The Salt Creek Recreation Area County Park is a 196 acre park in Clallam County with upland forests, rocky bluffs, tide pools, campsites and RV sites near Port Angeles. The site overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca and surface water from the site drains toward the Strait.
The land the park is on was a 500 yard military firing range during World War 2. Later it was turned into a Sportsman’s 200 yard shooting range which was finally closed in 1998 when the park opened.
A citizen activist in the area reported to Clallam County his concerns about lead contamination in the park soil in the area of the previous shooting ranges. In response to his report, the Clallam County Health District collected and analyzed seven soil samples for lead. The results indicated there was 37,200 mg/kg of lead present in the hillside which has served as the shooting range impact zone, 615 mg/kg lead in the hillside behind the target zone and 193 mg/kg lead in a berm in front of the target zone, next to a park walking path. The activist was concerned for people playing in the area or eating mushrooms growing in the lead-contaminated soil.
The County’s standard practice is not to place signage when there are so few data points. To collect adequate analytical information for the county, state and EPA to determine and justify taking actions on the site that will be protective of human health and the environment, the EPA Region 10 Removal Program did a Removal Assessment in August 2009 which included both field XRF analyses of the target area and impact hill for lead as well as lab analyses for heavy metals. The results indicated substantial soluble lead and copper contamination justifying a removal action.
In May 2010 Clallam County posted signs and EPA posted fact sheets at the site to advise Park users of the presence of lead contamination in the impact hill and target berm. EPA contacted both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army to determine whether they were willing to perform a cleanup to address the contamination.
In September 2010 EPA decided that, due to the time-critical nature of the site, use of the Superfund was justified to remove the contaminated soil before the start of the winter rains. Cost recovery will be determined later.
With the cooperation and assistance of Clallam County and the Washington Department of Natural Resources (who are both property owners of the affected area), EPA work is scheduled to start October 12, 2010. A sign will be posted at the trail head to advise hikers and park users that the Striped Peak trail will be closed during the three week removal action as heavy equipment removes trees, excavates, and removes contaminated soil from the impact hill and target berm. The work schedule each week is anticipated to be 7am to 6 pm Monday through Friday.
