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EPA / ARMY COMPLETE CLEANUP, DELETE SITE FROM SUPERFUND: CREATE WILDLIFE REFUGE

Release Date: 02/15/2002
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Affairs, (617) 918-1064

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken the Fort Devens Sudbury Training Annex off the Superfund list and freed the property for reuse. The agency determined that the former Army installation located in the Massachusetts towns of Hudson, Maynard, Stow, and Sudbury no longer poses a significant threat to public health or the environment.

"Taking a site off the Superfund is a sign of real accomplishment," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England office. "The largest portion of the site, some 2200 acres, have been turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to manage as the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge - a real gem in the middle of the suburbs. Residents should be pleased that initial studies showing dangerous levels of contamination have been replaced by new studies showing the effectiveness of cleanup activities."

Since cleanup activities began in 1985, the Army (with EPA oversight) has removed more than 15,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, removed over 300 tanks and drums, capped the Old Gravel Pit landfill (covering approximately 2 acres), and has continued to monitor contaminated groundwater.

The 2750-acre site was acquired by eminent domain in 1942 by the U.S. Government for use as an Army ammunition storage point during World War II. Since that time it has been used for ordnance research and development, field testing of military materials, and troop training. The site consists of a landfill, a former fire training and flame retardant clothing test area, underground storage tanks, a rail yard maintenance area, a pesticide storage area, an ammunition demolition area, and miscellaneous disposal areas. Environmental studies determined that groundwater under the landfill was contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, and metals and other sampling revealed areas of contaminated soil. The Sudbury Annex was added to EPA's National Priorities List in 1990.

EPA, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the Army will review the site again in five years to insure that the landfill cap is continuing to be an effective remedy.

Approximately 2205 acres of the now-clean site have been transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Under negotiation is the transfer of another 4.1 acres to the United States Air Force and 71.4 acres to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.