SWMU 1 – Former Army Cremator Disposal Site

SWMU 1 is an abandoned, unlined waste-pile/landfill on the edges of the mangrove swamps along the shoreline of the Ensenada Honda Bay. The landfill stretches into the mangrove swamps. This site was the Station’s main waste disposal site from the early 1940s to the early 1960s. During the IRP Round 1 investigations (1986) and Round 2 (1987), surface water, sediment, and groundwater samples revealed metals (arsenic, chromium, thallium, and selenium), low-level pesticides, and low-level organics in the surface water, sediments, and groundwater at this SWMU. An RFI of soil, sediments, surface water, and groundwater was required in the permit.

Status

• Investigations at the site are complete and a draft RFI report was submitted in March 1998.  Comments on the report were received in December 1998 and a revised report was submitted in April 1999.
• A Corrective Measures Study (CMS) outline was submitted in April 1999. The Final CMS Work Plan was submitted in October 1999. The revised Final CMS Work Plan was submitted in March 2000. Following receipt and response to comments, the Revised Final II CMS Work Plan was submitted in July 2000. The CMS was initiated in 2001.
• The Draft Final Additional Data Collection Report and Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessment and Step 3a of the Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment (BERA) submitted in March 2005.
• The Final Additional Data Collection Report and Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessment and Step 3a of the BERA was submitted to EPA in May 2006 and was approved by the EPA in June 2006.
• The Final Steps 3b and 4 of the Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment for SWMUs 1 and 2 was submitted to the EPA on January 10, 2007, and approved by the EPA in February 2007.
• The Site Verification for the Baseline ERA was initiated in February 2007.
• The Baseline ERA field investigation was initiated on April 27, 2007.
• The RCRA 7003 Administrative Order on Consent recommends the implementation of the CMS for SWMU 1.
• A Draft Phase I Interim Corrective Measures Work Plan was submitted on November 19, 2009.
• The Draft Final Steps 6 and 7 of the Baseline ERA Report was submitted to the EPA on December 1, 2009.
• The ICM for removal of metal debris at SWMU 1 was initiated in January 2010.
• On March 30, 2010 the Navy notified the EPA of the discovery of MEC at SWMU 1.
• The Final Steps 6 and 7 of the Baseline ERA Report was submitted to the EPA on April 5, 2010 and approved by the EPA on May 27, 2010.
• A Draft Sampling and Analysis Plan for On-Site Construction for Debris Removal for SWMU 1 was submitted to the EPA on December 9, 2010.
• A Draft Final Corrective Action Objectives for Terrestrial Avian Omnivores and Preliminary Delineation Investigation for SWMUs 1 and 2 was submitted to the EPA on December 16, 2010.
• The Final Sampling and Analysis Plan for On-Site Construction Support for Debris Removal at SWMU 1 was submitted to the EPA on March 10, 2011
• A Draft Report for On-Site Construction Support for Debris Removal at SWMU 1 was submitted to the EPA on November 14, 2011.