Superfund Site: Naval Submarine Base New London

A superfund site of particular interest to me was the one located at The New London Submarine Base in Groton, CT. This site is located about 10 miles from where I grew up and is the reason why Groton is known as the “Submarine Capital of the World”. The New London Submarine Base site covers 576 acres on the eastern bank of the Thames River in Groton and was first established in 1868. The site contains multiple areas of contamination, including three landfills, past chemical storage sites, underground and aboveground tank farms, contaminated watercourses, and varying degrees of groundwater contamination.

Some of the specific areas of concern include the Area A Landfill, the Over Bank Disposal Area, the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO), the Lower Submarine Base, and the Goss Cove Landfill. The Area A Landfill site was a particularly in need of attention due to buried materials and its close vicinity to wetlands. This is because from 1957 to 1973, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), spent battery acids, and other wastes were buried below the water table throughout the 11-acre Landfill. Another area in need of attention, known as the DRMO, was used as a landfill and burning ground from 1950 until 1969. Inspections at this site reveal evidence of leaking containers and spilled materials containing PCB-contaminated oil, lead, cadmium, and pesticides in the sediments and surface water. All of these chemicals and compounds posed a direct risk to humans and posed an imminent threat to the contamination of local groundwater.
            The U.S. Navy is the lead agency for site investigation and cleanup, with formal oversight by the EPA and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. The cleanup approach for the contaminated sites at the New London Submarine Base had been broken down into five long-term phases. Each phase focuses on the cleaning and remediation of different contaminated areas throughout the submarine base. The major focus areas include the Area A Landfill, the Over Bank Disposal Area, the DRMO Area, the Lower Sub Base, the Goss Cove Landfill, Area A Weapons Center, and other contaminated areas of the base.
            So far, the U.S. Navy, with the oversight of the EPA has successfully removed a substantial amount of PCB- and lead-contaminated soil, and has contained and capped the DRMO area, Building 31, and the Spent Acid Storage Disposal Area which has reduced the health threats to humans at the New London Submarine Base. There are still, however, investigations of other site areas and continual ground water monitoring are still underway. By early 1997, the Area A Landfill cap was successfully completed. In 2001, the cap on the Goss Cove landfill and the removal action at the Over the Bank Disposal Area Northeast were also completed. Since the superfund cleanup began at the New London Submarine Base, there has been a tremendous amount of progress. All three of the base’s landfills have been capped, 7 removal actions have been completed and contaminated soils and sediment at the Area A Downstream have been removed. Wetland restoration is now currently underway at the Area A Downstream. According to the status of this site on the EPA Superfund Information System site, potential or actual human exposures are under control, contaminated groundwater migration is still being monitored, and construction is still not officially complete.