Hambleton Bros Log Yard

A lumber mill operated on the property from about 1948 to 2010. At one time, the property had an equipment shop, chemical storage shed, house, mill, debarker, aggregate recycling yard and planer building on the site. An example of aggregate is concrete and the materials used to make concrete.

The debarker burned to the ground in 2009 and the mill closed in 2010. The Port of Camas-Washougal (the port) is responsible for cleaning up the site. They removed the other structures since then.

The Hambleton did environmental assessments and studies from 2002 to 2009. The port sampled soil and groundwater, as well as Columbia River sediment. In 2006, they studied the site and found contamination in the soil and groundwater.

Contaminants above state cleanup levels in soil include:

• Total petroleum hydrocarbons
• Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs)
• Poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• Lead
• Mercury

Studies did not find contamination from the site in Columbia River sediment. They did find slightly elevated levels of petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater near the log pond.

Under the Cleanup Action Plan, the port had to:  

• Pump out and dispose of any liquid, if present, from the log pond.
• Place impacted soil in the empty log pond. This soil is now stockpiled onsite. Impacted soil is contaminated, but suitable for fill.
• Level out the log pond with uncontaminated soil taken from other site areas.
• Cap the log pond, former mill area and aggregate recycling area with a two-foot layer of imported, clean fill.
• Carry out long-term groundwater monitoring.
• Place an environmental covenant on the property to ensure that groundwater will not be used for drinking purposes. It will also ensure that contaminated soil stays contained in the log pond.

Ecology held a comment period on the cleanup action plan in June 2013. Ecology reviewed comments and replied to them in the Responsiveness Summary. Based on comments received during the comment period, it was determined the port would also investigate for any potential buried transformers.

Ecology issued a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review Determination of Nonsignificance for the remedial action at the Hambleton Bros Log Yard cleanup site. The Port of Camas-Washougal will do the cleanup work between September and October 2014.

An engineering design report (EDR) is available for the cleanup site. The engineering design report outlines engineering concepts and design criteria for the cleanup work. Additionally, the report addresses the assessment of the area where transformers may be buried and the removal, if necessary, of the transformers if they exist.

In 2011, Ecology gave the port a $200,000 integrated planning grant. The grant funded site investigations and cleanup options. The port will receive a remedial action grant from Ecology to help with cleanup costs.