A team of Air Force and consulting scientists reviewing the environmental cleanup program at Hill Air Force Base has found that base officials managing environmental clean-up will meet or exceed key milestones.
The accelerated progress made at Hill AFB means base environmental officials are on track for compliance with the Air Force goal of "Remedy-in-Place" by 2012 at the majority of sites. The advisers say continuing to focus on monitoring indoor air quality in new and existing buildings, and focusing on cleaning up solvents will set the stage for negotiations with Utah officials to "close out" cleanup efforts.
The Nov. 2-10 expert review of Hill's environmental clean-up program is part of a unique program sponsored by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment to assist bases by providing an intensive evaluation of clean-up efforts to ensure they are protective, efficient, timely, and that decision-makers are informed. This "Environmental Restoration Program Optimization" review, or ERP-O, included key questions posed by Hill officials to accelerate the closure of sites that are poised to enter the final stages of environmental cleanup.
ERP-Os led to the closure of 45 specific polluted sites at Air Force bases in the last two years and have sped up the pace of closures by a minimum of five years across the board. The reviews promote cost-effective cleanups with an emphasis on effectiveness. This ensures clean-ups are protective and promote a range of other health, community, administrative and pollution-reduction benefits.
The ERP-O team of engineers, scientists, regulatory specialists and water experts tour base sites where contamination is being addressed, study reports, and perform new analysis of information before briefing regulators, the base and other Air Force environmental officials after a week or more of careful review. In addition, they collaborate with base officials in discussing the recommendations with regulators and can also get out in the field to measure results upon request.
The ERP-O team recognized the positive community outreach efforts Hill AFB undertakes by frequently engaging the seven local communities affected by contaminants from the base. The effort involved in briefing city councils and holding public meetings was singled out as an important component of the program.
The ERP-O team evaluating Hill AFB recommended proactive measures for new buildings and tracking existing ones on base to ensure that underground pollutants do not seep into buildings. The team also provided concrete advice on continuing to ensure that areas undergoing solvents and fuel clean-ups make progress. They urged careful tracking of the performance of pollutant removal systems and agreed with the base that turning off some water- and energy-intensive contaminant removal options when the systems are no longer capturing pollutants is warranted. In addition, rust build-up on pipes and other mechanical equipment is a particular challenge at Hill AFB, and the advisers recommended that a base-wide mitigation plan be implemented to ensure smooth operations and maintenance efforts.
The base's approach to cleaning up these areas has been effective to date and the ERP-O advisers urged the base to continue to develop the program by taking the time necessary to ensure clean-up technologies are planned well and performed efficiently. Updating missing information on a remote landfill pictured in a "conceptual site model" -- which depicts the types of soil and the movement of underground water and pollutants -- will help guide clean-up efforts as base managers prepare to discuss the clean-up efforts with the approval of Utah regulators, the advisers said.
Hill officials are successfully working with clean-up contractors and both state and federal regulators and with rare exceptions are ahead of broader Air Force goals of having clean-ups in place at all bases by 2012. As its work approaches finalization, the Hill AFB environmental team can now begin planning for the future by preparing "exit strategies," which are plans to close out clean-up efforts. The process is challenging because of the need to meet both state and federal standards, and AFCEE is available to provide support to the base in addressing this with the relevant authorities.
According to AFCEE Restoration Program Management Office representative Benjamin Marrs, "The ERP-O review points the way toward key steps that will improve the performance and management of the Air Force clean-up program, accelerate discussions with state regulators and foster a collaborative effort to meet program goals."
The ERP-O team recommended that planning now for close out is warranted, especially as responsibility for the next phases of site clean-up will be assumed by AFCEE in 2009. Other ERP-O visits are being planned in 2010 for bases in Alaska, Washington and Florida and many other areas, including some overseas locations. For more information on ERP-O programs, see the program description on the AFCEE Web site: http://www.afcee.af.mil/resources/restoration/erp-o/index.asp.
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