OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460



## N ATIONAL 

## P RIORITIES 

## L IST 

## (NPL)

[The description of the site (release) is based on information av ailable at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The d escription may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.]

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regardi ng the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet

at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737. ***Proposed Site*** March 2011


### NORTH RIDGE ESTATES Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath County

à Site Location:
North Ridge Estates (NRE) is a residential subdivision located approximately 3 miles north of Klamath Falls, in Klamath County, Oregon, at the site of a former World War II (WWII) medical facility.

 ́ Site History:
The site was originally developed in 1944 to treat Marines suffering from tropical diseases contracted during WWII. The base was active from April 1944 until Fe bruary 1946. The Marine Recuperation Barracks (MRB) comprised 82 buildings. Many of the materials used for improvements on the site cont ained asbestos, such as siding, roofing, floor tiles and steam pipe insulation. The State of Oregon acquired the property in October 1947 to be used for the Oregon Technology Institute (OTI). During OTI’s occupancy of the site, six structur es were demolished. OTI moved from the site in 1964 and ownership transferred to the General Services Administra tion. From 1965 to 1977, a partnership of private individuals owned the property. During this time, at least 22 buildings were demolished. In December 1977, the property was purchased by the MBK partnership for development.

In January 2006, a federal consent decree was approved with parties including MBK, the homeowners, the Department of Justice, and EPA. The majority of the settlement compensa ted homeowners to allow them to relocate to new permanent

residences. The consent decree also provided for a receiver to manage a nd hold title to the properties as a potential resource for funding cleanup activities. As a result of the January 2006 consent decree, the NRE site comprises a mixture of privately owned properties and receiver-managed parcels.

r Site Contamination/Contaminants:

Asbestos used in the original construction of the MRB is the ma in source of asbestos in site soil. When buildings containing asbestos were demolished, some of the debris was consolidated into waste piles or burial pits, and the rest was dispersed in surface and subsurface soil in the vicinity of the demolition.

v Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment:
The presence of asbestos in surface and subsurface soils, and its continuing transport from the subsurface to the surface presents an unacceptable human health risk to residents in the area from inhalation of asbestos fibers.

3 Response Activities (to date):
EPA conducted a series of emergency removal actions between 2003 and 2005 to reduce the volume of friable asbestos that had reached the surface due to frost heave and erosion. While large amounts were removed each year, the removals could not permanently eliminate unacceptable risks to residents of the site. Residents were temporarily relocated from the site

for 3 months in 2005. Additional removals were conducted between 2005 and 2009, which conso lidated large volumes of asbestos into on-site repositories and reduced the amount in surface soils but were not able to permanently eliminate unacceptable risks to the local population.

} Need for NPL Listing:
The Governor of Oregon has requested NRE be placed on the NPL using Oregon’s state pick. This nomination has the support of the Department of Environmental Quality, local citizen s, stakeholders and elected officials. There is no other viable cleanup alternative.