2013 CPEO Military List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:53:01 -0700 (PDT)
Reply: cpeo-military
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] CLOSURE: Cleaning up South Weymouth Naval Air Station (MA)
 
Navy still cleaning up airfield, 16 years later

By Emily Sweeney
Boston Globe (MA)
March 17, 2013

It’s a dirty job, and the Navy has to do it.

The task: cleaning up the former home of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station, a property with a history dating back to World War II. In the 1940s, blimps that silently patrolled the US coast were housed in giant hangars at the air base. Later, modern jets roared down its paved runways.

Decades of military use left behind petroleum, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds that settled into the ground water and soil on certain parts of the base. Trash and debris were dumped in three landfills on the edges of the property. All of that contamination earned it a spot on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List in 1994. Although most of the base is considered clean today, the property as a whole is still deemed a Superfund site.

The airfield closed in 1997, and over the years tons of contaminated soil have been hauled away, dozens of underground oil storage tanks have been dug up, and soil, sediment, and ground-water samples have been tested and retested. Renamed SouthField, the old base is being developed into a mixed-use community within the communities of Abington, Rockland, and Weymouth that could eventually encompass up to 2,855 homes, as well as shops, offices, and a golf course.
...

For the entire article, see
http://bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/south/2013/03/16/navy-still- has-cleanup-task-years-after-closing-south-weymouth-naval-air-station/ QkvIK2bvN7h9t5sTxzR32L/story.html

You may need to copy and paste the link.

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org

  Prev by Date: [CPEO-MEF] CLOSURE: "DOD Official Discusses BRAC Issues with Congress"
Next by Date: [CPEO-MEF] REMINDER: Join free EPA Webinars on Vapor Intrusion - Monday, 3/18/2013 and Tuesday, 3/19/2013
  Prev by Thread: [CPEO-MEF] CLOSURE: "DOD Official Discusses BRAC Issues with Congress"
Next by Thread: [CPEO-MEF] REMINDER: Join free EPA Webinars on Vapor Intrusion - Monday, 3/18/2013 and Tuesday, 3/19/2013

CPEO Home
CPEO Lists
Author Index
Date Index
Thread Index