Waste Site Cleanup & Reuse in New England

Massachusetts Military Reservation

News

Notice of Intent for Partial Deletion, August 1, 2007 Press Release Federal Register Notice (26 pp., 418 KB, about PDF) Summary Fact Sheet (9 pp., 1.09 MB, about PDF) July 24, 2007 - EPA has approved a pilot program for the Mass. National Guard to evaluate a state-of-the art lead bullet capture system on the Tango small arms range at Camp Edwards, in Bourne, Mass. Limited Authorization for Lead Ammunition Training, Appendix B: Statement of Work to Administrative Order SDWA-I-97-1030 ("AO2"), July 23, 2007 (12 pp., 1 MB, about PDF)

Introduction

Protecting Cape Cod's drinking water continues to be a major focus at EPA New England. The Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), a 22,000-acre property that has been used for military training activities since 1911, is located over a sole source aquifer that provides drinking water for 200,000 year-round and 500,000 seasonal residents of Cape Cod. Parts of the aquifer have been contaminated by fuel spills and other past practices at MMR's Otis Air Force Base. Otis is currently being cleaned up under our Superfund program.

Camp Edwards

Fearful that military training was causing even more damage to the groundwater, EPA's New England Office in February 1997 (AO1) (29 pp., 63 KB, about PDF) ordered the National Guard to conduct a study of the effects of military training on groundwater. In May 1997, (AO2) (33 pp., 73 KB, about PDF) EPA suspended most military training at Camp Edwards, including all use of live explosives, propellants, flares and lead bullets. It was the first time in our country's history that military training activities had been halted due to environmental and public health concerns. The groundwater study, which is ongoing, has produced evidence of serious groundwater and soil contamination from training with munitions, from unexploded ordnance and from disposal of munitions and other hazardous materials.

As a result of the evidence of contamination, EPA in January 2000 (AO3) (44 pp., 107 KB, about PDF) ordered the National Guard to begin the process for the removal of unexploded ordnance from the base and to clean up contaminated groundwater and soils. The order was the first of its kind in the country. And in January 2001, (AO4) (39 pp., 102 KB, about PDF) EPA ordered the military to use a detonation chamber at the base to destroy the more than 2,500 rounds of different kinds of ammunition dug out of burial pits on the base during the course of the military's investigation of pollution at the firing ranges.

All four of EPA's orders were issued under the agency's emergency powers to prevent imminent and substantial endangerment to public health. (The first three orders were issued under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the fourth under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.)

Administrative Orders		Press Releases EPA Extends Public Comment Period on Order... EPA, Air Force sign clean up agreement ... more
Perchlorate Read about EPA's study on perchlorate... more		Resources Otis Superfund Fact Sheet and related EPA Web sites ... Mass. DEP MMR site and other MMR sites ... more
Small Arms Ranges