Jacksonville NAS is an active installation facing a variety of contamination issues both in the past, and in the present. The EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List in 1989 because of contaminated soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water. More recently, the problem of high levels of PFAS in water at the base has come to the fore. We’ll cover the historical and ongoing contamination issues from a variety of sources (EPA, Navy, media reports, health studies). Much of the following has been included, verbatim, from original sources. Our desire is to collate all available information into a centralized and clear article for you to understand the full picture of contamination for this base.
History
Since 1992, the Navy has undertaken and completed numerous cleanup actions at the site and completed cleanup actions for all OUs except OU-3 and OU-7. The Navy, EPA and FDEP are continuing to investigate portions of the installation, improve cleanup approaches in place, and investigate new areas or portions of the installation where the Navy implemented land use controls but did not issue cleanup plans.
EPA has divided the site into eight areas, referred to as operable units, or OUs. Each OU addresses a different area of the site: OU-1, On-Site Landfill and Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Transformer Storage Area; OU-2, Wastewater Treatment Plant; OU-3, Industrial Area; OU-4, Casa Linda Lake; OU-5, South Antenna Farm; OU-6, Hanger 1000 Groundwater Plume; OU-7, PSC 46 / Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office; and OU-8, Pesticide Shop.
EPA has issued cleanup plans for seven OUs. The most recent one, for OU-8, was issued in 2008. The OU-8 cleanup plan included digging up contaminated soil and disposing of it in an off-site permitted landfill; placing clean soil back into the excavated area; installing a soil cover system over contaminated soil areas above contaminated groundwater. It also included monitored natural attenuation for contaminated groundwater, and implementation of land use controls.
The agencies are still investigating other portions of the site that may require cleanup. Approximately 10 to 12 areas require additional investigation to see if the need for land use controls remains.
Land Use Controls are in place at OU-1, OU-2, OU-3, OU-4, OU-5, OU-6, OU-7 and OU-8 because contamination in soil or groundwater remain at levels above unrestrictive use, but at acceptables levels for industrial or current use. The Navy continues to perform cleanup activities for OU-3 and OU-7, and is required to assess how far OU-3 ground water contamination has spread.
Chemicals and Locations of Concern
The following EPA information is undergoing review for accuracy and completeness, and may be subject to change.
OU ID | Name | Decision Document | Cleanup Technologies Selected in the Decision Document |
---|---|---|---|
00 | SITEWIDE | Not applicable | |
01 | CHILD STREET LF & PCB STORAGE | Record of Decision September 29, 1994 | Data not available |
01 | CHILD STREET LF & PCB STORAGE | Record of Decision August 03, 1998 | Bioremediation (anaerobic, insitu) Bioremediation (other, NOS, insitu) Cap (engineered cap) Cap (exsitu) Consolidate (onsite) Excavation Institutional Controls Monitored Natural Attenuation Monitoring Revegetation Treatment (other, NOS, onsite) |
02 | INDUST WASTE WATER TREAT PLT | Record of Decision September 29, 1994 | Data not available |
02 | INDUST WASTE WATER TREAT PLT | Record of Decision September 21, 1995 | Engineering Control (other, NOS) Monitoring Other (NOS) Revegetation Solidification/Stabilization (insitu) |
02 | INDUST WASTE WATER TREAT PLT | Record of Decision March 19, 1999 | No Further Action |
03 | INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX | Record of Decision September 28, 2000 | Institutional Controls Monitoring |
03 | INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX | Record of Decision October 02, 2006 | Institutional Controls Monitored Natural Attenuation Monitoring |
04 | CASA LINDA LAKE (PSC-21) | Record of Decision September 28, 2000 | Institutional Controls Monitoring |
05 | PSC 51 | Record of Decision September 22, 2005 | Bioremediation (other, NOS, insitu) Institutional Controls Monitored Natural Attenuation Monitoring |
06 | HANGER 1OOO, PSC 52 | Record of Decision March 21, 2007 | Chemical Reduction (insitu) Institutional Controls Monitored Natural Attenuation Monitoring |
07 | PSC 46 DRMO | Record of Decision September 22, 2005 | Disposal (offsite) Excavation Institutional Controls Monitored Natural Attenuation Monitoring |
07 | PSC 46 DRMO | Explanation of Significant Differences June 25, 2019 | Data not available |
08 | PSC 47 PESTICIDE SHOP | Record of Decision September 30, 2008 | Disposal (offsite) Excavation Institutional Controls Monitored Natural Attenuation Monitoring (groundwater) |
09 | PSC 45 BLDG 200 WASH RACK | No decision document | |
10 | MMRP | No decision document | |
11 | LUC SITES | No decision document | |
12 | PSC 38 TORPEDO WORKSHOP | No decision document | |
13 | NEX GAS STATION | No decision document | |
14 | CARBON TETRACHLORIDE GW | No decision document |
Risks and pathways addressed by the cleanup include health risks from people ingesting or touching contamination in groundwater, sediment, soil and surface water. Contamination resulted from waste handling practices at the site. To address potential risks associated with contamination, land use controls have been put in place at the site.
