Volume 143, No. 99 covering the 1st Session of the 105th Congress (1997 - 1998) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE DELETION OF HARRISBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FROM SUPERFUND” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1419-E1421 on July 14, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE DELETION OF HARRISBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FROM SUPERFUND
______
HON. GEORGE W. GEKAS
of pennsylvania
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 14, 1997
Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, exactly 2 weeks ago, during the recent Fourth of July recess, at 2 p.m., on Monday, June 30, 1997, I participated in a brief ceremony which was the culmination of an effort that spanned nearly my entire career in the House of Representatives. That event was the removal, or deletion, of the Harrisburg International Airport from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Superfund List, the nationwide priority list of hazardous waste sites. Very few things in which I have participated during my tenure as the Member of Congress from the 17th District of Pennsylvania will have the stunning regional impact as the seemingly small and bureaucratic action of this Superfund list removal.
In addition to me, those participating in the deletion ceremony included Bradley L. Mallory, Pennsylvania's secretary of transportation; Elizabeth S. Voras, deputy secretary for aviation and rail freight [PADOT]; Timothy Fields, Acting Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Maj. Joseph Hand, Deputy District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District; M. Joel Bolstein, deputy secretary for special projects, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; and, many of those who toiled for years to accomplish this goal.
In 1983, hazardous contamination was discovered in the soil and groundwater on and around the land of the Harrisburg International Airport [HIA] forcing the inclusion of HIA on the Superfund list in June 1986. The HIA Superfund site included not only the airport, but also Penn State Capital Campus and adjacent industrial areas. And, for the next 14 years, I and my staff worked to achieve the end that is this deletion--the action that formally notes that the site has been cleaned of contaminants to EPA's satisfaction--and also to foster the beginning of a potentially huge increase in investments and jobs in the area. The removal of this land from the purview of the EPA umbrella opens the area, now free from the onerous legal and regulatory restraints which abound under Superfund, to massive business development.
Mr. Speaker, this site has become a Superfund ``how to'' example for formerly used defense sites [FUDS], one which we hope both the Department of Defense and EPA will replicate nationwide. The HIA effort yielded a model participant advisory panel which held monthly status/
action meetings; it offered the concept of parceling out noncontaminated land for development, now an EPA standard guideline; and, it showed how a success oriented, versus regulation oriented, effort could cut redtape and yield faster and easier results. All in all, the people of central Pennsylvania can again be quite proud of how they have handled a major problem with a successful resolution.
At the end of these remarks I would like to enter into the Record three items related to the HIA Superfund deletion: the EPA Public Comment Notice for the deletion; the final statement of deletion signed by Secretary Mallory, Assistant Administrator Fields, Major Hand, Deputy Secretary Bolstein, and myself; and, the statement I made at the deletion event. Finally, Mr. Speaker, may I offer my thanks to all of those whose hard work have led to this moment: my staff, current and past; the MAC group, in particular Nick DiNaro of EPA; and the citizens who live in and around Harrisburg International Airport whose lives have been so long affected by this 14-year adventure.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency Announces a Public Comment Period for the Middletown Air Field Site, Middletown, PA, on a
Proposal to: Remove the Site From the Superfund List
The public comment period will last 30 days from the published date of this announcement.
The cleanup of a former Air Force military base located in Middletown, PA has been determined to be completed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Site has been on EPA's Superfund list since June 1986, after trichloroethylene was found in the Harrisburg International Airport water supply. The EPA is now proposing to remove the Middletown Air Field Superfund Site from its Superfund list since a health threat no longer exists. The property was initially established Camp George Gordon Meade by the Army on rolling farmland as a basic training camp in response to the Spanish-American War in July, 1898. In less than a year, the tent camp reverted to a pickle farm operated by H.J. Heinz, Company until May 15, 1917 when ground was broken for what eventually became known as the Olmsted Air Force Base in September 1947. Activities throughout the history of the Site included: warehousing and supply of parts, equipment, general supplies, petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) for the Northeast Procurement District; complete aircraft overhaul including stripping, repainting, engine overhaul, reassembly, and equipment replacement; engine and aicraft testing; and
The Air Force runway and most of the Air Force industrial buildings (approximately 625 acres) are currently owned by the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PADOT), which maintains and manages the Harrisburg International Airport (HIA). HIA conducts general airport operations and maintenance, and leases buildings to fixed base operators and industrial tenants. Operations performed by tenants at this Site include:
aircraft maintenance operations, aircraft paint stripping and repainting, and parts cleaning,
aircraft instrument overhaul and repair,
fabric dying,
machine shop operations,
typewriter ribbon inking and cartridge assembly.
