Panama City, Florida. In the past, the installation’s operations contaminated soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water, prompting EPA to place the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1997. Tyndall does not have a an EPA approved Record of Decision for cleanup of environmental contamination. As such, Tyndall has not met the two Superfund measures of cleanup progress of “current human exposures” and “contaminated groundwater migration” as “under control.” Multiple Operable Units are under investigation for sediment contamination, groundwater contamination and soil contamination.  Once the Remedial Investigations are complete, EPA will be able to make a determination regarding current human exposures and groundwater migration.

The USEPA, Air Force and Florida Department of Environment signed an Interagency Agreement on September 20, 2013 to guide the cleanup of the base. Such agreements are also known as Federal Facility Agreements (FFAs). Negotiated between the federal facility and EPA, these formal agreements are site cleanup plans that ensure coordination of work priorities and establish enforceable schedules for cleanup activities for the life of the project. These agreements also ensure that concerned citizens in the community, including base workers and base residents, have a voice in the cleanup decisions. Typically, the host state also participates as a full partner in negotiating, implementing and enforcing the FFA.

A Site Management Plan to address the schedule of investigation and cleanup at Tyndall Air Force Base was originally approved in 2014.  Annual updates to the enforceable schedule are needed with the last one approved by EPA in September of 2015.