[CPEO-MEF] Emerging contaminants at Defense installations

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

As part of the Defense Department's effort to understand its emerging 
contaminants problem, the armed services conducted an occurrence 
analysis of existing data, presented by Philip Hunter of the Air Force 
Center for Environmental Excellence at the Partners in Environmental 
Technology Symposium late last November. Hunter and his counterparts at 
the Army and Navy reviewed groundwater and soil sampling data from 440 
installations.

The most striking result was that trichloroethylene (TCE) has been found 
in groundwater at 383, or 87% of those facilities. It was found above 
the preliminary remediation goal (PRG) at 302 of those bases. Another 
volatile solvent, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) was found above its PRG at 
252 of the 440 installations. Napthalene, a key component of jet fuel, 
was found above its PRG at 212 bases.

In some ways, the researchers' methodology exaggerates the military's 
pollution problems. They reported sampling hits for substances that 
often occur naturally, such as manganese and arsenic. Furthermore, the 
high percentage of individual monitoring wells reporting TCE hits 
resulted in part from the fact that a vast number of wells were sunk to 
delineate known TCE plumes. On the other hand it's not surprising that 
only 18 installations reporting finding perchlorate, above PRGs, in 
groundwater. Historically, DOD facilities have rarely gone out looking 
for perchlorate contamination.

Hunter's slides from the Symposium may be viewed at
http://www.serdp-estcp.org/Symposium/Technical/Wednesday-am.cfm
Just scroll down to Session 2B.


Lenny
--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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