Amchitka Island, Alaska, Potential U.S. Department of Energy Site Responsibilities

This historical records review report concerns the activities of the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) at Amchitka Island, Alaska, over a period extending from 1942 to 1993. The report focuses on AEC activities resulting in known or suspected contamination of the island environment by nonradiological hazardous or toxic materials as discerned through historical records. In addition, the information from historical records was augmented by an August 1998 sampling event. Both the records review and sampling were conducted by IT Corporation on behalf of the US Department of Energy (DOE), the predecessor agency to the AEC. The intent of this investigation was to identify all potentially contaminated sites for which DOE may be responsible, wholly or partially, including all official sites of concern as recognized by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Additionally, potential data gaps that the DOE will need to fill to support the ecological and human health risk assessments performed were identified. A review of the available historical information regarding AEC's activities on Amchitka Island indicates that the DOE is potentially responsible for 11 sites identified by USFWS and an additional 10 sites that are not included in the USFWS database of sites of potential concern