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EPA Seeks Input on Decision Documents for Camp Edwards Cleanups

Release Date: 06/17/2009
Contact Information: Jim Murphy, (617) 918-1028

(Boston, Mass. – June 17, 2009) – Public comment periods begin this week on decision documents for two sites addressed as part of the Impact Area Groundwater Study Program’s (IAGWSP) cleanup at Camp Edwards on the Massachusetts Military Reservation.

The 30-day informal public comment periods for EPA’s “Draft Demolition Area 1 Decision Document Addendum” to the “Decision Document Demolition Area 1 Groundwater Operable Unit” and the “Draft BA-4 Disposal Area No Further Action Decision Document” will end on Friday, July 17, 2009.

The Demolition Area 1 Addendum proposes modifying the Decision Document for the response action taken to address groundwater contamination emanating from the Demolition Area 1 site to include response actions already taken to remove the source of that contamination. The Addendum reflects EPA’s decision that no further remedial action for the Demolition Area 1 source are is necessary based on the previous removal of contaminated soil, munitions and explosives that might have posed a threat to the aquifer. It also cites that the continued operation of the existing groundwater treatment system will effectively address any residual source area contamination.

The Demolition Area 1 groundwater decision document was signed in November 2006 to expedite groundwater cleanup. The comprehensive treatment system, which expanded an interim groundwater system, was completed in June 2007 and is expected to restore groundwater to risk-based levels by 2018.

The source removal action at Demolition Area 1 began in 2005 and included the removal of metallic items, including munitions, and more than 27,000 tons of soil. The soil was treated using thermal desorption, a process that uses heat to burn contaminants off soil and destroy them.

Response actions also have been completed at the BA-4 Disposal Area site. The disposal area is a two-acre area located at the intersection of four larger training areas that are still under investigation. The response actions removed a 55-gallon drum used for burning, 312 expended jet starter cartridges and 96 tons of soil containing dioxin or lead from the two areas where those items were discovered. There are no indications of any groundwater contamination connected to the BA-4 site. These previous response actions have removed the contaminants from BA-4 that might have posed a threat to the aquifer. The BA-4 Decision Document reflects EPA’s decision that no further action is necessary at BA-4 to protect human health and the environment.

Both proposed Decision Documents, along with information on how to submit comments regarding them are available online at the EPA website: www.epa.gov/ne/mmr as well as on the IAGWSP website: groundwaterprogram.army.mil and at the public libraries in Bourne, Falmouth and Sandwich. Other documents related to the Demolition Area 1 and BA-4 investigations and response actions are also available on both websites and at the local libraries.

More information:

- Proposed clean up plan and how to comment are found at EPA’s MMR Web site (www.epa.gov/ne/mmr/)

- The Decision Documents also may be obtained by calling the IAGWSP office at (508) 968-5626

Comments can be submitted
- by e-mail to: murphy.jim@epa.gov;
- by fax to: 617-918-0028;
- by mail to: Jim Murphy, US EPA, One Congress Street, 11th Floor, (Mailcode: ORA), Boston, MA 02114.

Additional contact information:

Jim Murphy, U.S. EPA – (617) 918-1028
Ellie Grillo, MassDEP – (508) 946-2866
Kristina Curley, IAGWSP, (508) 968-5626

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