![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
NPL Site Narrative for Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
CURTIS BAY COAST GUARD YARD
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Federal Register Notice: September 5, 2002Conditions at Proposal (September 13, 2001): The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Yard, Hawkins Point Road is a 113-acre federal facility located adjacent to Curtis Creek approximately six miles southeast of downtown Baltimore. The current mission of the USCG Yard, Hawkins Point Road is to provide core industrial support for the Coast Guard, including the design, construction, and repair of ships and boats. The Yard at Hawkins Point was originally established in 1899 as a Coast Guard training academy and boat repair facility. Industrial development began at Hawkins Point around 1906. By 1910, the Yard had become a fully operational ship-building and repair facility. The Yard reached its peak of development during World War II, with a civilian workforce of more than 3,000. In 1941, a bulkhead was constructed farther out into Curtis Creek. Three piers and two floating dry docks were built and moored along the piers. The current waterfront configuration was essentially completed when construction was finished in the mid-1940s. Following World War II, the Yard workforce gradually declined. Site operations, including vessel repair and overhaul, buoy construction, and various manufacturing operations, continued into the 1960s and 1970s. Manufacturing operations were reduced at Hawkins Point throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Major activities in the 1990s centered around the construction of a 3,500-ton shiplift.
An initial Preliminary Assessment (PA) was completed in 1993 at the Yard. The PA identified 13 areas as potential sources of contamination. In 1998, the USCG submitted to EPA supplemental information to the 1993 PA. The supplemental information identified four of the 13 sites as petroleum-release sites that are exempt from CERCLA. The nine remaining areas of potential contamination were addressed in the Site Inspection (SI) conducted at the site in 2000. Two of these areas (areas 6 and 13) are not evaluated in the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) scoring because available data indicate there is no significant chemical contamination associated with these sources. Six of the nine areas of potential contamination, identified as areas 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11, are included as sources in the HRS scoring.
The sampling results collected from the six sources currently identified at the Yard indicate contamination with semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and dioxins. The sources are not contained, therefore the hazardous substances are available to migrate into adjacent surface waters. The USCG Yard, Hawkins Point Road is located in an area characterized by the existence of a documented fishery, Curtis Creek. The Patapsco River and the Chesapeake Bay, which are within the fifteen-mile downstream target distance limit, are also designated fisheries. The only fishery sampled to date is Curtis Creek. The sample results indicate that a release of metals, SVOCs, and PCBs has occurred to this fishery.
Status (September 2002): EPA is considering various alternatives for this site.
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.