AFCEE makes great strides in MMR cleanup

  • Published
  • By Douglas Karson
  • Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  "This is the top one for us because of the amount of contamination involved, because of the potential impact on the community, and because of the ecological sensitivities here," said Tad McCall, then deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force, said on contamination at the Massachusetts Military Reserve in a May 1996 Cape Cod Times newspaper article.

This marked the beginning of the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment's management role at the MMR on Upper Cape Cod, Mass., when AFCEE assumed responsibility for the Installation Restoration Program at the 20,000-acre military reserve, located on top of a sole-source drinking water aquifer with serious groundwater contamination challenges.

The MMR was officially established in the 1930s with various military activities dating back to 1911. MMR was most active during World War II and during the Cold War era of the 1960s and early 1970s. The use of industrial solvents and fuels was substantial and frequent, with no regulations in place for decades. Solvents and fuels eventually reached the groundwater and created pollution plumes. The first indication of a problem was the closure of a local town well in 1979.

The Air National Guard managed the IRP from 1982 to May 1996. The 1980s were characterized by small budgets and staffs grappling to understand the scope of the problem, mistrust and concern in the community, and virtually no opportunities for the public to be informed and involved in the process, said officials. Groundwater pollution off of MMR was in the discovery phase, with testing of off-base private drinking water wells revealing MMR-related contaminants. Citizens were concerned about their health, property values and the safety of area ponds.

In 1989, the addition of the IRP to the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List brought nationwide attention, as well as more regulatory and public oversight. This was followed by a 1991 community involvement plan which was attached to a Federal Facility Agreement between the Air Guard and EPA. The agreement brought structure, timelines and accountability to the process.

Several citizen advisory teams were created in the early 1990s to help make decisions. A major accomplishment was the creation of a Plume Response Plan in 1994 and a commitment from the Department of Defense to fund it. However, in early 1996, a 60 percent design to address all the plumes simultaneously raised concerns about the ability to implement it without adversely affecting ponds, rivers and the aquifer. This resulted in a setback and the Department of Defense transferred management control from the Air Guard to AFCEE.

AFCEE established four goals when it arrived in 1996, said Jonathan Davis, AFCEE IRP remediation program manager at MMR. They resolved to conduct cleanup of the sole-source aquifer quickly, to establish a community-based program, to develop a collaborative process in conjunction with regulatory agencies, and to regain public trust by obtaining their approval of the process.

"There was a dramatic shift, no question, when AFCEE took over management," said Mary Sanderson, Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 Remediation and Restoration II branch chief, who serves on the Senior Management Board for MMR.

"AFCEE didn't look to just contain plumes, they looked at final remedies. They brought in the resources and the technical know-how needed to tackle a project of this capacity and scope, and made efforts to include community dialogue at every step."

Over the last 15 years, much has been accomplished, Mr. Davis said. Threatened town wells were either replaced or have treatment and a local pond has been treated.

Hundreds of private wells in the area were tested while AFCEE converted them to municipal water systems. A program was established to identify and determine the safety of remaining private wells in plume areas. AFCEE also designed and constructed 12 plume cleanup systems, and installed more than 130 miles (cumulative depth) of groundwater monitoring wells. Two fire-damaged treatment plants were rebuilt. During AFCEE's management, the Air Force has compensated municipal water providers over $50 million to date for lost resources and to establish municipal connections, and has compensated towns and cranberry farmers for lost crops due to plumes.

AFCEE has retained its focus on community interaction, and has strived to establish better working relationships with residents and media. The team has participated in hundreds of meetings, tours and speaking engagements, and distributed hundreds of fact sheets, news releases and notices. The group also developed an MMR IRP Web site with an online administrative record.

Virginia Valiela, who served as selectman for the town of Falmouth, Mass., for 21 years and is the town's representative on the Senior Management Board, praised AFCEE for its accomplishments.

"They (AFCEE) performed well and continue to do so," Ms. Valiela said. "The public was initially so angry and the problem looked huge. Now it's no longer a political issue - that's a sure sign the problem is being solved."

AFCEE currently operates nine treatment systems on 10 groundwater plumes and is cleaning 13 million gallons of contaminated water every day. Of the original 80 source areas, 77 have been investigated and/or cleaned up and three are being monitored. Sixty-one of the 80 have been delisted by EPA from the MMR Superfund site.

In December 2009, AFCEE began operation of a 1.5 megawatt wind turbine that is estimated to save $500,000 per year. Two additional turbines are under construction. The wind turbines are part of AFCEE's robust optimization and sustainability enhancements to the cleanup program at MMR.

"We applaud the work done, and the investments into the future through sustainable energy sources to manage and optimize the systems," Ms. Sanderson said.

AFCEE's current role centers on expediting aquifer restoration, reducing the operating lifetimes of treatment systems, and executing an extensive Land Use Control program. All final Superfund decisions and cleanup systems are in place. (Mr. Karson is the public affairs representative for the Massachusetts Military Reserve)