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EPA, DoD finalize agreement to clean up Joint Base Andrews

Release Date: 09/21/2011
Contact Information: Roy Seneca [email protected] (215) 814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (September 21, 2011) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has signed an agreement with the Department of Defense to remediate Joint Base Andrews (formerly Andrews Air Force Base) located in Clinton, Md.

Although cleanup activities have been on-going at the facility, the federal facility agreement ensures that cleanup actions proceed with EPA oversight within an enforceable framework, in a manner that protects the community and the environment. The agreement will also give the EPA and the Air Force the framework for investigating new and evolving contamination at the base as it is discovered.

“Today’s agreement is a significant milestone that will benefit the local community and environment. The agreement shows that EPA and the Department of Defense are committed to continue working together on the cleanup,” said Shawn M. Garvin, regional administrator for EPA's mid-Atlantic Region.

On May 10, 1999, EPA listed Andrews Air Force Base (now Joint Base Andrews) on the Superfund National Priorities List, which required EPA and the Department of Defense to sign a federal facility agreement governing the cleanup. Under the Superfund law, this agreement grants EPA final authority over cleanup decisions. EPA is seeking public input on the agreement during a 45-day public comment period that ends Nov. 5. A copy of the agreement can be reviewed at the Surratts-Clinton Branch of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library, 9400 Piscataway Road in Clinton, Md.

The agreement lists 13 contaminated sites on the base, as well as six additional munitions sites that require investigation and cleanup.

Joint Base Andrews is an active U.S. Department of Defense facility that occupies about 4,360 acres in Camp Springs, Prince George's County, Md., about five miles southeast of Washington, D.C. The facility was originally established as the Camp Springs Army Air Field in 1942 and became Andrews Air Force Base in 1947. For more information on the history and status of the cleanup, visit: https://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/MD0570024000.htm .