Public Notice to Perform Environmental Groundwater Clean-Up at the Former Diesel and Petroleum Fueling Facility on Kingsley Field, Klamath Falls, Oregon

  • Published
  • By 011010
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.- --  Notice is hereby given that the Department of the Air Force, Air National Guard intends to perform a groundwater clean-up treated by injecting oxygen release compounds to enhance aerobic biodegradation at the base's Environmental Restoration Site 10. This site is located in the central portion of Kingsley Field at the intersection of Vandenberg Drive and Bong Street, near the 173rd Fighter Wing flight line. There is no project start date as of current. Risk estimates for Site 10 did not indicate unacceptable human health risk.

Until the 1980s Site 10 was used as an aircraft fueling facility and petroleum storage area for the 173rd FW, using four 25,000-gallon underground storage tanks (USTs) containing diesel, gasoline, and JP-4. Since 1981, the USTs have been inactive. Currently, Site 10 is used as a jet fuel storage and distribution facility using a series of nearby aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) with a fill stand. The ASTs have secondary containment and no releases from the AST system have been noted or reported.

In May 2009, a pilot treatability study was performed for Site 10. The purpose of the treatability study was to determine whether phase-separate petroleum hydrocarbons (PSH) and dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons could be effectively treated by injecting oxygen release compounds to initiate insitu chemical oxidation (ISCO) of petroleum hydrocarbons and enhance aerobic biodegradation. The overall goal of the ISCO program was to reduce the mass of PSH, leading to reduction in dissolved benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylenes concentrations in groundwater. It was recommended that the chemical oxidant and calcium peroxygen injections be carried through to the Focused Feasibility Study.
I
n August 2010, during the Focused Feasibility Study, the enhanced aerobic bioremediation alternative was selected. The proposed injection program consists of 66 points in a grid with a 12 foot spacing surrounding the entire hotspot area to evenly distribute the 8,000-lbs of calcium peroxygen. The goal of the proposed action is to remediate the groundwater environmental contamination that resulted from past practices, accidents or incidents at the base.

Although there are 3 sites with ongoing remediation at the base (Site 3: Base Landfill Number 3, Site 10: Fuel Loading Facility, and Site 13: Petroleum Release Site), Site 10 is the only active ERP site on base. Sites 3 and 13 are managed under different programs: Site 3 is an active Formerly Used Defense Site, which is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Site 13 is currently being investigated under the Compliance Program. This announcement is designed to facilitate two-way communication between the Oregon Air National Guard and the communities surrounding the base regarding its environmental cleanup program.