On June 4, 2015 EPA Emergency Response was notified by a local clean air agency of a resident in a rural part of Clark County, Washington who had stockpiled "thirty or more" 55-gallon polypropylene drums of Kester Flux Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) - a class 1A flammable liquid - and was using it as an accelerant for open burning. EPA immediately notified the Clark County Fire Marshal and Washington Department of Ecology of the report.
Site visits by the fire marshal and County Health Department staff confirmed the presence of numerous drums although an accounting of the exact number that contained liquid was not possible. New concerns also arose that the flammable liquid may have once been designated as a hazardous waste, a concern that was supported by a designation provided by a State of Washington hazardous waste compliance inspector based on the manner in which the material was being stored and used.
Starting on June 19, 2015, EPA began the first of three unsuccessful attempts to get voluntary access to assess conditions on the site. During one visit, EPA was provided very limited access during which time officials were able to confirm that there were fewer than 30 and probably closer to two dozen drums present. In response to concerns about extended periods of temperatures in the 90s and 100s, and extreme fire hazards throughout the region, the documented owner of the IPA reported that they had removed 25 drums of IPA from the site on June 26th.
EPA gained access to the site on July 13th and conducted a Removal Site Evaluation over the course of two full days. No drums of IPA were found present on the site at the time EPA arrived. EPA and START conducted a thorough inventory of remaining containers on the site, conducted hazard categorization of unknown liquids, investigated subsurface soil disturbance using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and excavated approximately 10 test pits where anomalies in subsurface soils were observed. Soil samples were taken in areas where burning was believed to have occurred.
