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NPL Site Narrative for Anniston Army Depot (SE Industrial Area)
ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT (SOUTHEAST INDUSTRIAL AREA)
Anniston, Alabama
Federal Register Notice: March 13, 1989Conditions at proposal (October 15, 1984): Anniston Ordnance Depot, which occupies approximately 30 square miles in Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama, was officially designated as an ammunition storage area on October 14, 1941. Over the years, operations were expanded to include the overhauling and repairing of combat vehicles and artillery equipment. The facility is currently referred to as the Anniston Army Depot (ANAD).
This NPL site consists of six different disposal operations covering 600 acres in and adjacent to the Southeast Industrial/Vehicle Rebuild Area. The six disposal operations were combined to form this NPL site. Five are waste disposal pits or lagoons containing liquid chemical and industrial wastes contaminated with heavy metals and chlorinated organic solvents. At the sixth location, drums containing calcium hypochlorite (bleaching powder) were buried.
According to analyses reported by the Army in 1982, metals and chlorinated solvents were present in the ground water beneath the ANAD Southeast Industrial Area. Ground water is the source of drinking water for Calhoun County residents. The hydrogeology of Calhoun County is very complex and requires further studies to define possible aquifer interconnections. The highly fractured bedrock apparently is the source rock for Coldwater Spring, which supplies private and public water. The spring may be connected via fractures to contaminated ground water at the ANAD site. The Anniston municipal water supply system provides drinking water for an estimated 39,000 people.
ANAD is participating in the Installation Restoration Program, established in 1978. Under this program, the Department of Defense seeks to identify, investigate, and clean up contamination from hazardous materials. The Army has completed Phase I (records search), Phase II (preliminary survey), and Phase III (assessment of remedial action alternatives). Two portions of the site (encompassing approximately 5 acres) have been closed under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Wastes and contaminated soils from those two areas were excavated and removed to a permitted facility.
Status (April 1987): EPA is reviewing an Army study of ground water beneath 31 RCRA and CERCLA solid waste management units at ANAD, including the Southeast Industrial Area. The Army is conducting an Endangerment Assessment that will include a summary of all previous activities.
Status (March 13, 1989): The Army installed a system to treat and recover contaminated ground water and has operated it since December 1988.
This site was reproposed on July 22, 1987 to be consistent with EPA's proposed policy for placing on the NPL sites located on Federally owned or operated facilities subject to the corrective action authorities of RCRA Subtitle C. EPA solicited comments on the Hazard Ranking System score for the site, which includes areas subject to RCRA Subtitle C corrective action authorities. EPA has finalized the NPL/RCRA policy for Federal facility sites and is placing this site on the NPL under the policy.
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.