Recycled Aluminum Metals Co

The site is located within the Dallesport Industrial Park approximately two miles east of Dallesport, Washington, about 400 feet southwest of Spearfish Lake and about 1000 feet north of Lake Celilo, the name of the portion of the Columbia River that is backed up behind The Dalles Dam.

From approximately 1982 until 1993, the Recycled Aluminum Metals Company (RAMCO) took in material from aluminum smelters. RAMCO then extracted residual aluminum from this material. The extraction process resulted in wastes being generated. From approximately 1982 to 1989 these wastes were buried in the unlined disposal site.

In 2006, the site was added to Ecology’s Hazardous Sites List with a ranking of “2”. Sites on the Hazardous Sites List are a priority for Ecology, and have completed a Site Hazard Assessment (SHA). A SHA provides information about the environmental risk of the site. Risk is based on the amount of contaminants, how toxic they are, and how easily they can come in contact with people and the environment. Sites are ranked relative to each other on a scale of “1” to “5”; with a rank of “5” being the lowest.

 
Between 2007 through 2010, Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) removed over 135,000 tons of waste from the site. After the waste was removed, the Port of Klickitat filled the excavation site and installed a final cover designed to control erosion. Based on sampling performed by EPA before and six months after the final waste removal, it appears that pollutants from the RAMCO disposal area have not migrated to surrounding surface water.

Based upon cleanup activities and the recording of the environmental covenant, Ecology has determined the site is no longer a threat to human health and the environment. Ecology issued a no further action determination in May 2016. The site has been removed from the Hazardous Sites List.