LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Environmental efforts here take another step forward this summer as the 1st Civil Engineer Squadron teams with contractors to clean up three of the base's five remaining problem sites.
The sites include a former landfill, a portion of a former entomology building and lead-contaminated sediment in the Lighter-Than-Air cove of the Back River.
"We have one other site that we will clean up this fall, but these three will, by far, be some of the most complex cleanups we've conducted," said John Tice, 1st CES environmental restoration chief.
At the LTA cove, the site of an old skeet range, contractors will isolate the cove from the main body of the river, drain it and extract 10,000 cubic yards of river sediment that contains lead and lead shot, explained Mr. Tice.
Contractors will stabilize the lead content in that sediment and lead-contaminated soil from the former landfill. The treated soil will be returned to the landfill and covered, as will the area near the former entomology building, which contains residual pesticide contamination.
Since the early 1980s, engineers and contractors have restored 50 of the 55 sites base officials originally identified for cleanup under the Environmental Restoration Program. In many cases, the program transformed unusable land to real estate currently used by the base. The running track near the Shellbank Sports and Fitness Center and the new Army and Air Forces Exchange Service mini mall sit on former restoration sites, said Mr. Tice.