Investigation of the Roosevelt Road Transmitter Site, Fort Richardson,
Alaska, Using Ground-Penetrating Radar
LEWIS E. HUNTER, ALLAN J. DELANEY, AND DANIEL E. LAWSON
subsequent use included intermittent training
INTRODUCTION
exercises in the bunker and around the transmit-
ter annex.
The Roosevelt Road Transmitter Site was the
The site became contaminated when the bun-
location of a high-frequency transmitter facility
ker and annex were vandalized in the 1970s. In
constructed during the early 1940s (Fig. 1 and 2).
the process of stealing copper wiring from floor
Its purpose was to provide uninterrupted commu-
trenches in the bunker and transmitter buildings,
nications as part of the Alaska Communications
vandals toppled transformers (Fig. 2b) to uncover
System in the event of an attack on Anchorage or
the wiring, which spilled dielectric oils contami-
Fort Richardson. The facility was self-supporting,
nated with polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs)
with sanitation, a water supply, and living quar-
(Ecology and Environment 1996). In 1978, the
ters. There were several above-ground support
above-ground structures were removed, leaving
facilities, consisting of multiple satellite buildings
behind a number of concrete pads (Fig. 2a). The
for electrical and communications equipment,
PCB-contaminated oils that had seeped into the
storage, and housing, and a mess hall (Ecology and
foundation of the transmitter annex were cleaned
Environment 1996). A communications bunker,
up by triple washing the concrete with diesel fuel.
tunnels, multiple buried cables, water lines,
However, some of this fuel spilled off of the pad,
utilidor ducts, and a septic system were below
allowing PCB-contaminated diesel solvent to leach
ground. The exact dates of occupation of this site
into the ground. Soil analyses in 1988 by the Corps
are unknown, but it was used roughly from World
of Engineers found PCB concentrations of up to
War II to the end of the Korean War. The transmit-
76,900 ppm near the east entrance of the bunker,
ter site was decommissioned in the mid-1960s, but
lroad
a Rai
Alask
Otter
Lake
Roosevelt Road
Roosevelt
Transmitter Site
Road
Leach Field
Elmendorf
Moraine
Fort
Richardson
Cemetery
Circ
le
D
Stambone
Road
y
wa
igh
reet
t
sH
ouse S
N
ad
vi
Wareh
Ro
Da
all
nd
ouse
Wareh et
Ra
Stre
0.0
1.0
2.0 km
Alaska
Railroad
Circle
Road
"D" Street
Figure 1. Location of Roosevelt Road Transmitter Site on Fort Richardson, Alaska.
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