The company was launched in 1994 as a consulting business offering environmental services.

In 2004, the firm had $28 million in revenues, and more than $2 million in profits, said Joe Terrell, chief executive officer. "It was a good year, (but) it wasn't exceptionally good."

Bristol Engineering has done similar contract work to clean several other White Alice sites. These include projects at Adak from the late 1990s to 2004, and Amchitka in 2003.

"We have a competitive edge," Terrell said. "We have lots of good people with an excellent record. We self-perform it all. As a rule, we don't team up with the large companies. We bring a few of the specially trained people, but have an excellent track record of hiring local folks. It's demolition, very controlled demolition cleanup, but you have to pay a lot of attention to waste streams, lot of documentation and initial survey work to determine what needs to be done."

In September 2001, the company was awarded a five-year, $15 million contract from the Environmental Protection Agency to remediate leaking underground storage tanks in Indian country throughout the western United States. It was the biggest contract the agency had ever given to a Native American contractor, company officials said.

Bristol Environmental currently employs about 70 people, including three in Marysville, Wash., and one in San Antonio. To date, the firm has completed more than 400 projects for private and government clients.

Web resources:

Bristol Environmental and Engineering Services Corp. - www.beesc.com.

Alaska Community Action on Toxics - www.akaction.org.