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NPL Site Narrative for Elmendorf Air Force Base
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE
Greater Anchorage Area Borough, Alaska
Federal Register Notice: August 30, 1990Conditions at proposal (July 14, 1989): Elmendorf Air Force Base covers 13,100 acres in the Greater Anchorage Area Borough immediately north of Anchorage, Alaska. The base is bounded to the west by Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet, and to the east by Fort Richardson Army Base. Ship Creek flows along the southern perimeter. In operation since 1940, this base now hosts the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing.
Elmendorf is participating in the Installation Restoration Program (IRP), established in 1978. Under this program, the Department of Defense seeks to identify, investigate, and clean up contamination from hazardous materials. As part of IRP studies, the Air Force identified 12 areas where hazardous materials had been generated, stored, used, or disposed of. All require further investigation.
Initially, the Air Force focused on five areas. In the past, landfills D-5 (now closed) and D-7 (still active) received a variety of hazardous wastes, including lead acid batteries and waste solvents. The landfills, unlined and unbermed, are in sandy and gravelly soils. Shop wastes, including solvents and paint thinners, were disposed of in a naturally occurring unlined trench designated as Site D-17. Site IS-1 is where fuel in Building 42-400 spilled into floor drains that feed into gravel-bottom dry wells. The last of the five areas included in the initial investigation is Site SP5, where approximately 60,000 gallons of aviation fuel JP-4 spilled, of which only 33,000 gallons were recovered.
During IRP activities in 1983-87, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethylene, trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and lead were detected in on-site monitoring wells. An estimated 121,000 Elmendorf employees and residents of Anchorage obtain drinking water from a blended water system that draws primarily from surface water but also uses wells within 3 miles of hazardous substances on the base on a standby basis.
EPA is reviewing the Air Force's workplan for a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) to determine the type and extent of contamination at the base and identify alternatives for remedial action. The final workplan is expected to be completed in the fall of 1989.
Status (August 30, 1990): EPA, the Air Force, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation are negotiating an Interagency Agreement (IAG) under CERCLA Section 120 that will facilitate the RI/FS. The IAG is expected to be signed in August 1990. The Air Force will submit RI/FS workplans for units specified in the IAG under an agreed upon time schedule.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.