Fact Sheet #98-22
December 1998

Quashnet River/Bog Separation Project – Pilot Test
A fact sheet providing information on the pilot test work plan for river/bog separation.

As part of its Plume Response Program the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) is implementing a pilot test on the Quashnet River bog area in Mashpee.

Ethylene dibromide (EDB) from the Fuel Spill 1 (FS-1) groundwater plume has been found in the groundwater and surface water at concentrations that exceed federal and state drinking water standards. There are also concerns about potential adverse impacts to the health and well-being of nearby residents and effects to adjacent cranberry crops. The purpose of the proposed pilot test is to:

• Implement and evaluate the performance of an extraction, treatment and discharge system to intercept EDB-contaminated ground-water at the leading edge of the FS-1 plume;
• Protect human health by reducing potential risk from EDB in surface water, groundwater, and/or cranberry crops, while minimizing impacts to ecological systems (i.e. wetlands and brook trout habitat);
• Accelerate the restoration of the Quashnet River currently affected by concentrations of EDB.

The proposed pilot test on the Quashnet River Bog Area involves active treatment of deep and shallow groundwater, and separation of the affected bogs from the river by constructing earthen berms. A treatment system will need to be constructed to effectively reduce concentrations of EDB in the river system to non-detectable levels.

Words that appear in italics are defined in the Glossary at the end of this fact sheet.

Learn More About AFCEE’s Plan
AFCEE will describe the pilot test work plan for the FS-1 Quashnet River/Bog Separation Project at a poster session, which will be followed by a presentation at a public informational meeting.

A public meeting will be held on:
Thursday, January 21, 1999
Mashpee Town Hall
Great Neck Road
Mashpee, MA
Poster Session: 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Informational Meeting 7:00-8:00 p.m.

In addition, the pilot test project will be described at the Joint Process Action Team meeting on January 6 at 5:30 p.m. and the Senior Management Board meeting on January 19 at 6:30 p.m. Both meetings are scheduled to take place in Building 330 on the base.

For additional information call Doug Karson, AFCEE Community Involvement Specialist at (508) 968-4678 ext. 2.

What Do You Think?
AFCEE is accepting public comments on the Pilot Test Work Plan from January 6, 1999 through January 22, 1999. You don’t have to be a technical expert to comment – if you have a concern, AFCEE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) want to hear it.

To provide formal comments submit written comments during the public comment period:

1. By mail to: HQ AFCEE/MMR
   Attn: Quashnet River/Bog Pilot Test
   322 East Inner Road
   Otis ANG Base, MA 02542-5028

2. By fax to: (508) 968-4673

3. By electronic mail to: doug.karson@mmr.brooks.af.mil

4. By the internet to: http://www.mmr.org

Introduction
This fact sheet provides an overview of the pilot test work plan regarding the FS-1 Quashnet River/Bog Separation Pilot Test. The work plan is available for public comment from January 6- January 22. It is being submitted to satisfy requirements of federal, state and local permits. The plan has also been submitted as a Notice of Intent to the Town of Mashpee’s Conservation Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and the Town of Mashpee’s Bylaws. The work plan contains:

• Executive Summary
• Project Purpose and Objectives
• Problem Statement
• Previous and Ongoing Actions Taken
• Stakeholder Involvement
• Environmental Setting
• Pilot Test System Description
• Pilot Test Installation and Startup
• Pilot Plant Operation and Maintenance
• Environmental Monitoring
• Data Analysis and Interpretation
• Project Management

The purpose of this work plan is to identify the objectives of the pilot test and to analyze the effectiveness of extraction and treatment of EDB in deep and shallow groundwater. This work plan also documents the numerous stakeholder and public meetings that have been held to discuss the project purpose and objectives since January 1998. The work plan proposes a pilot test for the Quashnet River Bog Area to address the potential risk from EDB in surface water, groundwater and/or cranberry crops, and to accelerate the restoration of the Quashnet River system.

The FS-1 plume is 7800 feet long and up to 1200 feet wide (see Figure 1). The plume averages 100 feet in depth beginning approximately 100 feet below the ground surface. It extends southeast from the base in the town of Mashpee, northeast of Johns Pond. The southern extent of groundwater contamination appears to be just north of a small fork in the Quashnet River. However, the groundwater plume rises and enters into the river. Surface water contamination has been detected in the Quashnet River approximately 3000 feet south of Route 151.

History of Fuel Spill 1 Plume
The FS-1 source area is shown on Figure 1. It was used by the 551^st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing to test fuel dump valves between 1950 and 1970. Records searches indicated that EC-121 Super Constellation aircraft were parked at the eastern and western aircraft turnarounds to test fuel valves. The valves were opened and fuel in the aircraft was allowed to drain onto the surface. Initially, the records suggest the fuel was hosed off the concrete. Further research revealed that the fuel may also have been collected in 55-gallon barrels. Estimates of fuel used and potentially released at the site are in the millions of gallons range. The exact quantity of fuel released onto the concrete is unknown.

