Diesel spill at Point Higgins Elementary prompts extended cleanup; students’ return awaits health sign-offs

A diesel fuel leak at Point Higgins Elementary School triggered a multiagency containment and cleanup that has removed contaminated soil and installed booms and absorbent materials, borough and school officials told the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly on Sept. 2.

Superintendent PJ Ford Slack said district staff and borough responders have worked together to protect staff and students while environmental testing proceeds and cautioned that the district must follow Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health procedures before reopening. "We do not have a start date yet. I am hopeful it's next week, but we need to check off the … boxes for the Department of Health," Ford Slack said.

The borough's emergency manager and South Tongass fire chief, Steve Radeen, briefed the assembly on containment and recovery operations. He described a staged cleanup that moved from downstream properties up to the main retention pond, where contractors are consolidating contaminated soils and absorbent materials for removal. "It was approximately 2,700 gallons of discharge," Radeen said when asked for the estimated volume of fuel released.

Radeen and staff said contractors on site include Nortek, Republic Services, Alaska Commercial Divers and Full Cycle, and that work has relied on heavy equipment and timber clearing to access seepage areas. Nortek has overseen air and soil sampling while contractors set up containment booms and replaced absorbent pads; the U.S. Coast Guard inspected shoreline boom placement early in the response.

Assembly members pressed for details on recovered volumes and timeline. Radeen said initial conservative recovery estimates from a recent Friday ranged "somewhere between 800 and a thousand gallons," and that more precise tallies require contractor reports. The borough placed a priority on recovering material ahead of forecast precipitation to limit downstream spread.

School officials described steps taken to protect staff and students while testing continues: limited staff entry, daily classroom monitoring and involvement of the school nurse during onsite checks. Ford Slack said the district had staged staff reentry for short shifts and would expand occupancy only after public-health clearance. "They're looking at the eighth as the date that they've given as far as a tentative," Radeen said of Department of Health monitoring tied to placement of air canisters and occupied-room sampling.

Assembly and school officials emphasized that agencies remain cautious. Ford Slack said staff were instructed to report any health concerns and that the district would not proceed without DEC and Department of Health signoffs. The district has also been working with impacted contractors and the borough's insurance carriers; borough staff told the assembly they are paying response costs now and will seek reimbursement from responsible contractors and their insurers once fault is determined.

Less critical details: Radeen said some locations had up to four feet of overburden where contaminated soils are being removed, while other areas lie close to bedrock and will need tree removal to access contamination. The National Weather Service briefed responders on a forecast that showed a window of dry weather before light precipitation later in the week.

Officials said cleanup and monitoring remain active; no formal reopening date has been set and any decision about students returning will follow additional sampling and Department of Health clearance.