[CPEO-MEF] Cleanup studies planned

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

[California]
Cleanup studies planned
Kern County, EAFB deal with ex-dump
By Jim Skeen
Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- Air Force officials plan to test soil beneath
old tires, rusting cans and other debris just inside the Edwards Air
Force Base boundary near a long-closed Kern County dump.

Meanwhile, Kern County officials are looking to clean up the trash on
their side of the barbed-wire fence marking Edwards' western border.

The site -- covering about 45 or 50 acres just north of Rosamond
Boulevard and straddling the property line where Edwards and Rosamond
meet -- is a challenge for county and Air Force officials because of
regulations and laws governing how they can spend their funds.

"We can't clean up anything off base and they (Kern County) can't clean
up anything on base," said Gary Hatch, spokesman for Environmental
Management at Edwards.

Furthermore, the funding Edwards receives for environmental restoration
cannot be used for removing surface debris, by federal regulation.
However, the funding can be used to remove debris in areas where testing
work will be done.

"We intended to remove as much of the surface debris as we are allowed
to," said Layi Oyelowo, project manager for the Environmental
Restoration Program at Edwards.

The heart of the area needing cleanup is a 10-acre site that was a Kern
County dump from 1946 to 1973. As was the practice of the time, rubbish
was put into a trench and burned. The ash was later covered with dirt.
Metal items, such as cans, were put off to one side.

But other rubbish -- such as old tires, cans and broken concrete --
accumulated around the borders of the dump, much of it on what is now
Air Force property.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20943%257E1013184,00.html

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