Relationship to Long-term Cleanup
A Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) to develop long term cleanup plans is currently being conducted by AFCEE for the entire plume. The Revised Draft RI was issued in July 1998. This report included a summary of the investigations conducted within the study area, delineated the nature and extent of contamination, discussed the fate and transport of the contaminants of concern, and presented a human health and ecological baseline risk assessment.

The FS-1 Revised Draft Feasibility Study is scheduled to be issued for regulatory review in January 1999. Revisions to the study will include the modeling results of the pilot test system described in this work plan and modeling of additional, upgradient, axial, extraction well scenarios north of the K1 bog. AFCEE is proposing a long term remedy which will be presented in a Proposed Plan with a ROD expected to be issued in the summer of 1999.

Pilot Test Objectives
The objectives of this pilot test are to:

• Evaluate the effects of drawdown to the bogs and river caused by installing deep and shallow groundwater extraction well systems to intercept the EDB contamination upwelling into the river system
• Observe the performance of granular activated carbon (GAC) in treating the contaminated water
• Assess the impact, if any, of surface water discharge and shallow reinjection of treated water to the nearby wetlands and river
• Protect human health by reducing concentrations of EDB to 0.02 parts per billion (ppb) or non-detectable levels in surface water, within the project area, if technically and economically feasible
• Protect the existing cranberry operations and decrease the potential risk of crop contamination by constructing water management structures to separate the river channels from commercial cranberry bogs, while minimizing impacts to the ecological systems.

Description of Pilot Test
The pilot test includes deep and shallow groundwater extraction wells, treatment using GAC, and release of the treated water to surface water and shallow reinjection points. See Figure 2.

Assumptions used in designing the pilot test system include:

• The western tributary from the K1 bog must have non-detectable concentrations of EDB and the flow must be maintained within the K1 bog
• Brook trout spawning habitat in the K1 bog must be maintained by limiting the affects to the groundwater hydraulics and sustaining a high dissolved oxygen content and low water temperature
• EDB-contaminated groundwater must be captured and treated before upwelling into the bogs.

Stakeholder Involvement
During the development of the project alternatives, a number of meetings were held with stakeholders and the general public to discuss the purpose, goals, advantages and disadvantages of each alternative being considered. Public and stakeholder comments received during these meetings were incorporated into the proposed pilot test. To balance competing interests in this project, the pilot test includes consideration of potential impacts to wetlands, fisheries, neighborhoods, and cranberry operations. For example, the needs of seasonal fish migration may conflict with the water requirements for cranberry operations. The same is true of potential conflicts between the needs of natural wetlands and agricultural operations. Community interests, the timing of activities, cost of solutions, and risk reduction also have been taken into consideration.

For More Information
More detailed information is available in the pilot test work plan. Copies of the work plan are available for review at the main libraries in Sandwich, Bourne, Mashpee, and Falmouth, at the U.S. Coast Guard library on base, and at the Installation Restoration Program office. For additional information call our Community Involvement Office at (508) 968-4678.

A public information meeting will be held on January 21, 1999 at the Mashpee Town Hall on Great Neck Road in Mashpee, MA. A poster board session will be held from 6:00-7:00pm. The meeting will be held from 7:00-8:00pm.

Glossary and Acronyms

AFCEE: Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence

DEP: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

drawdown: the unnatural withdrawal of water from surface water bodies or the water table.

EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency

Ethylene dibromide (EDB): A man-made additive in aviation gas to control the build-up of lead in the engines.

Feasibility Study (FS): A report that identifies and screens potential cleanup alternatives for a site that requires further remedial action.

Granular Activated Carbon (GAC): Media used to treat organic contaminants in groundwater in treatment plants such as those used in extraction, treatment and reinjection systems.

groundwater plume: A body of groundwater containing contaminants exceeding maximum contaminant levels as defined by multiple samples from multiple wells. In the absence of maximum contaminant levels, a risk-based level will be established.

parts per billion (ppb): an expression of concentration of contaminants, also seen as micrograms per liter in water.

pilot test: A demonstration of technologies/systems to evaluate performance under field conditions. The results are used to develop response alternatives and design full-scale treatment systems.

Remedial Investigation (RI): An investigation to gather and analyze the data necessary to determine the nature and extent of contamination at a site.

risk assessment: An evaluation to determine if adverse impacts to human health and/or the environment are present to warrant an action.

upgradient: The area from which groundwater flows

upwelling: an area of the water table where plume contaminants discharge to a surface water body.

Community Involvement Specialist

322 East Inner Road

Otis ANG Base, MA 02542-5028

Fax: (508) 968-4673

e-mail: doug.karson@mmr.brooks.af.mil

Community Relations Coordinator

1 Congress Street, Suite 1100 (RAA)

Boston, MA 02114-2023

Phone: (617) 918-1028