Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge Lead Paint Abatement

News Releases

Lead Paint Abatement

On June 3, 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Pacific Regional Director authorized initiation of an expanded Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis to further delineate the nature and extent of the release of lead contamination at Midway Atoll, develop and evaluate removal action alternatives, and implement an appropriate alternative by July 2011. The Department of the Interior’s Central Hazardous Materials Fund is providing $1.4 million for examining the extent of contamination, developing removal alternatives and associated cleanup costs, and initiating an approved response action. Cleanup activities will be conducted under the authority of Section 104 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). We anticipate the response action will be carried out over several years.

Concrete repair and LBP encapsulation on Charlie Barracks, 2005.

Studies conducted by USFWS and others at Sand Island between the late 1980s and 2009, have shown that Laysan albatross chicks exhibited symptoms of lead toxicity and that their exposure is likely related to ingestion of lead-based paint (LBP) chips and soil contaminated with LBP chips. The primary source of the paint chips that contaminate the soil where the albatross nest is the buildings and structures on Sand Island, some of which date back to the early 1900s.

From 2005 to February 2010, FWS remediated 24 of the 95 buildings with LBP and spent approximately $841,000 in direct costs. This includes American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding received in Fiscal Year 2009, to restore seven historic Officer Quarters, which included the total removal of all LBP from the interior and the encapsulation of all lead-based paint on the exterior.

The Administrative (Record) for this response is located at the FWS Division of Engineering, Region 1, 911 NE 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232 and at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 5-231, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96850. The Record is available for public inspection during regular business hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you have questions about this action, please contact Tom Edgerton in Honolulu, Hawai‘i (808) 792-9480 or tom_edgerton@fws.gov or Carlton Morris in Portland, Oregon (503) 231-6143 or carlton_morris@fws.gov.

Legal Notice - Notice of Lead Cleanup at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (June 3, 2010)

January 19, 2011

Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) for Removal of Lead-based Paint at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

A study released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service evaluates six alternatives for cleaning up lead-based paint contamination that poses a threat to Laysan albatross chicks at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The preferred alternative calls for removing lead-based paint and/or asbestos siding from the buildings, “encapsulating” the buildings by repainting them with safe paint, excavating contaminated soils, and installing a soil barrier and cap.

For more information, click on the links below.

News Release - Study assesses lead-based paint cleanup at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (pdf 115KB)

Midway Administrative Record Index (pdf 130KB)