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NPL Site Narrative for F.E. Warren Air Force Base
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Federal Register Notice: February 21, 1990Conditions at proposal (July 14, 1989): F.E. Warren Air Force Base is in Cheyenne, Laramie County, Wyoming. The main base covers 5,866 acres and is 10 miles north of the Colorado border and 40 miles west of the Nebraska border. Agricultural land is to the north, south, and west; undeveloped residential land to the northeast and southwest; Cheyenne to the east; and some industrial development to the southeast.
The base began as an Army outpost in 1867 and became a part of the Air Force system in 1947. Since 1963, the 90th Strategic Missile Wing has been the host unit.
Warren Air Force Base 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, the Air Force has identified 18 areas as potentially containing hazardous substances that can migrate. Of the 18, 7 involve spills or leaks, 6 are landfills, 2 are fire training areas, 1 is a battery acid disposal pit, 1 is the firing range, and 1 involves surface water. The hazardous materials or leaks were primarily gasoline, oil, hydraulic fluid, ethylene glycol, battery acid, and trichloroethylene (TCE). The industrial wastes formerly disposed of on the base consisted primarily of waste lubricating oils, hydraulic fluid, ethylene glycol, solvents, batteries, battery acid, coal ash, fly ash, and paint.
TCE and carbon tetrachloride are used as degreasers in base operations. TCE and chloroform (a degradation product of carbon tetrachloride) are present in monitoring wells on the base, according to tests conducted in May and June 1987 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). An estimated 2,400 people obtain drinking water from private wells within 3 miles of hazardous substances on the base.
USGS also detected lead in soil at the firing range, and TCE in Crow and Diamond Creeks on the base downgradient of spill areas.
Status (February 21, 1990): The Air Force is taking some response actions at spill site #7. EPA and the Air Force are negotiating an Interagency Agreement under CERCLA Section 120 covering further studies and remedial activities at the base.
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.