JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – The Department of the Air Force has approved construction of a water treatment facility at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, to prevent high concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the area’s groundwater plume from migrating toward Van Etten Lake.
Air Force officials signed an interim Record of Decision July 26 to build the facility at the former installation’s Alert Aircraft Area as an interim remedial action. The treatment facility features a $9.1million hydraulic control system that uses granular activated carbon pump and treat technology capable of meeting or exceeding Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or EGLE, groundwater cleanup criteria for PFAS.
“The Department of the Air Force continues to make progress on our PFAS response at the former Wurtsmith,” said Michelle Brown, Director of Air Force Environmental Policy and Programs. “This IRA accelerates our response actions while continuing to fulfill our PFAS cleanup obligations.”
Construction of the new facility is expected to begin by the end of July and will include a treatment system building, five groundwater extraction wells, three 20,000-pound GAC treatment vessels, equalization, backwash, and settling tanks, and five groundwater infiltration galleries, said Steven Willis, Base Realignment and Closure Environmental Coordinator for the former base.
Once operational, these pieces will form a system that will extract groundwater from the Alert Aircraft Area, remove PFAS to below Michigan groundwater cleanup criteria, and return the treated groundwater back underground, Willis said.
“This facility features proven technology that has been used effectively at other locations here to remove PFAS from groundwater,” he said, “Today’s signing is the key to implementing this important piece of our cleanup activities here at Wurtsmith.”
The treatment facility augments the Air Force’s commitment to protect human health while continuing the on-going environmental restoration investigation and response at the former installation, said Greg Gangnuss, Air Force Civil Engineer Center BRAC division chief.
“We are using interim remedial actions like the Alert Aircraft Area project to remove the highest concentrations of the PFAS plumes while we conduct our base-wide remedial investigation at Wurtsmith,” Gangnuss said. “We are committed to protecting the communities surrounding this former base while we work toward a long-term cleanup solution.”
As is done with similar treatment systems located throughout the former Wurtsmith, the Air Force will closely monitor the Alert Aircraft Area system to ensure PFAS is effectively removed from groundwater and to optimize performance. A performance optimization survey conducted by a third party at the request of the Air Force recommended areas for additional assessment of groundwater to potentially enhance performance or expand the extraction area in the future. The Air Force will evaluate these recommendations after the plant begins operations.
With construction on the groundwater treatment plant now cleared to begin, Air Force officials will continue discussions with EGLE regarding the operation and monitoring of the new facility.
“We are striving to meet the commitment of having this facility constructed by the end of December and had to begin now to meet that goal,” Willis said. “We will continue to work closely with EGLE to move forward on this project together.”
For more information, visit the administrative record file at https://ar.afcec-cloud.af.mil or contact Willis at steven.willis.15@us.af.mil.