Published: May 20, 2009 02:22 pm      

Corps of Engineers to oversee Camp Howze remedial investigation

Editor’s note: Part II of II



The Camp Howze update at the public meeting for landowners of property of the former Camp Howze and citizens and conducted by the Corps of Engineers was at the Gainesville Civic Center Monday night, May 18, at 6 p.m.

The public received information about the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study to take place at the former Camp Howze, including the objectives, approach and equipment to be used to determine if munition hazards remain at the site. The field work will start this June.

Parsons Corporation is the contractor hired by the Corp of Engineers to oversee the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study.

Parsons Project Manager Kimberly Vaugh gave an overview powerpoint presentation on the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study. A summary of the powerpoint presentation follows.

The focus of the Remedial Investigation starting in June is on munitions and explosives of concern (MEC), munitions debris (MD) and munitions constituents (MC)

The MEC investigation is for intact military munitions and the investigation will include instrument-aided reconnaissance, digital geophysical mapping (DGM) and intrusive anomaly investigation.

Instrument-aided reconnaissance will include walking the site with metal detectors to locate clusters of metal objects.

Geophysical mapping will include using metal detectors to look for “anomalies”, record precise locations and to evaluate and select for subsequent excavation.

Excavation of anomalies will include primarily using hand tools and will establish exclusion zones based on known or suspected munitions. If necessary, there will be possible evacuation. Once completed, holes will be backfilled and restored. This will not be 100 percent clearance.

The MD investigation is to investigate remnants of munitions that are not hazardous.

The MC investigation will start with no current data available. The investigation will include conducting soil and groundwater sampling to establish the presence or absence of munitions constituents. Samples for analysis will be surface soil and groundwater from existing wells. The investigation will only be looking for chemicals associated with munitions.

Metals related to munitions include barium, chromium, copper, lead, strontium and zinc (soil only). Percholate is related to groundwater only.

If significant MC is present, more samplings may need to be conducted. If no MC is present, no further sampling will be required.

To complete the Remedial Investigation, property owners must give permission for the project team to enter and investigate. One-hundred-seventy right-of-entry requests were mailed to landowners of the former Camp Howze.

The Remedial Investigation is not a removal action, the objectives are to research, identify and prioritize the work that still needs to be done in the future.

After the Remedial Investigation, the project team will conduct a Feasibility Study to start in June of 2010. The purpose of the Feasibility Study will be to identify potential remedies and select the best remedy.

The public comment period is scheduled for November of 2010 when recommendations for review of the proposed plan are brought to the public in a public meeting.

In December of 2010, the decision will be formalized.

The project members from the Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District are Stephen Seint, Ed Rivera, Randy Cephus and Eric Kirwan. Project members from the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center in Huntsville are Ralph Campbell and Teresa Carpenter. Project members from Parsons Corporation are Kimberly Vaughn, Neil Feist and Steve Rembish.

For more information about the former Camp Howze investigation go to http://gis.parsons.com/howze/. For more information about Fort Worth District’s activities go to http://www.swf.usace.army.mil/.