Bradford Island lies within the Bonneville Dam complex, near Cascade Locks. DEQ is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate various contaminant sources on the island. These include a half-acre landfill, a shooting range, and disposal areas for sandblast grit and light bulbs. Electrical equipment, some of which contained PCBs, was removed from the river bottom adjacent to the island in 2000 and 2002. In October 2007, sediment contaminated with PCBs was dredged from the bottom of the river in the areas where the electrical equipment was found.
More details regarding this project are available at the Bradford Island web site maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers (see link below).
The Army Corps of Engineers sampled sediment, clams and smallmouth bass in August 2011 to assess the effectiveness of the sediment dredging conducted in 2007. The results indicate that sediment dredging was not sufficient to address this problem.
Smallmouth bass were collected in the forebay (near Bradford Island) and in an upstream reference area. Six clam samples and seven sediment samples were collected from the forebay. The results showed that, as in the past, PCBs are the primary contaminants of concern. Of the 19 fish samples collected from the forebay, PCB concentrations in four of the fish were extremely high, up to 183,000 parts per billion. A safe level is considered less than one part per billion. The other 15 fish from the forebay had PCB concentrations ranging from 15 to 277 parts per billion. These concentrations are above the safe level, but are similar to PCB concentrations in the 19 fish found in the reference area.
The Army Corps prepared a remedial investigation report in June 2012. The report can be found here: https://www.oregon.gov/deq/Hazards-and-Cleanup/CleanupSites/Pages/Bradford-Island.aspx
In August 2017, the Corps completed a feasibility study for the four upland areas (landfill, pistol range, bulb slope and sandblast area). Based on this study, the Corps expects to remove the landfill and dispose of the waste at a permitted offsite landfill, although a final decision will be made in the next phase of the project. They plan to remove surface soil at the pistol range and then cover the area with clean soil. The feasibility study concluded that no remediation is required for the sandblast area or bulb slope. DEQ and other members of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) disagreed with this conclusion. In response, the Corps proposed to address these areas for the purpose of source control, despite their conclusion that this work is not required to meet CERCLA requirements. The extent of work at the sandblast area and the bulb slope are still being evaluated.
In an attempt to further identifying the location of remaining PCB contamination, passive samplers were deployed in the Columbia River in January, 2020. The results are being evaluated prior to deciding on additional analyses. Later in 2020, smallmouth bass, clams, and crayfish were collected and analyzed. The results are currently being evaluated.
On October 10, 2019, DEQ, Washington Department of Ecology, and the Yakama Nation submitted a letter to USEPA requesting that EPA place Bradford Island on the National Priorities List. EPA did not list the site on the NPL in 2020. On February 24, 2021, DEQ, Washington Department of Ecology, and the Yakama Nation renewed their request to EPA. In September 2021, EPA proposed the site for the NPL. EPA added Bradford Island to the NPL on March 16, 2022.