Cleanup Complete at Tipton Army Airfield at Ft. Meade

["cpeo@cpeo.org" <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

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EPA Region 3
For Immediate Release: September 22, 1999

Cleanup Complete at Tipton Army Airfield at Ft. Meade - Property Ready for
Transfer to County for Commercial Flights

FT. GEORGE G. MEADE -- The Army has completed all hazardous waste cleanup
at the 346-acre Tipton Army Airfield here, and the site is ready for
transfer to Anne Arundel County to be reopened as a county-run airport.

The airfield, constructed in 1960 along Route 32, was placed on the EPA's
National Priorities List of most contaminated Superfund sites in July 1998.
Since 1995, the Army has removed 3,000 buried ordnance items, such as shell
casings, and miscellaneous debris. Two inactive landfills have been
covered, one with a parking lot and the other with a cap to prevent the
leaching of contaminants into the soil. One of the landfills has been
fenced to limit access, and the groundwater will be monitored for at least
five years. 

The Army, the lead agency for cleanup, worked closely with the EPA, the
Maryland Department of Environment, the State of Maryland and the community
to address concerns about the airfield. EPA and the Maryland Department of
Environment have determined that all appropriate cleanup measures have been
taken, and no further work is needed on the airfield.

The Tipton Army Airfield consists of four hangars and operations buildings,
taxiways and runway, and a helicopter training area. The Army completed all
hazardous waste cleanup work at the airfield in June, and later this year
will transfer the property to Anne Arundel County. Other portions of the
fort are still on the National Priorities List and are in the process of
being cleaned up.