NEWS RELEASE 2005-21
August 10, 2005

Public Comment Period and Public Hearing Planned for Three Groundwater Sites

MASSACHUSETTS MILITARY RESERVATION, Cape Cod, Mass. — Officials from the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) are in the process of holding a 30-day public comment period on the Proposed Plan for Groundwater at Eastern Briarwood, Western Aquafarm and Storm Drain 5 (EB/WA/SD-5 PP).  This proposed plan document describes final cleanup decisions for groundwater contamination for three different sites, Eastern Briarwood, Western Aquafarm and Strom Drain 5 (SD-5).   The 30-day formal public comment period on the EB/WA/SD-5 PP began on July 22, 2005 and will end on August 20, 2005.  A public meeting was held on July 21, 2005 in which information on the EB/WA/SD-5 PP was presented at the Mashpee Senior Center.  A public hearing will be held to solicit formal public comments on the EB/WA/SD-5 PP on August 18, 2005 at the Mashpee Senior Center. 

AFCEE recommends No Further Action for groundwater in Eastern Briarwood and Western Aquafarm, and Groundwater Monitoring with Institutional Controls for the SD-5 plume.  Institutional controls are non-engineering measures that reduce or eliminate exposures, such as drilling prohibitions or land use restrictions. 

Copies of the EB/WA/SD-5 PP are available for review during the public comment period at the main libraries in Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich, at the Installation Restoration Program Office and on the IRP/MMR website at: www.mmr.org/pubcommentperiod.htm.  

Written comments may be submitted to:                          HQ AFCEE/MMR

                                                                                    Doug Karson

                                                                                    Attn.: EB/WA/SD5 PP

                                                                                    322 East Inner Road

                                                                                    Otis ANG Base, MA  02540-5028

By fax to:                                                                       (508) 968-4673

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

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

NOTE: Only comments submitted and/or received during the 30-day formal public comment period will be considered and become part of the official record. 

A public meeting will be held on July 21, 2005 to present information on the EB/WA/SD-5 PP.  A public hearing will also be held to solicit formal public comments on the EB/WA/SD-5 PP on   August 18, 2005. 

 Public Hearing:

August 18, 2005

6:00 p.m.

Mashpee Senior Center

26 Frank E. Hicks Road

(Rt. 151, behind Fire Dept.)

Mashpee

For more information, please contact Mr. Douglas Karson, AFCEE/MMR Community Involvement Lead, at (508) 968-4678, extension 2; Fax (508) 968-4673; or E-mail doug.karson@brooks.af.mil.

To learn more about the cleanup program visit our website at www.mmr.org  

Background:

Interim cleanup decisions selected in 1996 have been implemented for the groundwater at Eastern Briarwood, Western Aquafarm, and the SD-5 groundwater plume, which are located both on and off the MMR and in Mashpee.   A long term monitoring program has been in place since 1996 for the Eastern Briarwood and Western Aquafarm sites.  Multiple treatment systems have cleaned up most of the SD-5 groundwater plume contamination.  The systems operated from 1997 to 2004 and are now shut down. 

For groundwater at Western Aquafarm and Eastern Briarwood, the interim remedy involved periodic sampling and analysis of groundwater collected from monitoring wells in these areas to document changes in the concentrations of contaminants.   Although low concentrations of contaminants are still detectable in a few monitoring wells in Eastern Briarwood and Western Aquafarm, the concentrations do not pose unacceptable risks to human health or the environment. 

The interim remedy implemented for the SD-5 groundwater plume was active cleanup of groundwater using recirculating wells and groundwater extraction, treatment, and reinjection systems.  The cleanup systems were located in two general areas: an extraction fence for SD-5 North plume was located on the base boundary near Back Road in Mashpee and; two recirculating wells and an extraction well for SD-5 South plume were located in the Briarwood neighborhood of Mashpee.  The last extraction well for the SD-5 North treatment system was shut down in August 2003, and the recirculating wells and the extraction well for SD-5 South were shut down in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

A small amount of the SD-5 plume remains, which could pose unacceptable human health risks to future residents if groundwater from the plume were used for household purposes.   Therefore, for the proposed plan, institutional controls are being proposed to ensure that contaminated groundwater would not used for household purposes before the cleanup levels are met.  It is AFCEE’s current judgment that groundwater monitoring with institutional controls is protective of human health and the environment.   Five year reviews will ensure the final remedy continues to be protective of health and the environment.