Interlachen Community Fact Sheet #2a

Groundwater Contamination in East Multnomah County

In 1963, the first manufacturing building was constructed by Electronic Specialty Company (ES Co.)a major subcontractor to The Boeing Company at the time. In 1969 the ES Co. was acquired by International Controls Corporation, which in turn transferred the Portland plant to a Boeing subsidiary, Radiation International, Inc. (Boeing, 1988). By 1979 Boeing was the sole owner of the facility property and improvements. In 1979 and 1980, Boeing constructed a wastewater pre-treatment plant, employee recreation areas, and building 85-105, used for parts assembly and storage.

From 1981 to 1984, Boeing utilized a surface impoundment for the temporary storage of rinsate from electroplating and metal finishing operations prior to transfer to the waste water treatment plant. Upon closure of the impoundment in 1985, a Detection Monitoring Program was implemented as required by DEQ. Six groundwater monitoring wells, installed around the perimeter of the impoundment, were monitored from January, 1986 to July, 1987. Groundwater was found to be contaminated with high levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA), and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). The monitoring program revealed that other point sources were suspected due to the elevated levels of contaminants detected in upgradient monitoring wells. (Landau, 1988)

The Cascade facility was constructed from 1955 to 1956 for the purpose of manufacturing forklift truck attachments. At that time the facility included a waterfall paint booth, a parts assembly area, a maintenance shop, an assembly area for hydraulic cylinders, two underground storage tanks (USTs) for gasoline storage, and offices. In 1961, Cascade installed a vapor degreaser near the hydraulic assembly area for the purpose of cleaning metal parts with TCE. The degreaser was used continuously until 1975 when it was removed , and TCE usage was discontinued. (EMCON, 1993)

Operations expanded to include nickel and chrome electroplating in 1963. Chrome and nickel plating operations were discontinued in 1978, but nickel plating was resumed from 1982 through 1986 (EMCON, 1993). In 1966, another facility expansion included carburizing of forklift attachments which continued until 1985, when carburizing was replaced by purchasing tempered steel.

In 1971, two underground storage tanks were installed to store waste coolant and oils. Cascade installed a cutting bin drainage system in 1979 that collected coolant lubricant drippings from metal cuttings for transfer to the waste coolant tanks. The waste coolant tanks and cutting bin drainage system were decommissioned in 1988 under the supervision of DEQ. At that time, approximately 50 cubic yards of contaminated soil was removed and disposed of at an off site facility. In fall of the same year Cascade received a Consent Order from DEQ to conduct additional investigations into the nature and extent of contamination. (EMCON, 1995)