The Alaska Railroad Corporation is an instrumentality of the State of Alaska and owner of a property known as the Anchorage Terminal Reserve. The Reserve encompasses approximately 600 acres between Elmendorf AFB on the north, downtown Anchorage to the south, and Cook Inlet to the west. It includes an active railyard as well as properties leased for uses including oil refineries, power plants, factories, an auto wrecking yard, and a hotel. The Reserve is bisected east to west by Ship Creek, used heavily for salmon fishing and other recreational activities. As a result of railroad and other industrial uses, extensive groundwater contamination has been documented and contamination in soils and sediments has also been found.
In order to determination the nature and extent of contamination, and any associated risks, EPA Region 10 entered negotiations in Feb. 2003 to get the Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) to conduct a site-wide investigation, including both the railyard and leased properties. Originally this negotiation began in the context of RCRA corrective action, following from a 1993 RCRA enforcement action. Through the course of negotiations, EPA Region 10 and ARRC agreed that the investigation should satisfy requirements for both RCRA and CERCLA, in part to preserve future cost recovery claims against current or former tenants and other potentially liable parties. As such, we are now attempting to conclude negotiations of an Administrative Order on Consent