Cleaning Up Our Nation's Cold War Legacy Sites

Cleaning Up Our Nation's Cold War Legacy Sites
Author: United States. Congress
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2017-11-21
Genre:
ISBN: 9781979922579

Cleaning up our nation's Cold War legacy sites : hearing before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, first session, March 29, 2017.

Cleaning Up Our Nation's Cold War Legacy Sites

Cleaning Up Our Nation's Cold War Legacy Sites
Author: Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2017-09-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9781976395611

The state of Wyoming is proud of the role that it played in deterring the threat that the former Soviet Union posed. This involved the development and deployment of Atlas nuclear missiles during the early days of the cold war. These missile sites were on high alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Our servicemen maintained these sites by using vast amounts of trichloroethylene, TCE, to clean rocket fuel lines. These soldiers had no idea that decades later that practice would create a serious negative environmental legacy. Today there is groundwater contamination from the TCE. Seven of these Atlas Missile sites are around the city of Cheyenne area, and they have varying degrees of groundwater contamination. According to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Atlas Site 4's TCE concentrations in the groundwater exceed 240,000 parts per billion, well above a safe drinking limit of 5 parts per billion. The Atlas site plume of TCE is around 12 miles long and 3 miles wide. According to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, it is "one of, if not the largest TCE plume in all of the country." The Army Corps of Engineeers has since constructed a water treatment plant that ensures that Cheyenne's water is clean and safe, and has provided granulated activated carbon systems for private landowners who use well water. Wyoming isn't the only State that has cold war legacy environmental problems. Many States, especially in the West, have quite a few sites associated with the cold war. The Department of Defense, though, has an obligation to leave States like Wyoming whole; to not only provide for our nation's safety, but also to restore the environment of the communities.

Alternatives for Managing the Nation's Complex Contaminated Groundwater Sites

Alternatives for Managing the Nation's Complex Contaminated Groundwater Sites
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2013-02-27
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0309278139

Across the United States, thousands of hazardous waste sites are contaminated with chemicals that prevent the underlying groundwater from meeting drinking water standards. These include Superfund sites and other facilities that handle and dispose of hazardous waste, active and inactive dry cleaners, and leaking underground storage tanks; many are at federal facilities such as military installations. While many sites have been closed over the past 30 years through cleanup programs run by the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. EPA, and other state and federal agencies, the remaining caseload is much more difficult to address because the nature of the contamination and subsurface conditions make it difficult to achieve drinking water standards in the affected groundwater. Alternatives for Managing the Nation's Complex Contaminated Groundwater Sites estimates that at least 126,000 sites across the U.S. still have contaminated groundwater, and their closure is expected to cost at least $110 billion to $127 billion. About 10 percent of these sites are considered "complex," meaning restoration is unlikely to be achieved in the next 50 to 100 years due to technological limitations. At sites where contaminant concentrations have plateaued at levels above cleanup goals despite active efforts, the report recommends evaluating whether the sites should transition to long-term management, where risks would be monitored and harmful exposures prevented, but at reduced costs.

Congressional Record

Congressional Record
Author: United States. Congress
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1534
Release: 2009
Genre: Law
ISBN:

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)