Publication Summary

This is the quality assurance project plan for the Saginaw Mill groundwater monitoring.

The former Saginaw Mill site is located in Aberdeen, Washington, on the south shore of the Chehalis River. A Site Hazard Assessment conducted in 1993 determined that site soils were contaminated with diesel, heavy-oil-range Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) and formaldehyde. Formaldehyde also was detected in on-site groundwater at concentrations above the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) Method B carcinogenic cleanup level of 1.46 ug/L. Between 1996 and 1999, two detailed site characterization studies were conducted and site cleanup was initiated. In 1999, the University of Washington planted poplar trees in the central and southwestern portions of the site as part of a continued phytoremediation-based site cleanup. Groundwater samples were collected in 2000 to provide data on formaldehyde concentrations subsequent to the poplar tree planting. The 2000 data showed that formaldehyde concentrations in groundwater had declined to levels near the reporting limit of 20 ug/L. The primary goal of this project is to collect current groundwater data for formaldehyde to assess the progress of the ongoing phytoremediation. New data is also needed to assess whether an on-site area where the trees did not survive still has formaldehyde levels high enough to warrant replanting these areas.

Link to EIM data for User Study ID PMART003