Report: Tyndall stalling on chemical cleanup - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Report: Tyndall stalling on chemical cleanup

WASHINGTON — Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., has delayed cleaning up toxic chemicals that landed the base on the Superfund list and demonstrated a pattern of not complying with federal laws, according to a government report released Monday.

The base has kept a schedule for cleaning up contamination at multiple sites but never reached a comprehensive agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress.

The problem is that toxic chemicals, which threaten the groundwater that the base uses for drinking water, haven’t been cleaned up under EPA deadlines.

“A variety of obstacles have delayed cleanup progress at these installations,” the 73-page report said. “In particular, Tyndall AFB’s long-standing lack of full compliance with environmental cleanup requirements ... has been an obstacle to verifiable cleanup of that installation.”

Tyndall is one of only five military bases that haven’t reached agreements with EPA out of 141 military bases on the Superfund list, according to Dorothy Robyn, Defense Department deputy undersecretary for installations and environment.

“Your report raises several good points, and we have already implemented solutions to many of the problems it highlights,” Robyn wrote in a reply to the report.

Tyndall occupies 29,000 acres in Florida’s Panhandle near Panama City, where President Obama spent the weekend. The base is home to the 325th Fighter Wing, which trains and maintains F-15 and F-22 squadrons.

The base was initially put on the National Priorities List, nicknamed the Superfund list, in 1997 primarily because of DDT contamination in Shoal Point Bayou. That waterway is a tidal creek that small boats use to deliver petroleum, oil, lubricants and other supplies to the base.

The base initially had 39 sites to clean up; 16 remain. The contamination in soil and groundwater includes pesticides, and chemicals from fuels and munitions.

The contamination is a concern because the base uses groundwater for drinking water and because the base is home to 40 species of threatened and/or endangered plants and animals, according to GAO.

One of the delayed disclosures involved lead found at Tyndall Elementary School in 1992. A 2009 picture of lead shot found at the school’s playground is included in the report.

But rather than notify the EPA immediately, as required by law, Tyndall officials collected soil samples with county health officials and assured the public that the area was safe. The lead was removed and replaced with clean sand.

After the base was listed as a Superfund site, federal Health and Human Services officials found contamination below levels of concern — based on test results from 1992.

But the school is located on a former target range, where Tyndall representatives found lead shot and debris from clay targets years later. Tests in 2009 found lead in the soil exceeding state standards, but the base didn’t notify the EPA for 22 days. Once notified, the EPA required the base to remove the material and notify parents.

“Tyndall’s failure to disclose lead at the schoolyard is not an isolated failure to disclose contamination,” the GAO said.

Military officials said EPA officials have known for years about the contamination problems.

The GAO suggested that Congress consider legislation allowing the EPA to impose penalties to enforce cleanup.

The Defense Department opposed that proposal, saying the EPA already has significant authority without extra penalties.

“Moreover, DoD has made significant progress in the last year,” Robyn said. “Thus, congressional action is not necessary, in our view.”