Fort Detrick
FAQs

Fort Detrick is:

Relevant...
A national asset, proudly protecting the nation and supporting local economy

Respectful...
People Count... customers and employees working together for service excellence

Responsible...
Conserving resources, a recognized steward of the environment

Ready...
Sustainable planning, preparing for tomorrow's challenges

For information on Fort Detrick please click here.

• Conserving resources, a recognized steward of the environment
• Sharing our successes and identifying opportunities to grow
• Helping to teach our children
• Embracing the past; preserving our history
• Customers and Employees report performance and effectiveness of service
• Safety-first, last, and all the time

• U.S. Army Garrison Fort Detrick has been recognized as one of the Top 1% of over 7 million workplaces in the Nation according to OSHA
• The first U.S. Army Garrison recognized by OSHA as a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) site
• VPP is OSHA's official recognition for exemplary occupational safety and health management system
• Open, transparent environment to communicate safety objectives
• Empowerment of workforce to direct change
• Reduced Lost Work Days from accidents by 60 days annually (75% improvement)
• Improved employee and customer satisfaction
• Used program as a model for innovation in other areas on the installation
• Safety-first, last, and all the time

Fort Detrick's Area B is located directly west of the main Fort Detrick property in Frederick Md.

The Area B is one of three parcels of land in Frederick County maintained by Fort Detrick and occupies 399 acres that are used for a variety of activities including an active certified municipal landfill. The facility is maintained by Fort Detrick and regulated by the Maryland Department of the Environment and the EPA to meet all mandated local, state, and federal requirements of a municipal landfill facility.

In the Summer and Fall of 1992, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) conducted a residential well survey around Area B followed by sampling of all identified residential wells. TCE and a suite of other volatile organic compounds (VOC) were detected in residential wells located to the southeast of Area B. Samples from four residential wells were found to contain TCE slightly above regulatory levels. Those residents were either connected to the public water system or provided bottled water until connectivity could take place. Due to the relatively low levels of contamination encountered historically and the nature of the karst aquifer beneath the facility, there was no major effort by the Army to address groundwater remediation at that time. Monitoring of both ground and surface water during 1999 indicated that contaminant levels dropped significantly from the high levels initially found in the 1997-1998 field phase of the Remedial Investigation. Contaminant "spikes" of this nature are not unusual in karst aquifer systems. Consequently, Fort Detrick continued an extensive monitoring program while remedial alternatives were further evaluated.

TCE and PCE are what are known as chlorinated solvents and are used commonly throughout everyday industries that average citizens are exposed to in some way or another. Harmless, trace elements of these solvents are found in nearly every home due to:

• Painting
• Dry cleaning clothes
• Cleaners
• Installation of new carpet

Tetrachlorothene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) contaminants can be biodegraded by naturally occurring bacteria. As PCE naturally degrades, it initially turns into TCE which could be confused as increased contamination.

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a nonflammable, colorless liquid. It is used mainly as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts, but it is also an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers.

Perchloroethylene (Tetrachloroethylene or PCE) is a manufactured chemical that is widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics and for metal-degreasing. It is also used to make other chemicals and is used in some consumer products.

Clean-up activities have been cleared to a point that the primary regulatory and oversight agency for these types of issues, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has publicly reported that the site to poses no public health risk. Fort Detrick, the EPA, and the Maryland Department of the Environment will continue with monitoring and further testing of the site and surrounding areas.

Fort Detrick has placed all of its documentation and published reports on the Area B Clean up page

The National Priorities List (NPL) is the list of hazardous waste sites eligible for long-term remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program. US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) regulations outline a formal process for assessing hazardous waste sites and placing them on the NPL. Fort Detrick completed the majority of the cleanup prior to addition to the NPL. There will be limited benefit to inclusion at this point. Fort Detrick is working with the EPA on finalizing a work plan ahead of schedule to complete this project.

Fort Detrick maintains an open dialog with the surrounding community concerning the status of the clean-up program through a Restoration Advisory Board (RAB). The RAB serves as a forum for the early and continued exchange of restoration related information among the community, installation, and regulatory agencies. RABs allow the public to advise the Army and regulators of the community's desired outcome for the restoration program. Members of RAB included local government, lay community members, community members with knowledge of environmental regulations and public concerns. More information is available on our RAB page.