Recent Revelations Regarding PFAS
Naval Air Station Jacksonville is not only one of the city’s largest employers with more than 7,000 civilians and 9,000 active duty. It is also a big polluter. A report by Health and Human Services (ATSDR) and the Department of Defense reveals the Jacksonville base has polluted groundwater. In 2018, Jacksonville NAS tested various wells and locations inside the base grounds. Note: The recommended EPA level for the fire fighting chemical is 70 parts per trillion (ppt).
All 17 samples that were taken inside the boundaries of NAS Jacksonville tested above the advisory levels, ranging from 3,410 to 1,397,120 parts per trillion. Test wells just outside the base to the south tested below the suggested levels, and that reason — as well as the fact that groundwater in that area flows west — caused organizers to exclude the area directly south of the base from the zones of concern. The test wells on the northern end of the base are located in the firefighting training area, which had the highest levels at the installation.
Various testing continues, and warning letters have been sent out. NAVFAC, began testing NAS Jacksonville after the U.S. Department of Defense put the base on a national list of 36 contaminated military installations in March, 2018.
According to news reports,
NAS Jacksonville said it used a large amount of one compound in its aircraft and ship firefighting training program until it was discontinued at the base in 2003. Because the chemical can’t easily be cleaned, a high concentration still sits in an NAS “holding pond” — the same pond, which, for the past 22 years, the base has been filtering and sending to nearby Timuquana Country Club for irrigating its golf course.
Officials have told the public that a long-term solution will be hard to come by — residents would either need to dig deeper wells that avoid gathering groundwater or to hook into the central utility, JEA. Both come at a cost and do not offer a cleanup solution.
One Navy veteran at a meeting on the contamination in 2018, expressed the frustration of many.
“I’d like to have known about the advisory when I was using it on active duty from the late 80s for the firefighting training, but now you find out 20 years [later] the different chemicals that — ‘Hey, surprise!’ How much of the underground water is affected? Is it just limited to the areas? Or is it spread out to [a] 5- or 10-mile radius? Did it get contaminated in the St. Johns River and the following creeks surrounding the base?”
Toxic levels of the discontinued PFAS can persist for thousands of years, leading public health experts to refer to the compounds as “forever chemicals.” Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have called the presence of the chemicals in drinking water supplies a widespread public health crisis, and states and local communities are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to set legally allowable limits — which currently don’t exist — for the substances.
Relevant Links:
- Military tests for contaminated groundwater at 664 sites including First Coast area bases
- Jacksonville Naval Air Station – EPA Superfund Site Files
- NAS Jacksonville on HHS/Department of Defense list of bases with contaminated ground water
- 2005 ATSDR Public Health Assessment – Jacksonville NAS
- Navy Tests For Cancer-Linked ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Drinking Water Near NAS Jacksonville
- Navy offers testing, information to Jacksonville residents concerned about well water contamination
- Navy Files: NAS Jax PFAS Drinking Water Investigation
- Threat of PFAS Contamination Lurks in Jacksonville, FL Wells
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