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Cleanup Complete at Tipton Army Airfield at Ft. Meade - Property Ready for Transfer to County for Commercial Flights

Release Date: 9/22/1999
Contact Information: Ruth Podems (215) 814-5540

FT. GEORGE G. MEADE -- The Army has completed all hazardous waste cleanup at the 346-acre Tipton Army Airfield here, and the site is ready for transfer to Anne Arundel County to be reopened as a county-run airport.

The airfield, constructed in 1960 along Route 32, was placed on the EPA’s National Priorities List of most contaminated Superfund sites in July 1998. Since 1995, the Army has removed 3,000 buried ordnance items, such as shell casings, and miscellaneous debris. Two inactive landfills have been covered, one with a parking lot and the other with a cap to prevent the leaching of contaminants into the soil. One of the landfills has been fenced to limit access, and the groundwater will be monitored for at least five years.

The Army, the lead agency for cleanup, worked closely with the EPA, the Maryland Department of Environment, the State of Maryland and the community to address concerns about the airfield. EPA and the Maryland Department of Environment have determined that all appropriate cleanup measures have been taken, and no further work is needed on the airfield.

The Tipton Army Airfield consists of four hangars and operations buildings, taxiways and runway, and a helicopter training area. The Army completed all hazardous waste cleanup work at the airfield in June, and later this year will transfer the property to Anne Arundel County. Other portions of the fort are still on the National Priorities List and are in the process of being cleaned up.