EPA RCRA ID: VA1210020730
On this page:
- Cleanup Status
- Facility Description
- Contaminants at this Facility
- Institutional/Engineer Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Status
Note: The EPA is the lead agency for managing cleanups at this facility.
Corrective Action at The Radford Army Ammunition Plant (RAAP) is being addressed under a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Permit that was first issued by U.S. EPA in 1989. The permit was reissued October 31, 2000. The RAAP has been in the process of assessing the Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs), Areas of Concern, Site Screening Areas, and Miscellaneous Units, collectively called units, at the Site. Seventy-seven units were identified for investigation and potential remediation pursuant to the 2000 permit. Various investigations and actions have been completed and reports have been submitted to EPA and the Commonwealth of Virginia, since 1989. Since 1989 four additional SWMUs were added to the list of units to be investigated at RAAP.
Seventy-six units have been investigated and 19 SWMUs were found to be contaminated and were addressed primarily through the excavation and removal of contaminated soil from the RAAP. The remaining units were found not to pose an unacceptable risk. In May 2011, EPA issued a Statement of Basis proposing Final Remedies for the 76 units. The Proposed Remedy(ies) for each unit were described generally as one or a combination of the following: 1) Soil Removal and Disposal; 2) Groundwater Monitoring; 3) Administrative Controls (such as land use restrictions) or Engineering Controls (such as inspection and maintenance at certain SWMUs) to protect the integrity of the remedy or 4) No Additional Investigation/Remediation. This leaves five SWMUs still included in the Corrective Action permit for investigation and if appropriate, remediation.
In April 2012, EPA issued a Final Decision and Response to Comments on the May 2011 Statement of Basis - selecting the Final Remedy as proposed. Investigation of the remaining units is ongoing and is forecast for completion during 2013. EPA will modify the RCRA Corrective Action Permit to require implementation of the Final Remedy for all the units at RAAP.
In August 2014 EPA issued a Final Decision and Response to Comments on the June 2014 Statement of Basis - selecting the Final Remedy as proposed for the remainder of the units identified in the Permit. The RCRA Corrective Action Permit will be modified to require implementation of the Final Remedy for all the units at RAAP. The permit renewal will have on-going obligations for any future environmental compliance and clean up.
The Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has released their final report for the Drinking Water Health Consultation on Radford Army Ammunition Plant . ATSDR received several public comments on the April 23, 2014 draft of this report. In the draft health consultation, ATSDR found that chemicals released into groundwater or surface water from the RFAAP facility are not expected to harm people's health through either public drinking water supplies or private drinking water wells. The Agency's findings and recommendations remain the same in the final health consultation document.
On October 21, 2019, the EPA conducted a Long Term Stewardship assessment to assess whether the remedy was implemented and protective of human health and the environment. EPA determined that the remedy institutional and engineering controls have been fully implemented and no control deficiencies were identified.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. It is not intended as an extensive list of milestones/activities. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table and the Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility table that follows, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
RAAP is a government-owned, contractor-operated military installation supplying solvent and solventless propellant and explosives to the Armed Forces. Construction of the current RAAP production facility began in 1940. RAAP initially consisted of a smokeless powder plant, referred to as [Radford Ordnance Works (ROW)]. RF AAP is located in the mountains of southwest Virginia in Pulaski and Montgomery Counties and it consists of two non-contiguous areas: the Main Manufacturing Area (MMA) and the New River Unit (NRU). The MMA is located approximately five miles northeast of the city of Radford, Virginia, which is approximately ten miles west of Blacksburg and 47 miles southwest of Roanoke. The NRU is located about six miles west of the MMA, near the town of Dublin, and is not covered under the 2000 Permit
RAAP has been conducting investigations and/or clean-ups at 77 total areas identified in the Corrective Action Permits. Details of these investigations/cleanups can be found in the RAAP online Information repository.
RAAP also conducts quarterly Restoration Advisory Board Meetings to keep the public informed of progress at the site.
Contaminants at this Facility
The plant manufactures many types of explosives, ammunitions and rocket fuel, and containments associated with the manufacture of these products included heavy metals and solvents.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Land and Groundwater use restrictions include:
- The Southeast Hillside Area of the ARSAR shall not be used for residential purposes.
- Groundwater at SWMUs 48, 49, and 54 shall not be used for any purpose.
- The ARSAR and SWMUs 48,49, and 54 shall not be used in a way that will adversely affect or interfere with the integrity and protectiveness of the final remedies implemented at the Facility.
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
Documents available on-line: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | ||||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
- Radford Army Plant Restoration Info Repository
- VADEQ webpage on scope and general information of VADEQ's regulatory programs that governs the operations at RAAP.
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.