A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) was performed for the Samoa - Redwood Marine Terminal 1 and was separated into four individual reports based on parcel ownership. The California Redwood Company portion comprises three parcels and an approximately 55-acre portion of a 300-acre former lumber mill located on the Samoa Peninsula in Samoa, Humboldt County, California (Site). At the request of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District, the draft version of this Phase I ESA report was accepted as the final deliverable without revision. In 1889, the Samoa Land and Improvement Company purchased 270 acres of land on the peninsula opposite of Eureka, California. In 1892, the John Vance Mill and Lumber Company purchased land on the Samoa Peninsula for the construction of a new sawmill after their Eureka, California, mill burned in a fire. In 1893, the Eureka and Klamath River Railroad connected the Samoa Peninsula and Arcata, California, providing a more efficient means of logging imports to the sawmill operations. In 1900, the Hammond Lumber Company acquired the sawmill, adding a sash and door factory in 1909. In 1912, the sawmill was recognized as the "Hammond Lumber Company". Between 1917 and 1919, the Hammond Lumber Company built an emergency shipyard to help with the United States efforts in World War I and seven wooden steam ships were built at the Samoa facility. In 1956, Georgia Pacific acquired the mill, adding a plywood mill in 1958. In 1963, Georgia Pacific developed the bleached kraft pulp mill to the west of the Site and replaced the old sawmill with a modern sawmill in 1964. In 1972, the Louisiana Pacific Corporation acquired the former lumber mill and continued operations until the last old growth timber was milled in 1980. In 1994, the pulp mill to the west of the Site was converted to a chlorine-free pulp mill. The Simpson Timber Company acquired the former lumber mill in 1998 and listed the former lumber mill for sale in 2001. At the time of the Phase I ESA, the Site was owned by the California Redwood Company. Recommendations from the Phase I ESA are listed below.
Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs):
*Collect subsurface soil and groundwater samples within the former sawmill, planing mill cogeneration power plant, powerhouse, fuel house, boiler house, and pipe house building foundation boundary for metals, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) analysis.
*Collect a shallow subsurface discrete soil samples from each of the four sides and the center of the 1,000-gallon "convault" aboveground storage tank (AST) and fueling area boundary for TPH analysis.
*Conduct a more thorough survey of the area around and under the existing boiler to check for leaks from the boiler and cracks in the concrete beneath the boiler. If leaks and cracked concrete are observed, soil samples should be collected from beneath the concrete foundation for metals, TPH, MTBE, and BTEX analysis if the boiler is ever removed.
*Collect surface soil samples within former building foundation and drip line boundaries for lead and asbestos analysis.
*Confirmation sampling in the former pentachlorophenol (PCP) impacted soil area on the Site or seek closure by the State of California Water Resources Control Board for the PCP Cleanup Site.
*Request an authorized third party remove the inactive transformer and inactive boiler from the Site.
Environmental Concerns:
*Collect hazardous building materials samples (asbestos, lead-based paint, and polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]) in each existing building on the Site.
*Collect metals and TPH wipe samples within each existing building on the Site.
*Collect an oil sample from the inactive transformer for PCB analysis.
*Collect sediment samples within each stormwater inlet drain for metals and TPH analysis.