Remedial Investigation and Action at 16 AOCs at Annette Island, AK

The FAA has a requirement for engineering services necessary to perform remedial investigation (RI), and remedial action (RA) activities at multiple Environmental Cleanup (ECU) Program sites and areas of concern (AOCs), at 16 different AOCs, at the former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Station on Annette Island Reserve, Alaska.

Special Considerations:

-             This project will be performed on the Annette Island Reserve which is under the authority of the Metlakatla Indian Community (MIC). Interested vendors must have had experience in the last 10 years with the regulations of the Metlakatla Indian Community Environmental Council as well as, experience working within the Metlakatla Indian Community policies for worker and business permits, as well as materials purchase.

-             MIC requires all visitors to apply for a visitor permit. Visitors who will be in the community for longer than two weeks will need to apply for a residency permit.

-             All excavation backfill  material must be purchased from MIC. No organic materials, including seed mixes, can be brought to the island.

-           Global positioning system (GPS) service and telecommunications are unavailable in many areas on the Metlakatla Peninsula. Satellite communications, mobile GPS antenna stations, walkie-talkies, and/or other technology resources may be needed to verify target locations, allow for communications across Contractor teams and with FAA representatives, and ensure safety of the field team.

-          Most sites are historical in nature and no longer serve to support FAA’s National Airspace System (NAS). Most sites were abandoned and/or demolished by the FAA in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. While significant clearing occurred at many of the target sites in 2023 and 2024, the Contractor should anticipate that considerable overgrowth (mostly alder and brush) or new growth is present at these sites.

-          The Contractor must abide by all applicable laws, codes, regulations, and guidance, and is required to perform all work in full compliance with federal, state (as applicable outside Annette Island), and local laws, codes, and regulations. The Contractor must ensure that all activities executed by their personnel, subcontractors, and suppliers are in full compliance with said laws, codes, regulations, and guidance. Any incident of noncompliance must immediately be brought to the attention of the FAA CO. Nothing in this SOW relieves the Contractor of their responsibility to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

-          Prior projects encountered multiple issues due to the logistics of getting sample shipments off Annette Island and onto Gravina Island to be transported to the laboratory. The weather, airplane schedules, ferry schedules, staffing reductions and freight office closures at Alaska Airlines, can all impact the transportation of sample shipments. The 200mg/kg concentration for the MIC cleanup level for DRO and RRO makes the use of a PID/FID to screen excavations for boundary obtainment difficult. The matrix interference from organic materials, obtaining reliable usable analytical results to determine if an excavation has reached its boundary has been difficult to obtain in a reasonable timeframe. At times the laboratory data has not been usable due to matrix interference, holding time exceedance, or turnaround time delays.  

Summary Statement of Work:

-          The Contractor must submit a Work Plan that describes the Contractor's detailed approach for the performance of this contract. The work plan must be based upon this SOW. The Contractor shall review the two most recent reports for work performed for the FAA and assume that the same quality will go into the work plan.

-          The FAA expects that the Contractor will encounter heavy vegetation in the study areas. Old growth vegetation (assumed for purposes of this SOW as trees having a diameter of 18 inches or more at chest height) may also be encountered. If such trees are found to be present at any of the work sites, the Contractor shall coordinate with FAA and MIC to have important old growth specimens tagged. All tagged trees will be protected to the maximum extent practicable. Nevertheless, FAA expects that the Contractor will make all efforts necessary to complete the scoped activities and objectives while protecting old growth vegetation.

-          Clearing of vegetation is expected to the extent necessary to fully evaluate the areas of interest pursuant to this SOW. The Contractor shall use a mulching mower, brush mulcher, or similar equipment to avoid the need to haul/dispose downed vegetation.

-          A navigation aid outage will not be required to perform the SOW at these sites.

-          For all excavation confirmation laboratory samples, the Contractor shall perform Silica Gel Cleanup (SGCU) of samples by the laboratory as part of the analytical process in accordance with ADEC’s Technical Memorandum-21-001 Biogenic Interference and SGCU (December 22, 2021) to distinguish petrogenic contaminant sources from biogenic conditions.

-          The Contractor shall select a laboratory and processes capable of achieving sufficiently low MDLs to allow for direct comparison of analytical results to relevant CULs.

-         There is a discontinuous peat layer at most sites. The peat is saturated with petroleum. The peat layer when encountered and determined to be contaminated will be excavated and disposed of off island. The peat needs to be removed to help achieve reductions in the groundwater concentrations over time.

-        Prior investigations found that the petroleum contamination was primarily found in the top 1 to 2 feet of the AOCs, trapped in the muskeg and the top several inches of the clay layer under the muskeg. The FAA assumes that the sites will be excavated from the current edge of the pad outward and downward until extents of the petroleum contamination are found.

-        Prior projects encountered multiple issues due to the logistics of getting sample shipments off Annette Island and onto Gravina Island to be transported to the laboratory. The weather, airplane schedules, ferry schedules, staffing reductions and freight office closures at Alaska Airlines, can all impact the transportation of sample shipments.

In order to better understand the market for this potential requirement, the FAA requests the following information from interested Small Businesses:

1. Name of Company (the resultant Prime contractor that may ultimately be awarded the subsequent contract)

2. Address

3. Point of Contact name, email address and telephone number

4. UEI Number

5. Relevant experience on similar projects within the last five years. Please provide specific contract numbers, contact names and email information to support claimed capabilities.

Please submit your capability statement and the above information to Sonia.o.holguin@faa.gov no later than September 21, 2026 at 1200 Central Daylight Savings Time.

Failure to respond to this pre-solicitation will preclude a Contractor’s ability to receive a copy of the future solicitation. Limit complete responses to no more than five pages. Information will not be released; however, mark PROPRIETARY on all documents submitted, as applicable.