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Environmental advisers say Scott can meet 2012 cleanup goals

  • Published
  • By Richard Burnette, Jim Holley and Sam Brock
  • Scott and Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  A team of Air Force experts and consulting scientists recently reviewed the environmental cleanup efforts at Scott and recognized the progress made by Scot's managers. Due in part to the accelerated program in place at Scott, the team concluded that base environmental officials are on track to meet the Air Force goal of implementing "Remedy-in-Place" by 2012. 

The expert review is part of a unique program sponsored by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment to assist bases by providing an intense, week-long evaluation of cleanup efforts to ensure they are protective, efficient, timely and that decision-makers are informed. The "Environmental Restoration Program Optimization" review was sought out by base cleanup manager Scott Burnette 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 on Air Education and Training Command bases last year 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 cleanups are protective and promote a range of other health, community, administrative and pollution-reduction benefits. 

The ERP-O team of engineers, scientists and environmental experts walk base sites where contamination is being addressed, study reports and perform new analysis of information before briefing base managers and others after days of careful review. In addition, the team collaborates with Scott cleanup managers and staff Richard Burnette, Richelle Collingham and Brian Collingham to refine the recommendations and will include field review to confirm scientific results upon request. 

According to an AFCEE Restoration Program Management Office representative Jim Holley, "The ERP-O review points the way toward key steps that will improve the management of residual environmental health concerns on base and ensure efficient collaboration between AFCEE and the base in meeting the fiscal year 2012 goal." 

At Scott during the week of July 14-18, the ERP-O advisers offered specific recommendations involving six environmental sites and general recommendations for other areas of the base. The advisers recommended focusing on how solvents break down in soil and make their way through groundwater. In addition, they urged the team to focus on a former landfill where characterization is incomplete and an exit strategy needs to be developed. The team of advisers believes its recommendations will help set the stage for negotiations with state of Illinois officials to "closeout" base cleanup efforts in a timely and effective manner. 

If implemented, these recommendations could ensure the site is environmentally safe and save Air Force resources by better characterizing the solvents requiring cleanup and the size of the landfill "cap" that will likely be required to address landfill pollution. In addition, the ERP-O team urged the base's cleanup managers to continue their site characterization efforts at the former landfill to inform cleanup decisions. The experts emphasized that careful characterization of the site may reduce the "footprint" of the area of the site that needs to be capped to ensure gases do not escape and harm groundwater or the atmosphere. 

Scott cleanup officials are successfully working with cleanup contractors to meet broader Air Force goals of having cleanups in place at all bases by 2012. As this work progresses, the Scott environmental team can now begin planning for closeout with Illinois regulators, especially as responsibility for the next phases of site cleanup will be assumed by AFCEE in 2009. This will involve crafting overall strategic documents and exit strategies with decision points as cleanup goals are achieved. 

Other ERP-O visits are being planned in 2008 for bases in Alaska, Ohio, Washington and many other states, including some overseas locations. For more information on the ERP-O program, visit http://www.afcee.af.mil/resources/restoration/rpo/index.asp.