The next phase of the cleanup of contamination at the Balloon Track in Eureka is approaching.The former railyard beside Humboldt Bay, which hosts toxin-laden soil and other materials from its time storing fuel and hosting a freight yard for repairing and refueling locomotives, has sat vacant for years. But in 2024, the first phase of a cleanup began with debris removed and defunct train cars booted from where they sat for decades.Now the second phase is being pursued, which involves removal and testing of dirt in drainage ditches for hazardous materials, according to Eureka planning documents.A city staff report on this cleanup notes that six inches on ditch bottoms and banks will be removed, with samples collected and exposed areas stabilized and planted with native plants. This soil will be tested for contaminants.This will impact about 12,000 square feet of wetlands in total, with work occurring during dry weather when water is absent from ditches.According to materials submitted to the city by the engineering firm coordinating the cleanup, NorthPoint Consulting Group, “the majority of the Stage 1 work has been completed,” — which ranges from demolition of slabs, debris sorting, concrete crushing, hazardous material disposal, and removal of metal contaminated soils. According to a staff report, approximately 355 tons of historic bunker sand, about 56 tons of contaminated soil and about 109 tons of solid waste were removed.Removal of rail cars at the property, which involved scrapping engines and moving others off-site, began in 2024. The site is a former tidal marshland filled in the early 1900s and was used as a freight yard for decades.The Union Pacific Railroad Company found everything from Bunker C oil, diesel, gasoline, motor oil, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, copper, lead, zinc and chlorinated volatile organic compounds in their various investigations into the materials at the site. Environmentally persistent dioxins have also been identified in testing.“It should have been done years ago, but it’s good that the cleanup is finally going to be done the right way. It will involve shallow excavation followed by more sampling to determine whether more excavation needs to be done,” said Jen Kalt, director of Humboldt Waterkeeper in an email.The environmental organization previously collected soil samples in 2007 finding environmental toxins, and filed lawsuits against the city regarding a planned “Marina Center” previously envisioned at the site.“Humboldt Waterkeeper will continue to follow the remediation plans to make sure the bay and Clark Slough are not further impacted by dioxins and other contaminants when the site is eventually developed,” said Kalt.Keep Reading
