Assabet River NWR Final CCP - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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Chapter 3: Refuge and Resource Descriptions
Other Contaminant Issues
The USEPA designated the Fort Devens Sudbury Training Annex as a
national priorities list (NPL) superfund site in 1990 based on environmental
studies that had been conducted by the Army. Under USEPA and MADEP
oversight, the Army completed investigations and, where necessary, cleanup
actions at 73 locations that were identified through record searches,
interviews with past and current employees and field sampling results as
being potentially contaminated. Facility-wide investigations of
groundwater hydrology and quality, background soil contaminant
concentrations and surface water and sediment quality were conducted. In
addition, a site-wide investigation of potential arsenic contamination in soil,
water, sediment, plants and soil invertebrates was completed (USEPA
2000).
The 73 specific sites investigated included individual, abandoned empty
drums, disturbed ground and vegetation, underground fuel storage tanks,
demolition grounds, solvent and waste dumps, test clothing burial areas,
refuse dumps, old gravel pits, chemical disposal sites, etc. The U.S. Army’s
master environmental plan, revised and reissued in December 1995
provided a status report of Army actions on these sites (U.S. Army 1995).
The USEPA issued a final close out report for the 73 sites at the Fort
Devens Sudbury Training Annex in September 2000 (USEPA 2000). Of the
73 sites investigated on the Fort Devens Training Annex, USEPA and
MADEP determined:
18 were classified no contamination found;
11 were classified no contamination found following an enhanced area
reconnaissance;
9 were classified as posing no risk to humans or wildlife following
preliminary risk assessments;
5 were classified as having no contamination found following a full risk
assessment;
12 were classified as posing no risk to humans or wildlife following a full
risk assessment;
16 sites were subjected to removal actions, with confirmatory sampling
indicating there was no residual risk to humans or wildlife;
1 site was considered to be free of risk to humans and wildlife, but an
additional set of testing results were to be evaluated for confirmation;
and,
1 site (A7) was classified as no further action following construction of a
full, lined and capped landfill at the site. Long-term monitoring by the
Army for groundwater quality, landfill cap integrity and site fencing
condition is required at site A7.
The USEPA final close out report is available at the refuge headquarters in
Sudbury. Formal de-listing of the property from the national priority list
has occurred.
Assabet River NWR