Shaw's groundwater cleanup gets high-level approval Published July 1, 2010 By 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs 20th Fighter Wing SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- A team of Air Force and civilian consulting scientists reviewing the environmental cleanup program here has found that base officials managing environmental cleanup will meet or exceed key milestones. The accelerated progress made by Shaw environmental officials means the base is on track for compliance with the Air Force goal of "remedy-in-place" by 2012 at the majority of sites. The advisers said continued focus on solvents and the movement of contaminant plumes deep underground will set the stage for negotiations with South Carolina officials to close out cleanup efforts. The expert review, June 14 to 18, was part of a program sponsored by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment to help bases by providing an intensive evaluation of cleanup efforts to ensure they are protective, efficient and timely, and that decision-makers are informed. This environmental restoration program optimization review included questions posed by Shaw officials to accelerate the closure of sites that are poised to enter the final stages of environmental cleanup. Similar evaluations have led to the closure of 45 specific polluted sites at Air Force bases in the last two years and have sped up the pace of closures by a minimum of five years service wide. The reviews promote cost-effective cleanups with an emphasis on effectiveness. This ensures cleanups are protective and promote a range of other health, community, administrative and pollution-reduction benefits. Engineers, scientists, regulatory specialists and water experts toured base sites where contamination is being addressed, studied reports, and performed new analysis of information before briefing regulators, the base and other Air Force environmental officials after a week or more of review. In addition, they collaborated with base officials in discussing the recommendations with regulators. The team recognized that pumping out and treating groundwater contaminated with solvents is still effective here and urged some additional steps to prevent the movement of the solvents. Recommendations included: · Re-siting some of the drinking water wells used by the base whose suction may indirectly affect the movement of the contaminants. · Accelerating the breakdown of solvents by injecting materials that enhance natural breakdown processes in the soil. · Observation of an area with solvents near the end of the runway on base to ensure it doesn't migrate. · Further analysis of the underground plume of contaminants. The base's approach to cleaning up these areas has been effective to date, according to advisers, who urged the base to continue to develop the program by taking the time necessary to ensure cleanup technologies are planned well and perform efficiently. Updating missing information in "conceptual site models" -- which depict the types of soil and the movement of underground water and pollutants -- will help guide cleanup efforts as base managers prepare to discuss the cleanup efforts with the approval of South Carolina regulators, the advisers said. Shaw officials are successfully working with clean-up contractors and both state and federal regulators, and with only a few exceptions are ahead of broader Air Force goals of having remedies in place at all bases by 2012. As their work approaches finalization, the Shaw environmental team can now begin planning for the future by preparing exit strategies which are plans to closeout cleanup efforts. The process is challenging because of the need to meet both state and federal standards and AFCEE is available to provide support to the base in addressing this with the relevant authorities. According to AFCEE restoration program management office representative John Ekhoff, "The ERP-O review points the way toward key steps that will improve the performance and management of the Air Force cleanup program, accelerate discussions with state regulators and foster a collaborative effort to meet program goals." Juvenal Salomon, 20th CES, Shaw AFB; John Ekhoff, AFCEE PMO; Paul Jerena and Jesse Perez, AFCEE TDV contributed to this story.