CHATTANOOGA ENGINEERS CLUB http://www.chattanooga.net/engineers/CEC.htm Volume LI September 18, 2000 12:00 noon The Cellar at Union Square THIS WEEK__________________________________________________________________ Maurice Bandy, VP of ARCADIS Geraghty & Miller, will address for the Club the defining of the circuitous boundary of the voluminous Volunteer Site and the effort and technology ARCADIS employed to accomplish that task. LAST WEEK___________________________________________________________________ Jill Davis, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Super Fund Division, displayed a site map of Volunteer Army Ammunition site and talked about the status of known contamination at the Site as well as possible plans for clean-up. The Ammunition Plant's history dated back to the beginning of construction in August 1941, production starting in 1943, and being placed on standby status in January 1946. Operation was resumed in June 1952 until March 1957. The last production phase started in 1965, and continued until March 1977 when the plant was shut down. Approximately 823 million pounds of TNT was produced during the 40's, and 284 million pounds were produced during the 50's. Volunteer Ammunition plant produced one seventh of the US production of TNT. Production processes and related activities resulted in contamination of soil, surface water, and ground water on site. Major contaminates include, but are not limited to, nitrated hydrocarbons including TNT and DNT, lead, chromium, arsenic, PCB's, PAH's, and many other compounds. At present, the full extent of soil and groundwater contamination has not been defined. Ms. Davis joined the site study team in 1997. Prior to 1977, site characterizations, including historical reviews, were in place from 1991 to 1997. Ms. Davis found reports of workers from the old sites. Next month The EPA and the Army will joint effort and survey water wells within a one-mile radius of the Site, to see whether explosives and hazardous chemicals are moving off the site. The ground water study will begin in October with a survey, and well-water sampling in November. The survey will attempt to determine whether anyone living around the plant depends on well for drinking water, and if so, whether that water is safe. Based on studies conducted in 1990's, showing chemicals had moved into wells, springs, and Chicamauga Lake. A few people living north of the plant were put on city water when traces of contaminants turned up in their wells. Based on past usage of the Site, and the known contamination level, Ms. Davis presented a map showing the preferred land use of the area. Some of the classifications of the sites are: heavy industry, future heavy industry, light industrial small sites, research and development / office / mixed use, Board of Education, Police / Fire, Equestrian Center, Army Reserve, landfill working area, landfill buffer, active restoration, utility corridor, etc. Ms. Davis mentioned that the site has received much press recently, many news articles can be found at www.timesfreepress.com. June 11-13: a three-day series about the cleanup, plant history and what's next. June 15: A high-level meeting in Nashville where the mechanics and timing of the city/county purchase of 940 acres at the site was discussed. July 16: The EPA says the Army must move faster to clean up the Volunteer Site. Sept. 5: Army, EPA to discuss cleanup at Nashville meeting. Sept. 11: Army, EPA will survey wells around Volunteer Site for contamination. (Judy Walton, staff writer, provided the above detail.) COMING PROGRAM________________________________________________________ September 25 - Claude Ramsey, Hamilton County Executive, "Volunteer Site as a component of the local economic development strategy. September Program Chair is Terry Reynolds --- Chattanooga Technology Council Mailing List | A free service provided by To unsubscribe, e-mail: ctc-unsubscribe@cdc.net | CDC Internet, Inc. For additional commands, e-mail: ctc-help@cdc.net | http://www.cdc.net "