EPA SUPERFUND SITE
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE
Dayton, Ohio
February 1992

Wright Patterson Air Force Base

History:
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a 6,200 acre site that employs approximately 32,000 people and houses 8,000 people. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base consists of Wright Field and Patterson Field. WPAFB has been in operation since before WWII. It's support activities has resulted in the creation of several unlined waste disposal areas throughout the base, including landfills, fire training areas, and coal storage piles. It has disposed of more than 6,600 tons of waste on the base, including solvents, contaminated thinners, degreasing sludges, and miscellaneous hazardous chemicals. Over 60 separate waste disposal sites have been identified. The base sits on a portion of the Great Miami aquifer which supplies water for the air base and the cities of Dayton and Fairborn. In October 1985, Ohio EPA found Chemical contamination in the base drinking water wells and the water distribution system. In February 1988, WPAFB signed a consent order with the State of Ohio, a major change in the law allowing states to charge federal agencies which were previously exempt. The Wright Patterson Air Force Base was named to the National Priorities List in October 1989.

Current Status:
Wright Patterson Air Force Base is participating in the Installation Restoration Program (IPR), a program established by the Department of Defense (DOD) for the identification, evaluation, and controlling of hazardous materials at military installations. The potentially responsible party has begun studies and investigations of its various hazardous sites in 1988. Some emergency actions have already begun. Remedial Action and estimated costs of cleanup will be determined once remedial action has been selected and approved.

Exposure Assessment:
Methane levels in some landfills are above explosive levels for methane. Threatened residents are being relocated to other housing on base. Radioactive analysis show elevated alpha and beta radiation in leachate. Other leachate and groundwater include volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Air releases contain methane gas. The city of Dayton is installing a $300,000 interceptor well near the Huffman Dam to halt the continued Wright Patterson Air Force Base's groundwater contamination.

Source Information:
The source of the above information is from the following publications: (1) US EPA National Priorities List Site: Ohio, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, pages 64-65, September 1990, (2) "Pact Oks Cleanup of Toxic Waste Sites at Wright Patterson", The Plain Dealer, Feb. 10, 1988, (3) "Facts on WPAFB in Way of Harmony EPA Wants", Dayton Daily News, March 28,1990, (4) "Nubyte Cgenucak Traces Found in Base Housing Area, Report Says", Dayton Daily News, Feb. 14,1990, (5) "Team to Keep Looking for Base Dump Site", Dayton Daily News, June 5, 1990, (6) "Ohio EPA Gets its Way at WPAFB", Dayton Daily News, February 14, 1988, (7) "Base's Toxic Soup is Spilling Over", Dayton Daily News, February 13, 1990.

EPA SUPERFUND SITE
WRIGHT-PATTERSON
AIR FORCE BASE
Dayton, Ohio
February 2000

Wright Patterson Air Force Base

Cleanup Progress:
The 65 individual source areas have been grouped into eleven source control and one basewide groundwater cleanup projects. In 1995, US EPA, the Air Force, and Ohio EPA signed a concensus statement for streamling the investigation and study process at WPAFB. Under this statement, areas of the base needing action are addressed as early actions (ie., removal actions) with the Air Force as the lead agency, and sites not needing action are separated out as early as possible for no action decisions. There have been several past removal actions including drum and tank removals, free product recovery systems, and groundwater treatment by air stripping for perchloroethene and trichloroethene.

In 1993 and 1994, two Records of Decisions (RODs) were signed consisting of landfill capping, leachate collection and treatment, gas collections and treatment, public water supply, and institutional controls (1993): and a no action decision for some off-source areas (1994). The 1993 ROD cleanup action is complete except for the final disclosure report. In 1996, a ROD selecting a no action was signed for 21 sub-areas within the source control cleanup projects. In 1997, a ROD for natural attenuation of a fuel spill area in Operable Unit 2 (OU2) was signed. Under the streamlining process, two early actions are complete (landfill caps in 1996 and 1997).

Under the streamlining process, one early action is in the final stage of construction (excavation of a chemical disposal site), and early actions have begun at four Ous (three landfill cover projects and one french drain system). These actions are all scheduled to be completed in 1998. A ROD for "No Further Action", other than monitoring and institutional controls, covering all of the source control areas is planned for 1998. A final ROD for the groundwater project is scheduled for 1999. This will constitute construction completion for the site.

Information Source:
The sources for the above information is from the following on-line publication:
US EPA, Region 5, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, NPL Fact Sheet ,
OHIO EPA ID# OH7571724312, July 1998.
http://www.epa.gov/R5Super/npl/mich/OH7571724312.htm

EPA SUPERFUND SITE
WRIGHT-PATTERSON
AIR FORCE BASE
Dayton, Ohio
October 2004 Update

Wright Patterson Air Force Base

UPDATE2004:
The cleanup team consisting of U.S. EPA, Ohio EPA and WPAFB plans to complete a Final Closeout Report (FCOR) for some of the NFA sites by 2007, which could pave the way for some partial deletions from the NPL (NPL Partial Deletions). Please read the update NPL Fact Sheet linked below. This is listed in the U.S. EPA region, Superfund Division, District 5, Jan. 2004. This site is still in process of remediation and clean up.

NPL Fact Sheet, January 2004, EPA Superfund Site, Wright Patterson air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio.
http://www.epa.gov/R5Super/npl/ohio/OH7571724312.htm