Old missile site targeted in new war on water contamination

A former nuclear missile facility in Lincoln could soon be the site of a new battle. The target: toxic contaminants in the groundwater.A proposal released Feb. 11 by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board outlines plans to clean up the groundwater by creating permeable reactive barriers – two deep trenches filled with ground-up iron and sand, creating underground filters which would neutralize the contaminants as the water flows through them.The contaminant in the groundwater, trichloroethene, is known to cause cancer in lab animals, according to officials from the water board. It was first found at the site in 1991 but John Pedri, director of Lincoln Public Works Department, said there's no immediate danger because no one is drinking the water."There's really no threat to the groundwater," Pedri said. "The nearest well is two to three miles away."The site is at 401 Oak Tree Lane, near Sun City Lincoln Hills and just outside the city limits. It's currently home to a CDF fire station and a gravel quarry.Construction of the barriers would take about two months and Duncan Austin, chief of Private Sites Cleanup Unit for the water board, said he hopes to start construction in the summer of 2010. The project will cost between $1.3 million and $2.5 million, Austin said.Placer County spokeswoman Anita Yoder said the county "hopes to begin talks" with the Army Corps of Engineers this spring over sharing cleanup costs, but that a decision is likely a long way off.Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Dave Killam said before any cleanup can begin, the county and the Army Corps of Engineers must agree who contaminated the land. "We can only clean up contamination caused by the Department of Defense," Killam said.After the Air Force dismantled the facility and handed it to Placer County in the late 1960s, it was used as a maintenance facility for county vehicles. The contaminant, trichloroethene, is a common solvent used for cleaning metal parts.Killam said much of the contamination is centered closer to the maintenance facility than the missile silos and that closer investigation still needs to be done.Antonia Vorster, a water-board program manager for the region, said trichloroethene contamination is very common with former military sites."I don't think we have one without it," she said, adding that it's rare in current facilities."How (the military) disposes of waste chemicals has changed," Vorster said. "It's really a result of past practices."The disagreement between the county and the Army Corps of Engineers meant a nearby property has sat waiting for residential development, its property value uncertain, Austin said.When the barriers are in place, Austin said, development of the nearby property could begin immediately, as long as houses would be built with vapor barriers – heavy-duty plastic seals that prevent gasses from the soil from entering the homes. He said the areas that currently have the highest levels of contamination are less of a concern. "That's an area that's not going to be developed," Austin said.The facility was built as part of Beale Air Force Base in 1962 and housed long-range Titan nuclear missiles. It had three 160-foot deep underground silos and underground facilities capable of withstanding a nuclear blast. It was disassembled in 1965 and all of the underground facilities have since flooded with groundwater, according to documents from the water board.The water board will hear comments from the public through March 12. For more information:Online:http://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/profile_report.asp?global_id=T0606189198 In person:11020 Sun Center Dr., No. 200Rancho Cordova(call 464-3291 to set up an appointment)For more information contact:Nathan Casebeer, project managerCentral Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board464-4665ncasebeer@waterboards.ca.gov