Overview
The cleanup of Department of the Navy (DON) Environmental Restoration Program (ERP) sites poses a major challenge because of the wide variety of activities conducted at these sites over time. Depending on the types of contaminants found, there may be specific investigation or remedial steps that will need to be considered.
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Process
Most DON installations (or former installations) have provided a variety of support functions for aircraft, submarines, and ships. The types of facilities associated with past contaminant releases include primarily underground storage tanks, tank farms, firefighting training areas, landfills, paint shops, plating shops, cleaning/degreasing operations, dry cleaners, and ordnance/firing ranges. Historic waste management practices associated with these activities may have resulted in the release of contaminants to soil, groundwater, surface water, and sediment.
The environmental impacts from historic releases at these sites are caused primarily by petroleum hydrocarbons in soil and groundwater, chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in groundwater and indoor air, and metals in soil and groundwater. In addition, metals and persistent contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may be found in sediment as a result of stormwater runoff over time. Some installations also have contamination as a result of munitions response activities and/or the use of materials containing emerging contaminants.
The majority of these releases occurred prior to the establishment of current environmental laws via accidental spills and/or commonly accepted waste disposal practices that are no longer acceptable today. The ERP is designed to identify and clean up sites that were impacted by these hazardous substance releases in order to protect human health and the environment and to return valuable land for mission-essential use or community reuse as appropriate.
A selection of resources is summarized below that can support Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) in addressing the types of contaminants found at DON ERP sites.
The Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable (FRTR) also offers a technology screening matrix that incorporates selection criteria related to contaminant type.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) provides a comprehensive list of toxicological profiles for several contaminants as listed in alphabetical order.