The RAB meets on a quarterly basis, please contact the Fort Detrick Public Affairs Office, 301-619-2018 for information about the next scheduled RAB meeting.

If you have any health concerns please contact the Frederick County Health Department at (301) 600-1029

Fort Detrick has been a leader in health research for more than 40 years. Fort Detrick's role is critical in developing bandages, prosthetics, and medicine to protect Service Members who are often deployed to foreign environments as well as working on challenges such as malaria, flu, cancer, and HIV. Fort Detrick is part of a scientific center of excellence that develops products to reduce both naturally occurring and manmade threats to health of all citizens. For more information please visit the National Interagency Biodefense Campus web pages. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) is the Army's principle disease research institute.

Please frequent our public web pages for upcoming events, meetings and activities happening either in the community or on the installation. Many events on the installation are open to the public.

Periodically groups are invited to come and tour Fort Detrick. We also host public town halls, support local events such as collegiate basketball that is open to the public. Many facilities such as the pool and gym are restricted to use by Service Members and their Families to foster their comprehensive fitness. Please check this website, local newspapers and media outlets for advertisements. Also, if you are part of a group looking to tour Fort Detrick please contact the Public Affairs Office at (301) 619-2018 for more information.

See our Recycle page.

Fort Detrick is a U.S. Army facility and as such fall under Army regulations, however, several other agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and several other local agencies oversee various programs underway on the installation.

The municipal landfill on Fort Detrick's Area B is still active as a certified municipal waste landfill facility. The landfill is no different than the one operated by Frederick County to handle regular municipal waste. In fact the landfill is held to the same stringent requirements and regulated by the same people as the Frederick County Municipal landfill. Fort Detrick takes the additional steps of separating the waste, recycling nearly 50%, and reducing the waste to ash allowing for the landfill to only have inert materials that will allow Fort Detrick to remain a closed-loop system almost indefinitely. Inert waste is waste materials that do not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological transformations, and do not endanger the quality of any surface water or groundwater.

A number of sources can be utilized for water testing. If a health concern is present please contact the Frederick County Health Department and for those residents on public water, please contact the Frederick County Water and Sewer Department for assistance. Based on the common use of solvents in paint and dry cleaning, air or "vapor" testing is often not done as there is not a simple indoor test. This type of testing is not easy and may require drilling into a home foundation to test the soil underneath a home.

LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC.) Fort Detrick is a leader in LEED.

Some of our "green" efforts include:
-State-of-the-art construction and design
-Energy-efficient consideration throughout the project
-Planning and Certifying LEED Silver for new construction
-Retrofitting eligible buildings for LEED-EB certification
-Realigning roads for improved trafficability

We consider a multitude of technologies to achieve high levels of efficiency for our facilities, new and old including:
-Low Impact Development
-Low flow water fixtures
-Occupancy Sensors
-LED Lights
-High Efficiency HVAC
-Building Energy Automation
-Options: Solar on Roofs Vegetated roofs
-Proactive studies on environmental considerations

An Environmental Impact Statement is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1969. Fort Detrick considers NEPA for all projects.

Purpose of an EIS/EA:
Environment Impact Statements (EIS) and Environmental Assessments (EA) consider the following:
-Environmental impacts of a proposed action or actions
-They evaluate alternative actions
-Disclose actions/impacts to the public
-Integrate public participation into the decision making process

The overall NEPA process includes the following:

EIS: An Environmental Impact Statement is a proactive, thorough, and rigorous process of evaluation, and is the most in-depth evaluation of a project.
Example: Comprehensive review of new Biosecurity Laboratory (BSL) project as it integrates with entire installation

EA:An Environment Assessment (EA), is also proactive, thorough, comprehensive, but not as rigorous as an EIS, the scope of an EA is for projects of 5 acres or more.

A Record of Environmental Consideration, also a proactive, coordinated, evaluation with minimal impact. These are often performed when a project deviates from the Master Plan, or as an addendum to an EA.

What you are seeing is the historic Nallin Farm Springhouse and Bank Barn. Nallin Farm is a historically registered farmhouse dating back to roughly 1835. Its significance is its association with typical agricultural practices in Frederick County from roughly 1795 through 1943. Fort Detrick takes great pride in our preservation activities regarding these structures and maintains them as an educational resource to for the community. Nallin Farmhouse was placed on the National Historical Registry in 1974 and the Bank Barn was added to the registry in 1977.

