June 14, 2024
Operations to complete wet excavation (below the water table) for the southern half of the railroad site will resume in the coming weeks. Installation of an in-river isolation barrier (IRIB), consisting of large canvas sacks filled with sand and rocks, is underway and will be completed prior to the start of excavation activities. River flows are subsiding but remain swift.
River Safety Message signage has been posted in various public locations upstream of the railroad yard from the Sacramento Avenue overcrossing to Hedge Creek Falls.
Excavation depths vary throughout the site but will be taken down to bedrock in most areas. The areas are being backfilled with clean imported material, compacted, and graded to final shoreline configuration.
Excavated material will be loaded onto trucks or railcars and properly disposed of off-site.
The containment boom in the river along the retaining wall was removed during high winter and spring flows as it may have dislodged and become hazardous. Boom will be reinstalled on the outside of the IRIB and prior to initiating 2024 excavation activities. River monitoring will continue, and cleanup equipment is staged onsite if needed. Containment strategies have
been effective in confining an oil seep observed last year and no visible sheen or product has been observed outside of the containment boom since.
Dust control measures taken at the site on roads and soil stockpiles include application of water using a water truck. As needed, a soil stabilizer and dust control agent, Gorilla-Snot, is being applied utilizing a water truck. Gorilla-Snot is non-toxic when dry, and commonly used for dust and soil control.
Truck traffic through the City of Dunsmuir will increase with the onset of excavation activities.
Cal Spill Watch 