Approximately 218 acres of former administrative and housing facilities north of Route 230 are owned by the Harrisburg Campus of the Pennsylvania State University. An additional 93 acres of former Air Force warehouse facilities just south of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) were sold to First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. in 1995 by Fruehauf Industries, which still retains ownership of the North Base Landfill. Fruehauf was involved in the manufacturing of truck trailers with Site activities including welding, punching, fastening, foaming and painting.
Based on the results of site investigations, EPA has determined that:
No further action, except for institutional controls, is necessary to address soils at the Site.
On-going monitoring of surface water and sediment in the Susequehanna River is required. In addition, selected storm drains are also to be sampled and evaluated in five years. The sampling frequency may be modified by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) after one year.
On-going monitoring of the sentinel wells at the North Base Landfill Area is required. No other actions for this area are deemed necessary at this time.
No action is required for surface water or sediment in Meade Heights.
In the event that the HIA should cease or reduce the pumping of the production wells, PADEP will assess the potential for currently contained hazardous substances to migrate towards the Susquehanna River and may impose a sampling and review period (not to initially exceed 5 years), to assess whether any impact is occurring regarding the Susquehanna River. After the initial review, PADEP will again review the Site's status and determine if additional action is warranted.
Ground water use will be restricted in the event any new wells or modification of usage to existing wells are to be implemented at the Site. Ground water use at the Site will require a permit or approval by PADEP prior to use.
Based on the results of the supplemental study investigation (SSI) and BRA, no additional action, than that already required by the 1987 ROD and the 1990 ROD, as modified by the 1992 Explanation of Significant Differences
(ESD), is required at the Site. It should also be noted that based upon the SSI, the objectives of the Harrisburg Airport Master Plan can be realized within the requirements of the
``No Further Action'' alternative by utilizing engineering and institutional controls.
All necessary design and construction activities have been approved by EPA and completed. EPA is proposing to remove the Middletown Air Field site from the Superfund list since no further actions, other than institutional controls and monitoring are required.
Documents relating to the investigation and cleanup leading to this proposed deletion are available for public review at: Middletown Public Library, 20 North Catherine Street, Middletown, PA 17057, (717) 944-6412 and U.S. EPA Region III, 841 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 566-3157.
For further information please contact: Nick Di Nardo, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA Region III, (215) 566-3365 or (800) 553-2509; or William Hudson, Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA Region III, (215) 566-5532 or (800) 553-2509.
____
[From the Federal Register]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan; National
Priorities List Update
40 CFR Part 300
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency.
Action: Notice of Deletion of the Middletown Air Field site from the National Priorities List.
Summary: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the deletion of the Middletown Air Field Superfund site in Middletown, Pennsylvania from the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is Appendix B of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (NCP), which EPA promulgated pursuant to Section 105 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. EPA and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have determined that all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been implemented and that no further cleanup by responsible parties is appropriate. Moreover, EPA and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have determined that remedial actions conducted at the site to date have been protective of public health, welfare, and the environment.
Effective Date: June 30, 1997.
For further information contact: Nicholas J. DiNardo, Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Regional III, (215) 566-3365.
Supplementary information: The site to be deleted from the NPL is: Middletown Air Field, Middletown, Pennsylvania.
A Notice of Intent to Delete for this site was published May 23, 1997 (53 CFR 30452). The closing date for comments on the Notice of Intent to Delete was June 23, 1997. EPA received no comments.
The EPA identifies sites which appear to present a significant risk to public health, welfare, or the environment and it maintains the NPL as the list of those sites. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Fund-) financed remedial actions. Any site deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial actions in the unlikely event that conditions at the site warrant such action. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP state that Fund-financed actions may be taken at sites deleted from the NPL. Deletion of a site from the NPL does not affect responsible party liability or impede agency efforts to recover costs associated with response efforts.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR part 300
Hazardous Waste
1. The authority citation for Part 300 continues to read as follows:
Authority: Section 105, Pub. L. 96-510, 94 Stat. 2764, 42 U.S.C. 9605 and sec. 311(c)(2), Pub. L. 92-500 as amended, 86 Stat. 865, 33 U.S.C. 1321(c)(2); E.O. 12316, 46 FR 42237; E.C. 11735, 38 FR 21243.
