See POLREPs #1 and #2 for overall site description prior to 2012.  The currently active portion of the site is the engineered repository located at the 1st Baptist Church in Orofino.  Asbestos-contaminated soil removed from remote properties in and around Orofino was consolidated with existing contaminated soil at the 1^st Baptist Church to create an on-Site repository in Fall, 2011.  An engineered gravity-based 19-foot high retaining wall constructed with manufactured concrete blocks serves as north and west outer perimeter of the repository. 

During early March 2012, the Church Pastor contacted EPA and provided photographs showing that the retaining wall had settled causing the blocks to shift.  An investigation of the repository revealed that heavy precipitation, including rain and snow, captured over the entire parking area and adjacent hillside coupled with snow plowed from the gravel and the asphalt parking areas overwhelmed the dry retention pond and added significant weight to the contaminated soil behind the retaining wall.  When the contaminated repository soil became saturated with water, hydraulic pressure behind the wall and excess weight caused the concrete blocks to shift, compromising integrity of the entire retaining structure, and requiring that the wall be taken down and reconstructed and the repository rebuilt with improved engineered stormwater management and drainage features.

1.1.2.1 Location

The repository site is located at the 1st Baptist Church, Orofino, Clearwater County, Idaho.

1.1.2.2 Description of Threat

Refer to POLREPS #1 and #2 for description of the threat posed by asbestos contaminated soils that required construction of the repository.  Presently there is an imminent threat of failure of the repository retaining wall and subsequent release of asbestos contaminated soils within the repository, with potential exposure to airborne asbestos fibers by adjacent residents and church goers.  Additionally, there is a physical hazard of an unstable 19-foot high retaining wall on a church property in the midst of a residential neighborhood.

1.1.3 Preliminary Removal Assessment/Removal Site Inspection Results

Refer to Polreps #1 and #2 for initial site inspection results that led to removal of asbestos contaminated soils from a number of asbestos-contaminated properties in and around Orofino, and consolidation of those soils with asbestos-contaminated soils at the Church property.  Additional investigations were conducted in Spring, 2012 to evaluate the nature and extent of the repository retaining wall failure and evaluate appropriate alternatives to remedy the problem, including evaluation of options for improving stormwater management and drainage of the repository.