Trash that is generated on Fort Detrick comes from offices, shops and family housing. Most is recycled, with the remainder being incinerated as municipal waste in municipal waste combustors.

There is also a separate portion of waste generated from labs and research areas. This is incinerated as medical waste in medical waste incinerators. All of the solid medical waste from the laboratories is autoclaved (steam sterilized at very high temperatures) prior to leaving the labs.

The heat that is generated during the combustion of the waste in the incinerators is used to make steam, a product used throughout the installation.

Fort Detrick maintains one of the highest recycling rates in the Army and is one of seven pilot installations in the US Army's Net Zero Waste initiative.

All the incinerators at Fort Detrick incorporate wet scrubber technology. This effectively cleans the flue gas before it is released. Our incinerators operate without any visible emissions. The only noticeable trace coming from the stacks is water vapor which is common to wet scrubber systems. Scrubbers were installed in the municipal waste incinerators in 2009 and in the medical waste incinerators in 1996.

All stack testing is performed by an independent laboratory according to federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines and in accordance with the federal Clean Air Act. Upon completion, the results from the stack testing are submitted to Maryland Department of the Environment for review. In addition, each unit is equipped with a Continuous Emission Monitoring System that is calibrated daily and records all the parameters of the operation to ensure compliance with the requirements at all times. MDE inspectors review the calibration, maintenance and operational records annually.

The incinerators throughput varies depending on several factors, but averages between 3000 to 4000 tons annually. The municipal waste plant is capable of processing 78 tons per day and the medical waste plant is capable of processing 24 tons per day. The entire operation is only used to support Ft Detrick and dispose of the waste generated from government facilities.

Each incinerator burns Monday through Friday. The two incinerators run separately and the waste is not mixed.

We test our systems the first Monday of every month. This is to ensure we remain compliant with Army regulations. This is also to remain vigilant and prepared, in the event of an emergency so we can notify those who live and work at Fort Detrick as well as the surrounding community.

The siren you hear is the Shelter-in-Place warning. It is the most important siren sound for our community to understand. The tone selected is not a Fort Detrick-specific siren. It is a nationally recognized tone used to alert the community to seek shelter immediately.

Click the icon below to hear a sample of the alarm sound. This particular alarm sound represents "take shelter".

The Shelter-in-place warning is used for a number of situations. As the name implies, the tone warns those within hearing distance to seek shelter immediately. Events that might trigger this siren to sound would be a weather event, such as a tornado warning/watch, a chemical spill, either on or close to the installation, or a possible active shooter event. When the siren is active, it is best to seek shelter immediately and either tune into AM 1610 on your radio for all weather-related information, or visit www.detrick.army.mil for the most up-to-date information as it is released.

The Fort Detrick Emergency Management Office has visited and coordinated with the City of Frederick and the Neighborhood Advisory Councils, providing a pamphlet that explains our Mass Notification Systems (MNS) and current availability on the installation. In the spirit of being good neighbors, we've included the surrounding residents of Fort Detrick with this information as well. The pamphlet will be available on the website soon after it is updated. The majority of the information hosted on our website can also be found at www.ready.gov. Questions can also be directed to the Public Affairs Office by emailing USAGPAO@amedd.army.mil or by calling 301-619-2018.

Knowing what to do when you hear a siren activate actually starts before the event with preparation. The preparation phase helps you determine how to prepare you and your family for emergencies. The local Red Cross or the Department of Emergency Preparedness in your County can provide you with information that will help you develop a plan that's right for you. The response phase, when the siren is active, alerts you to potential issues. Tune your radio to AM 1610 or turn on your television to determine if the activation is weather-related; you will usually have a good idea of the weather during your daily travels, but weather events can come up quickly, so this is a good place to begin. In the event the siren is in response to a non-weather issue, you can receive notification from Frederick County Emergency Management Office by signing up for their alerts on your cell phone at: www.frederickcountymd.gov/alerts. If the event is Fort Detrick specific, www.detrick.army.mil will have information as becomes available.

Activation of the siren can mean one of two things. The first is that we are testing the system. The second is that there is an emergency. The siren is the most important aspect of the system and although there is a voice component to the system, it is important to remember that clear, specific guidance can be found on the radio, TV or internet when it comes to activation.

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