Courtesy: Massachusetts National Guard
BOURNE – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says low priority areas on the Camp Edwards portion of Joint Base Cape Cod do not require any further contamination remediation action.
Efforts have been ongoing on the base for about two decades to cleanup several areas with groundwater contamination with active treatment systems put in place.
Impact Area Groundwater Team member Ben Gregson says investigations into the low-priority areas show little concern.
“We haven’t really found much in the way of groundwater concerns,” Gregson said. “Some soil investigation needs to be done in a couple of sites but by and large the vast majority of these areas have no further action required.”
A Remedy Selection Plan has been proposed by the EPA based on an Army National Guard study conducted as one of the requirements of a Safe Drinking Water Act Administrative Order with oversight from the EPA and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Cleanup efforts will continue in the high-priority areas. Treatment systems are in place in areas like Demolition Area 1, the central impact area, and southeast ranges. Active treatment of groundwater in those locations is ongoing.
“From this point, once the decision document is complete for these training areas we’ll be more of in an operations mode on our existing treatment systems for the foreseeable future,” Gregson said.
A 30-day public comment period on the Remedy Selection Plan is open through May 10.
A Remedy Selection Plan Fact Sheet has been created and the details of the investigations and findings at the training areas are presented in an Investigative Report. Both documents can be found at the EPA’s Joint Base Cape Cod website – www.epa.gov/superfund/otis. The website also includes instructions on how to submit public comment.
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