PHILADELPHIA (September 21, 2011) -- The U.S.…
PHILADELPHIA (September 21, 2011) -- The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has signed
an agreement with the Department of Defense to remediate Joint Base
Andrews (formerly Andrews Air Force Base) located in Clinton,
Md.
Although cleanup activities have been on-going
at the facility, the federal facility agreement ensures that
cleanup actions proceed with EPA oversight within an enforceable
framework, in a manner that protects the community and the
environment. The agreement will also give the EPA and the Air Force
the framework for investigating new and evolving contamination at
the base as it is discovered.
“Today’s agreement is a significant
milestone that will benefit the local community and environment.
The agreement shows that EPA and the Department of Defense are
committed to continue working together on the cleanup,” said
Shawn M. Garvin, regional administrator for EPA's mid-Atlantic
Region.
On May 10, 1999, EPA listed Andrews Air Force
Base (now Joint Base Andrews) on the Superfund National Priorities
List, which required EPA and the Department of Defense to sign a
federal facility agreement governing the cleanup. Under the
Superfund law, this agreement grants EPA final authority over
cleanup decisions. EPA is seeking public input on the agreement
during a 45-day public comment period that ends Nov. 5. A copy of
the agreement can be reviewed at the Surratts-Clinton Branch of the
Prince George’s County Memorial Library, 9400 Piscataway Road
in Clinton, Md.
The agreement lists 13 contaminated sites on the
base, as well as six additional munitions sites that require
investigation and cleanup.
Joint Base Andrews is an active U.S. Department
of Defense facility that occupies about 4,360 acres in Camp
Springs, Prince George's County, Md., about five miles southeast of
Washington, D.C. The facility was originally established as the
Camp Springs Army Air Field in 1942 and became Andrews Air Force
Base in 1947. For more information on the history and status of the
cleanup, visit: http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/MD0570024000.htm
.