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Homestead Air Force Base

Homestead Air Force Base
EPA ID: FL7570024037
Location: Homestead, Dade County, FL
Congressional District: 17
NPL Status: Proposed: 07/14/89; Final 08/30/90
Project Manager
Documents:About Adobe Portable Document Format

Site Background:

The former Homestead Air Force Base (HAFB) is located in southern Dade County, Florida, approximately 25 miles southwest of Miami, 7 miles northeast of Homestead, 2 miles west of Biscayne National Park, and 5 miles east of Everglades National Park.  Before closure, the Base covered approximately 2,916 acres.
On July 14, 1989, HAFB was proposed for listing on EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) (54 Federal Register 134 at Page 29820). A Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) was signed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (December 18, 1990), the Air Force (February 4, 1991), and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (January 7, 1991). 
On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew virtually destroyed the Base. On September 23, 1993, the Base was designated [pursuant to the Base Closure and Realignment Act (BRAC)] for closure with a subsequent decision on April 1, 1994, for realignment. With realignment, part of the Base officially became Homestead Air Reserve Base ultimately consisting of 1,943 acres.  The Florida Air National Guard, US Customs Service, Job Corps Training Center, and a few other small groups obtained small parcels at the Base.  The remainder of the Base has been transferred to Dade County for redevelopment.  Contamination existed in many small areas around the Base.  Contaminants are those typical of the operation of an airport, e.g., jet fuel and metals.  The Base is surrounded by large agricultural lands, residences, and small businesses.  Currently, many of those agricultural lands are rapidly becoming dense residential areas and large shopping centers.  
Of particular concern at the Base are the Boundary Canal which surrounds and catches the storm water runoff from the Base, and the Outfall Canal which drains the storm water from the Boundary Canal into Biscayne National Park.  The public expressed high interest in these canals because the former Homestead Air Force Base is unique in being the only NPL site in the nation that discharges water directly into a National Park.  In particular, the National Park Service and environmentalists were concerned that contamination from the Base was contained in the sediments of the Boundary and Outfall Canals and were being transported into Biscayne National Park. Biscayne National Park is considered by the National Park Service and environmentalists to be “the pearl of the National Park System.”  Biscayne National Park merits a greater degree of protection since it is a national park, breeding grounds for many rare and endangered species, and has been declared by Florida as an Outstanding Florida Water.
Cleanup Progress: Threats Mitigated by Physical Clean-up Work
Construction Completion was accomplished at the former Homestead Air Force Base, September 29, 2006.  All Records of Decision have been signed, and all remedial action has been completed.  All that remains is to continue monitoring the groundwater until Federal and State groundwater standards have been met, and to manage the Land Use Controls (LUCs) on areas that were remediated for industrial but not residential reuse.  Five Year Reviews will continue.
As required by the Record of Decision for Operable Unit 11 (the Outfall Canal, a.k.a., the Military Canal), the Air Force assisted the Dade County Department of Environmental Regulation by providing them with $800,000 to assist in the construction of a constructed wetland at the lower end of the Outfall Canal.  This is a pilot test.  Information gained from this pilot test will be used by the State in returning other canals into constructed wetlands.  The desired benefit of a constructed wetland is to spread fresh water out over a large land area and allow it to slowly trickle into Biscayne National Park rather than to periodically inject large slugs of fresh water directly into the Park, (large slugs of fresh water being toxic to salt water habitats).
Success Story and Remaining Work
With the exception of monitoring LUCs and the long-term monitoring of groundwater, environmental investigation and cleanup at the Base has been completed.  Construction Completion has been achieved.  More importantly, the concerns of environmentalists and the National Park Service have been addressed.  These are monumental accomplishments.

EPA has reviewed all Decision Documents for all sites at the Base for the purpose of ensuring that appropriate LUCs are in place at each site, a significant issue in the Ready for Anticipated Use.  It has been concluded that LUCs have been applied in an evolving and developmental manner pending standardization of LUCs criteria at the national level.  In retrospect, some improvement is needed in the application of LUCs in an enforceable manner at some of the sites having Decision Documents prior to LUCs criteria standardization at the national level.  EPA is working on this issue which will ultimately qualify the site for NPL Delisting.

For information about the contents of this page please contact Leonna Teasley

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