This fact sheet provides an overview of Installation Restoration Program (IRP) activities conducted by the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) during calendar year 1999.

In 1999, the major cleanup activities involved:

• Groundwater Cleanup
• Public Protection
• Community Involvement
• Cleanup Decisions
• Investigations
• Pilot Tests
• Special Issues
• Budget
• Goals for 2000

Ongoing Systems Operation

Groundwater treatment systems that were started in previous years continued to operate in 1999.

Seven new groundwater treatment systems began operation in 1999.

• ETR systems using deep and shallow groundwater extraction wells began operation in April 1999 in both the Quashnet and Coonamessett Rivers to reduce potential health risk from ethylene dibromide (EDB) upwelling, with the goal of eventually restoring the bogs to production.
• Since May 1999, no EDB has been detected in the Coonamessett River (FS-28). The Year 2000 cranberry crop is expected to go to market.
• In 1999, the FS-1 system treated 195 million gallons of contaminated water and removed 4 pounds of fuels.
• Reduced EDB levels are found in some surface water test locations.
• Earthen berms and vinyl sheet piling also were installed to separate the rivers from the cranberry bogs.

• ETR system started May 18, 1999, 13 days earlier than the enforceable milestone.
• In 1999, the system treated 260 million gallons of contaminated water and removed 200 pounds of solvents.

• Extraction, treatment, and infiltration (ETI) system started June 24, 1999, four days earlier than the enforceable milestone.
• In 1999, the system treated 295 million gallons of contaminated water and removed 250 pounds of solvents.

• Two recirculating well treatment systems started June 17, 1999, five days earlier than the enforceable milestone.
• In 1999, the system treated 29 million gallons of contaminated water and removed 2 pounds of solvents.

• ETI system started August 26, 1999, 19 days earlier than the enforceable milestone.
• In 1999, the system treated 115 million gallons of contaminated water and removed 27 pounds of solvents.

• ETI system started November 22, 1999, seven days earlier than the enforceable milestone.
• In 1999, system treated 15 million gallons of contaminated water and removed 19 pounds of solvents.

• In 1999, 769 samples of private well water were collected in the four towns surrounding the base on a semi-annual, bi-weekly, and as-needed basis. Samples were analyzed for EDB and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• No MMR-related contaminants were detected above safe drinking water standards in 1999.

• As a precaution, bottled water was provided to 10 households.
• 45 off-base residences in Bourne and Falmouth were connected to town water supplies, making a total of 694 resident connections in Bourne, Falmouth, and Mashpee since 1985.
• AFCEE agreed to fund municipal water connections for approximately 20 homes in Sandwich and 150 homes in Hatchville and Bourne.

In 1999, the following community involvement activities were conducted in order to maintain open dialogue with the public and to ensure that stakeholders had ample opportunities to participate in decision-making processes:

• 52 public meetings/hearings
• 15 tours
• 18 speaking engagements
• 2 open houses at groundwater treatment facilities
• Displays at 4 fairs/shows
• 10 fact sheets
• 36 neighborhood flyers
• 65 news releases
• 50,347 pages added to the Administrative Record

• A Proposed Plan describing the Air Force’s preferred method of treating CS-4, CS-20, CS-21, and FS-13 was issued and a public comment period was held June 17-August 16, 1999.
• A Proposed Plan describing the Air Force’s preferred method of treating the FS-1 groundwater plume was issued and a public comment period was held June 4-July 3, 1999.

Web Site (http://www.mmr.org)

• 365 documents were added
• The site was visited 26,778 times during the year.
• An upgrade of the web site was started by creating a more user-friendly design and adding the Administrative Record. The "new" web site premiered in May 2000.

• The decision was made to conduct a time-critical removal action using ETR for the CS-10 TCE plume and the remainder of the SD-5 South plume. The system started up in January 2000.
• Decisions were made on 39 source areas. No further action or soil treatment was required.
• Three records of decision were signed for source area response actions at FS-9, CS-10/FS-24, and CS-16/17. Soils meeting regulatory standards will be treated in an onsite asphalt-batching facility.

• Several investigations were conducted on surface water (e.g., Ashumet Pond) and groundwater plumes (e.g., Ashumet Valley phosphorus, CS-10 plume, and CS-10 in-plume).

• 3474 samples of surface water, sediments, and groundwater were collected and analyzed for potential contamination.

• 1682 water level measurements were recorded.

• 20,450 chemical analyses were conducted, including tests on groundwater, residential wells, surface water, soil, sediment, air, plants and animal species.

• FS-28 and FS-29: Cleanup alternatives were evaluated further in Fall 1999 before proposing a cleanup plan.

• A supplemental site investigation for the CS-4 groundwater plume was completed. Results showed contamination from lead, PCE, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH).

• FS-1: Contamination was found in two monitoring wells near a portion of the Quashnet River cranberry bogs. Monitoring continued and drilling began in that portion of the bog to capture the part of the plume that was upwelling. AFCEE received permission in November to install six additional monitoring wells.

• For the CS-10 groundwater plume, pilot studies of a "reactive wall" near the former BOMARC facility continued. A reactive wall is a vertical barrier or "wall" or iron filings inserted in the ground perpendicular to the direction of groundwater flow. As the contaminated groundwater flows through the wall, chlorinated compounds react chemically with the iron filings to produce chloride and nontoxic hydrocarbons.

• Software was developed by the Envirotech Center on base to aid with the design of the CS-10 in-plume ETI system.

• Payment was made to Upper Cape Cod cranberry growers for their 1998 and 1999 crops.

As shown below, the majority of money continued to be spent on cleanup in 1999, with some on management and studies.

• Address community concerns.

• Refine cleanup decisions into design, construction, and long-term operation and monitoring of groundwater treatment systems.

• Meet all enforceable milestones.

• Work within the budget.