[CPEO-MEF] VOCs: When Is Enough, Enough?

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

When Is Enough, Enough?
Community Perspectives on Groundwater Treatment at Department of Defense 
Facilities

Lenny Siegel
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
July, 2008

Summary

Groundwater treatment systems are in place and operating at hundreds of 
Department of Defense facilities, controlling plumes, removing 
contaminant mass, and destroying contaminants of concern such as 
chlorinated solvents and petroleum products. A large number of these 
systems are conventional groundwater extraction technologies, known 
colloquially as "pump and treat," but an increasing number of sites 
employ innovative technologies such as biotreatment, in situ chemical 
oxidation, and permeable reactive barriers. As cleanup programs mature, 
the key question is no longer what the initial remedy should be. Rather, 
the Defense components responsible for cleanup, regulatory agencies, and 
the public are discussing how long these systems should remain in 
operation - that is, "When is enough, enough?"

To help answer that question, Lenny Siegel, Executive Director of the 
Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO) evaluated community 
perspectives on the cleanup of trichloroethylene (TCE) plumes at the 
closed Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP) in Minnesota (New 
Brighton and Arden Hills) and former Moffett Naval Air Station in the 
San Francisco Bay Area (Mountain View and Sunnyvale). Specifically, 
Siegel reviewed the decision to shut down treatment at TCAAP's Operable 
Unit 3 (OU3) - the South Plume emanating from the former arsenal -  and 
the debate over future treatment at Moffett Field's Site 26, the 
Eastside aquifer. Trichloroethylene is the principal contaminant at both 
sites, and at both facilities there are larger plumes that normally 
attract more public attention, as well as ongoing challenges over 
installation reuse.

Both TCAAP and Moffett have strong, mature cleanup programs, overseen by 
both state and federal regulatory agencies. Both installations are on 
the "Superfund" National Priorities List. Both have active community 
involvement programs, including Restoration Advisory Boards (RABs) that 
meet regularly. Both communities bring their own expertise to the table. 
As a member of the community adjacent to Moffett Field, I have been 
involved in the oversight of its environmental program for nearly two 
decades. This puts me in the unusual position to reporting on the views 
of a community that I have played a role in shaping.

...

To download the 8-page 2.4 MB report, go to
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/Enough.pdf

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
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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