Superfund Cleanup at Derecktor Shipyard to Cost Upwards of $20 Million

The Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Navy and the state Department of Environmental Management have completed plans to clean up contaminated areas at Derecktor Shipyard, which is part of Naval Station Newport.

The cost of the cleanup, which will be paid for by the Navy, will be about $21 million and will consist of both onshore and offshore cleanup efforts.

Onshore, crews will install new soil covers, new pavement and will follow Land Use Controls, or LUCs, which restrict the land use to industrial activity along with requiring regular monitoring with wells throughout the area.

Offshore, crews will dredge about 27,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment, cap target sub-pier areas totaling about 83,000 feet and implement regular testing to “ensure long-term protectiveness of the remedy.”

The site encompasses 1,063 acres on the west shore of Aquidneck Island facing the east passage of Narragansett Bay in Jamestown, Portsmouth, Middletown and Newport. For years, the site was used by the Navy as a refueling depot. An 11 acre portion of the property, known as McAllister Point Landfill, collected toxic waste from about 1955 to the mid 1970s.

A major concern has been the presence of five tank farms on the site and the practice of sludge being burned in chambers or dumped on the ground.

Surface water and groundwater have been passing over and through the site into the bay, which is used for bating and fishing. An estimated 4,800 people obtain drinking water and 200 acres of land are irrigated from private wells located within three miles of the site. About 10,000 live within three miles of the site.

One tank, the EPA notes, is located 300 feet from a coastal wetland. Other areas of concern include a firefighting training area

“EPA, RIDEM and the Navy have worked cooperatively to meet these important milestones, which will lead to a cleaner environment in Narragansett Bay,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “We are looking forward to continuing the cleanup work at this site.”

Investigation into the nature and extent of contamination in the soils and groundwater at the Derecktor Shipyard on-shore and off shore areas revealed elevated levels of trichloroethylene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals. The selection of the two remedies for cleanup work at Derecktor Shipyard culminates over twenty years of investigation.

With the completed plans, the Navy will begin engineering work to prepare for the cleanup tasks. Actual work should begin next December.

More information on work at the Naval Education and Training Center Superfund site: http://www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites/netc