Site cleanup to begin in preparation for Roy Gate relocation

A construction project will begin within the first two weeks of December to prepare an area for the relocation of the Roy Gate. An area within the new Falcon Hill development project will have contaminated soil and construction debris removed from a former disposal area so that site conditions allow for gate construction and a safe working environment for those building the new gate.

The area, known as Operable Unit 12 Source Area or Aspen Avenue Disposal Area, is located between Aspen Avenue and Wardleigh Road and south of the current location of Roy Gate. This site was once used as a disposal area before stricter disposal standards were mandated by law and, consequently, contaminates -- primarily the solvent trichloroethylene -- disposed at the site have leaked into the ground. In a two-pronged effort to remove contaminates that may create an unsafe work area or source to the groundwater while leaving the site ready for gate construction, the Hill Air Force Base Environment Management Division has teamed with the Enhanced Use Lease group to develop project objectives that meet the goals of both groups.

"Many years ago, this area was used to mine gravel leaving a sizeable hole that later was used to dispose of construction debris and other materials including drums with hazardous liquids," said the project's manager, Mark Roginske, 75th Civil Engineer Group. "The goal of the cleanup is to remove the debris to allow a site ready-to-build for the developers while removing contaminated soil so that it will no longer be a problem now and in the future."

This disposal area has been identified as a source of groundwater contamination that has extended into areas of the nearby city of Roy. Hill AFB has installed a base boundary groundwater containment system that now captures the contaminated groundwater before it can leave the base and enter into Roy City.

"Because of the large amounts of construction debris in this area -- pieces of concrete as large as a room -- it has been a challenge for us to adequately investigate the site and understand where all of the contaminated soil is located. So this project is a good one in that it will allow us to remove the debris in order to better investigate the site and identify areas of contamination that need to be removed," Roginske said.

CH2M Hill, an environmental and engineering consulting company in Salt Lake City, contracted to investigate and remove debris and contaminated materials at the site and will perform this work in three phases. The first phase, which will begin this month, will focus on the removal of the debris and some contaminated materials; the second phase will involve characterizing the site to understand the extent of the contaminated area; and the third phase will involve removal of additional contaminated materials.

Careful not to waste resources, the Restoration Division and EUL Group included objectives in its project proposal to mitigate unnecessary actions.

"One objective is to minimize soil removal activity -- we don't want to remove more than we need to because that costs the government unnecessarily -- and we will re-use existing stockpile soils that were taken from another area," Roginske said. "We also hope that some of the concrete debris may be used in another manner, such as being crushed and used as a foundation base. We encourage the contractors to be creative in this manner to save the government money while increasing their own profit margins, so that it is a win-win for both of us."

The EUL developers are tentatively scheduled to begin building the new gate in 2011, so Roginske expects the cleanup to be completed before then.