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New Hanover County Airport Burn Pit
National Information
Photos/Multimedia
Air sparging wells at the New Hanover County Airport Burn Pit site.
- Additional Site Photos
- Site Video
Additional Resources
- Site Cleanup Terms - can be found in EPA's glossary
- EPA Guides to Cleanup Technologies
- Superfund Community Involvement (PDF) (17 pp, 130K, About PDF)
Site Summary Profile
EPA ID: NCD981021157Location: Wilmington, New Hanover County, NC
Lat/Long: 34.275000, -077.915280
Congressional District:07
NPL Status: Proposed: 06/24/88; Final 03/31/89
Affected Media: Ground water
Cleanup Status: Construction Complete – Physical cleanup activities have been completed.
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: Potential for Commercial/light Industrial
Site Manager: Beverly Stepter (stepter.beverly@epa.gov)
Site Background
The New Hanover County Airport Burn Pits site is located in Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. The 1,500 square foot burn pit was located near the center of a 4-acre plot. The construction date of the original burn pit is unknown, but a second pit was constructed in 1968 and used until 1979 for firefighter training purposes. Jet fuel, gasoline, petroleum storage tank bottoms, fuel oil, kerosene, and sorbent materials from oil spill cleanups were burned in the pit. It is estimated that between 100 to 500 gallons of ignitable fuel were used during each firefighting training exercise. Water was the primary fire extinguishing agent; however, carbon dioxide and dry chemicals were also used.
Threats and Contaminants
Contaminants detected in the soils included benzene, ethylbenzene, total xylene, 2-methylnaphthalene, phenanthrene, and chromium. Contaminants detected in the ground water above Federal Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) and/or State ground water quality standards included benzene, chloroform, 1,2-dichloroethane, and ethylbenzene. The total volume of ground water impacted by the site is estimated to be 9.7 million gallons; however, the plume of contamination has remained on site.
The health risk posed by this site is primarily from the future use of the ground water as a potable source due to the presence of contaminants at concentrations above EPA's MCLs for drinking water and the State of North Carolina ground water quality standards.Site Cleanup Plan
The Record of Decision (ROD) for the site was issued in 1993. Major cleanup elements for the site included:
- A one year period for the collection of additional data on ground water quality.
- Following a treatability study, contaminated ground water will be extracted from within and at the periphery of the plume via extraction wells and piped to an on-site, above-ground treatment process.
- Pretreatment may be required to remove total suspended solids and iron. The pretreatment step would generate a byproduct sludge.
- Treatment process consists of an air stripper to reduce the levels of contamination to the pretreatment requirements of the publicly owned treatment works. Additional treatment will be achieved by the publicly owned treatment works.
Cleanup Progress
From November to December 1990, the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) conducted a removal action at the site that involved removing waste materials, contaminated water, and contaminated surface and subsurface soils. In addition, structures associated with firefighter training activities were dismantled and removed, including the fuel supply tank and its associated underground piping system, the railroad tank car, the automobile bodies, and the aircraft mock-up. A total of 3,220 tons of contaminated soil and debris were removed
In 1999, PRPs completed collecting additional ground water data to confirm that elevated levels of chromium do not exist at the site.
On April 11, 2000, EPA amended the ROD to include air sparging as the new selected remedy. The PRPs installed additional wells and resampled the monitoring wells to better delineate the site.
As of June 2009, the ground water system is currently pumping at its optimum. Monitoring will continue under the approved ground water monitoring program.
Site cleanup activities are being led primarily by PRPs with oversight by EPA.
Enforcement Activities
In 1990, PRPs conducted a removal action at the site under an Administrative Order on Consent.
In March 1994, EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order directing the PRPs to develop the remedial design for the remedy described in the 1992 ROD, and to perform the remedial action.
Community Involvement
EPA has conducted a range of community involvement activities at the New Hanover County Airport Burn Pit site to solicit community input and to ensure that the public remains informed about site activities throughout the site cleanup process. Outreach activities have included public notices, interviews, and public meetings on cleanup activities and updates.
Future Work
This site is subject to Five-Year Reviews (FYRs). The next FYR for this site is anticipated to be completed in August 2013.
Site Administrative Documents
Site Repository
For more information or to view any site-related documents, please visit the site information repository at the following location. As new documents are generated, they will be placed in the information repository for public information.
New Hanover County Public Library
210 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28410
Administrative Record Index
- OU-1 (PDF) (11 pp, 451K, About PDF)
- ROD Amendment (PDF) (2 pp, 63K, About PDF)
For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.