Appendix B [AMENDED]
2. THE NPL Part 300; Appendix B, is amended a follows
Remove: Middletown Air Field, Middletown, Pennsylvania
Timothy Fields, Jr.,
Acting Assistant Administrator for
Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
This Notice of Deletion of the Middletown Air Field site from the National Priorities List is hereby concurred by:
Hon. George W. Gekas,
U.S. Representative,
17th District, Pennsylvania.
Bradley L. Mallory,
Secretary,
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Maj. Joseph T. Hand,
Deputy District Engineer.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District.
M. Joel Bolstein,
Deputy Secretary for Special Projects,
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
____
Statement of Congressman George W. Gekas at the HIA Deletion Ceremony on June 30, 1997
In 1898, the land on which we stand was irrevocably transformed when it became Camp George Gordon Meade of the United States Army in response to the needs of the ongoing Spanish-American War.
Now, nearly 100 years later, with the signing of this deletion agreement, this site will benefit from yet another major transformation: from an EPA Superfund site to a PA super-development site.
In the intervening century between these two monumental episodes, Olmsted Air Force Base, as the area became known, served as a pickle plant, and then as a major Air Force depot for engine overhauling. During WWII and the Korean War, Olmsted provided critical support for the Air Force. Employment at the base during the peak years topped 17,000. But, in 1964, in a force downsizing reminiscent of today, Olmsted Air Force Base began a three-year phaseout. The action was a devasting one, substantially reducing the size of the Middletown community. And 30 years ago tomorrow--July 1, 1967--the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took ownership of the former Olmsted base.
But the community and the region did not give in when the Air Force gave up. In the intervening years, the once-thriving military base became an international airport, and civilian, not military production took over the vacant acreage. The site and region were moving towards major redevelopment, turning a brownfield site, desolate from neglect, into a job site, flush with entrepreneurial prospects poised to create thousands of new jobs. That is, until May, 1983.
In May, 1983, job creation's forward movement ceased when the discovery of volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination was found in supply wells in and around the Harrisburg International Airport, the now former Olmsted AFB. Through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, testing revealed a broader scope of groundwater contamination than previously thought, extending to surrounding homes, the Sunset Golf Course, Lisa Lakes Trailer Park, and other areas.
With the assistance of the late Senator John Heinz, Senator Arlen Specter, then State Senator John Shumaker and State Representative Rudy Dininni, my office contacted and worked with DER, PA-DOT, the U.S. Air Force, the Environmental Protection Agency, and many others, to determine the course of action to be taken. In October of that year we requested of the EPA that the Harrisburg International Airport be included on the newly-passed National Priorities List for Hazardous Sites (NPL) which would qualify the area for funding through EPA's Superfund. Three years later, in June of 1986, HIA was added to the NPL, the Superfund list.
From 1986 through 1992, many meetings were held with the related local, state, and federal entities in an effort to determine the proper course of action for the cleanup and deletion of the site. A major step forward in the effort to create an effective cleanup policy was the formation of the Middletown Advisory Committee (MAC), made up of representatives from the affected parties. The MAC group began monthly meetings to work through the many problems associated with Superfund sites and devise solutions. The cleanup/deletion goal, shared by all parties, created an originality of thought that certainly benefited HIA, and we think was very useful to EPA at other sites as well.
While moving forward, the cleanup process was not without problems. And many of those problems related to money: the more cleanup done, the more it cost. And with other sites to contend, and the responsible party--the Air Force--was not a limitless source of funds. New funding, totaling over $9 million, had to be specifically appropriated for cleanup at HIA through the United States Congress. My office became the focal point for those appropriations requests.
Successes began to be tallied: by 1994 the cleanup of HIA was well underway; Sunset Golf Course was nearly finished. In 1996 the sale of a valuable parcel of uncontaminated land
(but still located on the grounds of the former Olmsted AFB and thus the current Superfund site) on the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation property occurred, spurring growth and thousands of new jobs. And, by early 1997, the cleanup was all but finished, leaving little but regulatory requirements and paperwork.
Which brings us to today. To this ceremony about an end and a beginning.
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