Abstract

A literature review and survey of environmental agencies has resulted in the identification of 67 sites of documented, man-caused groundwater contamination in Alaska as of April 20, 1987. The sites range in size from small areas near single wells to a 2.5 square mile fuel-contaminated area at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks. Within these areas, 27 regulated public water-supply systems are known to have been contaminated, mostly since 1983. Petroleum products account for the most prevalent type of documented contamination (68 percent), followed by bacteriological (10 percent), dump or landfill (8 percent), and salt-water intrusion (6 percent) contamination. In addition to these sites, 300 to 400 septic systems in Alaska are estimated to have failed during 1986 by means of discharge of incompletely decomposed septic system effluent to the surface of the land or waters in the vicinity of the system. Ground-water monitoring activity occurs in Alaska at numerous sites of known or potential ground-water contamination involving oil spills, landfills, wastewater discharge and past releases of other materials into the environment.