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A Brief History of the Brunswick Naval Air Station (BNAS)
Around 1935, the town of
Brunswick constructed a small municipal airport in part of its
old Town Commons. The Navy acquired the airfield in response to
World War II, and Naval Air Station Brunswick (NASB) was
commissioned April 15, 1943.
After World War II ended
in 1945, the air station was placed on caretaker status and
facilities on the station were leased to a variety of
organizations, including the University of Maine, Bowdoin
College, and the Town of Brunswick, which subleased it to
Brunswick Flying Service.
NASB currently consists
of the Naval Air Station in the Town of Brunswick, Cumberland
County, and several noncontiguous remote areas. Off-station
areas include sites in Brunswick and the towns of Topsham and
Phippsburg, Sagadahoc county. |
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(Excerpted
from the Integrated Natural Resources Plan, published in 2001 by the
Naval
Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic Division, for
NASB)
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History of Pollution at the Brunswick Naval Air Station
The Navy began disposing of hazardous materials on the air
station grounds in 1942 and continued until 1979. Although the dumping has
stopped, migration of toxic chemicals through the soil and groundwater has
continued. The air station has been added to the EPA's list of toxic waste
sites commonly referred to as "Superfund" sites.
History of contamination at the Brunswick Naval Air Station
can be viewed at the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick (look for the notebooks in the "Natural Resource"
section on the 2nd floor near the Reference Desk). The history contains
documentation that lead to the approval of the "Records of Decision" as defined
by the State of Maine and the U.S. EPA in 1994 and which is the official contract
for the clean-up effort.
Major remediation milestones at the Brunswick Naval Air Station
1992 |
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Record of Decision (ROD) approved by the U.S. Navy.
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1994 |
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Consolidation and capping to restrict migration of contaminants.
Start of remediation action.
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1995 |
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Effluent treatment started in conjunction with partial discharge into
the Brunswick Sewer Treatment Plant.
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Installation of a "slurry wall" around the containments.
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2000 |
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Proposal presented to upgrade the treated effluent and eliminate
the discharge into the Brunswick Sewer Treatment Plant.
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2003 |
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All administrative records from June 1983 through April
2003 have been digitized into a Database on CD's and made
available at the Curtis Memorial Library reference desk in
Brunswick, Maine.
It is anticipated that this information will be kept current
by the US Navy.
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2005 |
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In November 2005, BNAS was designated for closure by 2011 under the Base
Realignment And Closure (BRAC) process. At this time, a local redevelopment organization
has been created in Brunswick and that group has indicated an interest in toxic
and hazardous waste contamination conditions. This redevelopment group expects to
have a web site and a link to that site will be provided when available.
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2006 |
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Indexing of administrative records.
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Visit by the Director of USEPA Region #1 determined a need to remediate oil seepage into a stream and to improve operation of the Eastern Plume treatment plant.
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An initiative to publish a newsletter and to develop a reuse plan based on "Smart Growth" endorsed.
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2007 |
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Compilation and indexing of the "Administrative Record' concerning specific contamination sites made available in the public library. (Previously these records were only available through 2003 and were unindexed.)
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The first of a "quarterly" newsletter scheduled for publication.
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List of Contaminants
The State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection [MDEP] is involved in the oversight of this site, including the hazardous waste remediation. As of October 2001, MDEP published on their web site a "tracking system" matrix that identified 19 locations with 14 classifications of progress in remediation. That data still has relevance today in providing both a historical perspective of the known contaminants on the property and the on-going efforts to remediate some, but not all of the known problems.
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