EPA RCRA ID: AK6210022426
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
The U.S. Army Fort Wainwright is regulated by EPA under a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit for RCRA closure of an open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) unit, and for corrective action at all waste management units.
Environmental cleanup work at Fort Wainwright is conducted under RCRA and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) through a Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) between the Army, EPA and the state of Alaska.
The OB/OD unit was not closed prior to issuance of the previous (1991) permit and therefore was included in the current (2013) RCRA permit. Although no longer in use, EPA has allowed delayed closure of the OB/OD unit because it is physically located on the active small-arms impact range. The 2013 permit requires closure of the OB/OD unit when the small-arms impact range will no longer be in use.
Site-wide corrective action has not been completed at Fort Wainwright, and cleanup is ongoing under the FFA. EPA is proposing to reissue the RCRA permit to the Army to address the delayed closure of the OB/OD unit and to complete site-wide corrective action. The planned 2023 permit, like the previous permits, will integrate RCRA corrective action with the FFA and include specific permit conditions for waste management units and other areas of contamination not expressly addressed under the FFA.
The Army began conducting site investigations in 1992 to address five project areas, each consisting of multiple areas with sources of contamination. Initial cleanup was completed between 1996 and 2002 and included excavation of contaminated soil and removal of buried drums.
The Army continues to perform ground water monitoring, investigate and clean up known contamination, and consider possible additional cleanup options. Many sites are currently under investigation.
When the active ranges close, work will need to be done to investigate and clean up the OB/OD site(s) within these range areas.
For more details about ongoing cleanup work at the facility, refer to the RCRA permit available under "Site Documents" below, and the Fort Wainwright Superfund Site page.
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.
The Fort Wainwright facility was established in 1938 for training soldiers and testing equipment in arctic conditions. The fort occupies approximately 911,600 acres on the east side of Fairbanks, and provides industrial mission support operations including maintenance of aircraft and vehicles, landfill activities and power generation.
About 8,000 soldiers and their families live and work at Fort Wainwright. These residents get drinking water from wells that are near contaminated areas. In addition, the Chena River runs through the contaminated area of Fort Wainwright. Area residents use this river for subsistence, recreation and sport fishing.
Contaminants at this Facility
The list of contaminants at Fort Wainwright is extensive as a result of the wide variety of activities that occurred at the facility. These contaminants remain in soil, groundwater and sediment.
Major contaminants which have been found at Fort Wainwright include the following:
- Petroleum and petroleum constituents, found at most fuel storage and distribution sites throughout the facility, plus OB/OD areas.
- Metals, found at the landfills, power plant, fuel release sites, and storage yards.
- Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), found at storage yards.
- Polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), found at fuel storage and distribution sites, landfills, storage and disposal areas.
- Solvents, found at the landfills, power plant, OB/OD areas, and storage yards.
- Pesticides and herbicides, found at storage areas, landfills, and power plant.
- Munitions and explosives-related chemicals, found at storage and disposal areas.
For more information about the nature and extent of contaminants at the facility, refer to the RCRA permit available under "Site Documents" below.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this 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: |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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
Site Documents
Contacts for this Facility
Bill Lawrence (lawrence.bill@epa.gov), Project Manager, 208-378-5763.