The Plume Cleanup Team is a citizen advisory team that provides technical and community involvement advice to the regulatory agencies and the AFCEE Installation Restoration Program (IRP). The IRP is the organization responsible for groundwater and soil cleanup on the southern portion of the Massachusetts Military Reservation.

This month’s agenda topics include a briefing on the Chemical Spill 10 (CS-10) Feasibility Study. This feasibility study discusses potential cleanup alternatives for the entire CS-10 groundwater plume. In particular, cleanup alternatives for the leading edge of the CS-10 plume will be presented. This portion of the CS-10 plume is downgradient of the existing groundwater extraction fence on Sandwich Road and flows underneath Ashumet Pond. A groundwater plume is a body of groundwater containing contaminants exceeding federal and state drinking water levels. The primary contaminants in the CS-10 plume are trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE).

Other meeting topics will include an update on the Fuel Spill 1 (FS-1) groundwater plume. The FS-1 groundwater plume extends southeast from the base to Mashpee, northeast of Johns Pond. The primary contaminant of the FS-1 groundwater plume is ethylene dibromide (EDB).

In a follow-up to last month's meeting, AFCEE will discuss its approach to preparing the Five-Year Review Report. The Five-Year Review Report, which is required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is a scheduled review of all 80 sites on the MMR for which the Air Force has the lead cleanup responsibility. The purpose of the review is to determine whether cleanup decisions and existing systems are still protective of human health and the environment. AFCEE officials plan to complete the review by the end of this year and ask for public input during the report preparation period.