[CPEO-MEF] Army proposes pumping systems to clean plume

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Army proposes pumping systems to clean plume

If approved, it would be the first treatment of tainted groundwater on 
Camp Edwards.

By KEVIN DENNEHY
STAFF WRITER
CAMP EDWARDS - The Army is looking at a three-fronted approach to keep a 
plume of explosive contaminants from creeping off the western edge of 
the military base in the groundwater.

One sophisticated pumping system would pull contaminants from the heart 
of a 7,000-foot groundwater plume that has edged from an old explosives 
dumping area to within 3,000 feet of the Bourne border.

A second system would be installed at the leading edge of the plume as a 
sort of sentry, halting its progress off base.

Meanwhile, approximately 15,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil at the 
source of the pollution, an area in the heart of the base called 
Demolition Area 1, would be removed and replaced.

If approved by federal and state environmental regulators, the plan 
would be the first actual treatment of contaminated groundwater on Camp 
Edwards, a regional training area for the National Guard in the northern 
15,000 acres of the Massachusetts Military Reservation.

It would mark a critical landmark in the $300 million base cleanup, 
which was ordered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The 
Camp Edwards contamination is separate from the projected $1 billion Air 
Force cleanup of Otis Air National Guard base, in the southern portion 
of the Upper Cape base.

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/armyproposes30.htm

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