Anniston Army Depot

• Site Profile
• Additional Site Documents including Five Year Reviews, Records of Decisions (ROD) and Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD).

Site Background:
The 15,300 acre Anniston Army Depot (ANAD) site is located in Calhoun County, Alabama. The facility's 600-acre Southeastern Industrial Area (SIA) was placed on the NPL in 1989. A 1990 Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) integrates the Army's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, Liability Act (CERCLA)/Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) requirements for the entire depot.
Past plant activities included vapor degreasing, metal cleaning, sandblasting, electroplating, and painting operations. Generated solid and liquid wastes have included metals, cyanide, phenols, pesticides, herbicides, chlorinated hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, acids, chelating agents, asbestos, and creosote. Wastes generated at the Depot were disposed in trenches, lagoons, landfills, or other holding vessels from the 1940s through the late 1970s. A 1979 study revealed that on-site disposal of wastes resulted in soil and groundwater contamination.
Land use surrounding the base is primarily residential, with approximately 39,000 residents living near the facility. Surface water within the SIA drains into Dry Creek, which flows into Choccolocco Creek, a tributary of the Coosa River. Coldwater Spring is located adjacent to Dry Creek, approximately one mile south of the Depot boundary. The spring is the primary source of drinking water for Calhoun County.
Cleanup Progress: Actual Construction Underway
Under the FFA, the Army has initiated a number of RCRA and CERCLA response actions that address contamination and disposal issues throughout ANAD. These actions encompass a variety of measures, including groundwater pump and treatment, soil removal and disposal, in situ chemical oxidation of contaminated soil, as well as emergency response planning for off-post groundwater contamination. Ongoing measures to address contaminated ground water include operation of an upgraded groundwater interception system on-site, and operation of an air-stripping treatment system at the Krebs Water Treatment Plant. The Army, in consultation with EPA and ADEM, have redefined the operable unit (OU) strategy for the numerous waste units at ANAD to include five OU’s: SIA Ground Water, SIA Soil, the Ammunition Storage Area (ASA), the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) sites, and the Western Industrial Area. This strategy is expected to result in separate decision documents for each OU; the OU 3, Ammunition Storage Area (ASA) ROD was issued in 2007;the SIA soil remedy was issued in August 2008; and the MMRP and Western Industrial Area will be addressed subsequently.  The OU1 groundwater is the subject of an ongoing interim remedy that will be amended in 2009.  Altenatives for a final OU1 groundwater remedy are being evaluated.