EPA Reaches Cleanup Decision for J1 Range and Groundwater Plumes at Camp Edwards (MA)
(Boston, Mass. – May 31, 2011) –
As efforts to clean up and protect Cape Cod's drinking water
continue, the EPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have
reached another cleanup decision regarding a former military
training and contractor testing area at Camp Edwards on the
Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR). This decision marks a
final cleanup strategy for MMR’s J1 Range and its two
affiliated “northern and southern” groundwater plumes.
Three plumes and multiple soil areas on Camp Edwards await final
cleanup decisions.
MMR is a 22,000-acre property that has been used
for military training activities since 1911. The base is also
located over a sole source aquifer that provides drinking water for
residents of Cape Cod. Two environmental cleanup programs (one
implemented by the Army, the other by the Air Force), are
addressing the areas of soil and groundwater contamination that
have resulted from fuel spills and other past activities on site.
The U.S. Air Force is addressing contamination from activity at the
Otis Air Force Base in the southern portion of MMR under the
Federal Superfund Program. The U.S. Army is addressing
contamination at Camp Edwards in the northern portion of MMR under
the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Both cleanup programs
are progressing with oversight from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (MassDEP).
Military training, munitions testing, and
munitions disposal all occurred in the J1 Range located in the
southeastern corner of Camp Edwards. Anti-tank and small arms
training occurred from 1935 through the mid-1950s. From 1957
through the late 1980s, the area was used for weapons testing. The
associated explosives, propellants, and unexploded ordnance (UXO)
or munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) left in the soil
became the source area for the RDX and perchlorate in the northern
groundwater plume, and RDX in the southern groundwater plume. The
northern plume is located entirely on-base, and the southern plume
extends off-base into Forestdale.
After completing outreach to all area homes, EPA
and the Army verified that there are no current public exposure
risks from either of the two plumes. All homes in the off-base area
of the southern plume are connected to the public drinking water
supply. While there are no current impacts to human health or
exposure risks at this time, the cleanup will ensure that any
potential future risks are addressed. The EPA is working with the
MassDEP and the Army to ensure that this groundwater contamination,
as well as the other areas of groundwater contamination originating
from Camp Edwards, can once again be considered a safe future
source of drinking water for Cape Cod.
Based on sampling results, EPA determined that
while the groundwater plumes required cleanup, the soil
contamination and UXO/MEC had been adequately removed and no
further action is necessary at the source areas contributing to
groundwater contamination.
The final cleanup decision for both J1
groundwater plumes includes extraction and treatment, long term
monitoring to track actual versus predicted contaminant reduction,
and land use controls to prevent use of the groundwater and
maintain the integrity of current and future monitoring wells and
treatment systems. EPA issued the cleanup decision under its Safe
Drinking Water Act authority, and the cleanup itself will be
performed by the U.S. Army’s Impact Area Groundwater Study
Program (IAGWSP).
The J-1 northern plume will be addressed by a
pump and treat system with two extraction wells and granular
activated carbon and ion-exchange resin treatment. Modeling shows
that contaminants would be reduced to risk-based acceptable levels
within about 37 years and reach background (pre-existing)
conditions after 50 years. The cost for the northern plume cleanup
will be about $14,600,000.
The cleanup of the J-1 southern plume will
include a pump and treat system with two extraction wells, one
pre-existing well on the base property and a new off-base
extraction well with granular activated carbon treatment.
Contaminants are anticipated to reach risk-based acceptable levels
within about 14 years, and background conditions within 20, costing
an estimated $4,900,000.
More information:
Monthly public
meetings (http://states.ng.mil/sites/ma/resources/erc/calendar.htm)
are held on or near the MMR with representatives from the EPA,
Massachusetts DEP, and the Army and Air Force cleanup programs. The
public comment period for this cleanup decision was held from July
19 through August 17, 2010 and several public comments were
received and included in the final Decision Document.
EPA cleanup work at MMR (https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-1-new-england)
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