$41.5M Environmental Cleanup Contract Awarded at Former George AFB

  • Published
  • By Air Force Real Property Agency
  • Air Force Real Property Agency Public Affairs
The Air Force Real Property Agency has awarded a Performance Based Remediation contract valued at approximately $41.5 million for environmental cleanup work at the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif. Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, Inc., headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, received the contract, which has an eight-year period of performance ending in 2020.

Unlike traditional environmental cleanup contracts that require the contractor to complete specific predefined tasks in the process, a PBR allows Air Force project managers to specify desired performance outcomes and take advantage of private sector innovation and creativity to achieve those outcomes in a timely and cost-effective manner. The contracts are performance based because payment is based on achieving the contract performance objectives.

All work must comply with regulatory agreements and environmental regulations and protect human health and the environment.

PBRs have been found to increase competitive bidding, resulting in lower costs and faster completion of cleanup projects.

The contract at George includes all 33 active cleanup sites. The contractor will close 18 of the 33 active cleanup sites, resulting in unrestricted use of those sites. A site is considered fully closed when all regulatory requirements have been met, the remedy has resulted in unrestricted use of the site, and no additional funding is required for future cleanup or maintenance. Remediation at the other 15 sites involves longer-term cleanup requirements or restrictions and final cleanup will occur sometime after the scope of this contract.

Don Gronstal, Air Force Real Property Agency BRAC Environmental Coordinator for the former George AFB said, "Prior to the contract award, Air Force estimates showed that six of the 33 active sites could attain site completion status during the contract performance period. With the new PBR approach, the Air Force increases the number of projected completions to 18, allowing for greater unrestricted site use and reduction of long-term costs. We're very excited about the more aggressive cleanup that will result from this contract."

The Air Force has been working to clean up pollution at the former George AFB since 1981, spending nearly $113 million to rid the ground and aquifers of jet fuel and solvents. George, designated as a Superfund site in 1990, was closed as an Air Force base in 1992. Contamination resulted from spills and leaks during routine aircraft maintenance and jet engine testing, from jet fuel storage and transfer facilities, and from fire-fighting training while the base was active (1941-1992.) Additional contamination resulted from the use of the pesticide Dieldrin for termite control in the base housing area during the same period, a common practice at the time.

To date, Air Force cleanup efforts have removed tons of contaminated soil, more than 80 underground storage tanks, 493,495 gallons of jet fuel, 136 gallons of the solvent Trichloroethylene (TCE), and 400,781 gallons of what's known as Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons as gasoline (TPH-g), and closed a hazardous waste storage area. More than 50 once-contaminated sites have been closed during years of cleanup.

The Air Force Real Property Agency is responsible for remediation and property transfer at 40 former Air Force installations throughout the United States under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program. At the height of the BRAC process, AFRPA managed 87,000 acres, or about 137 square miles of property. In the two decades since the first BRAC in 1988, the agency has transferred 88 percent, or more than 116 square miles of land - twice the area of Washington, D.C. - to local communities for public use. Throughout the transfer process, the Air Force remains committed to protecting human health and the environment.