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EPA, AIR FORCE, NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU AND COAST GUARD REVISE FEDERAL FACILITIES AGREEMENT

Release Date: 04/28/1997
Contact Information: Johanna Hunter, EPA Community Involvement, (617) 918-1041 Vanessa Musgrave, AFCEE Community Involvement, (508) 968-4678 ext. 1

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of the Air Force, the National Guard Bureau and the U.S. Coast Guard reached agreement today on an amendment to the Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) for cleanup activities at the Massachusetts Military Reservation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (commonly known as Superfund). The amendment adds an enforceable schedule for plume response activities to the Agreement and a set of criteria by which decisions will be made to evaluate cleanup alternatives.

The revised FFA also includes an accelerated dispute resolution provision. This provision allows that any dispute pertaining to the enforceable schedule for plume response activities will be resolved within 36 days, instead of as many as 150 days.

The agreement also adds the latest plume, known as FS-28 or the EDB plume in Falmouth, to the FFA as an Area of Contamination (AOC), thereby making it subject to all requirements of the agreement.

The Plume Decision Criteria and enforceable schedule are a result of a collaborative effort by the Air Force, EPA and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, in consultation with community stakeholders. The Plume Decision Criteria and enforceable schedule were put out for a 30 day public review and comment period, which ended on March 10. Approximately 80 comments were received and a response to comments document is now available along with the revised FFA.

"This agreement is a major step in completing the cleanup at MMR and protecting the people of Cape Cod," said Tad McCall, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health. "We believe we've captured the criteria to reach decisions on each plume that addresses the collective needs of the community, the Air Force and the regulators."

"We will continue to use the full force of federal environmental law to insure that the enforceable commitments which the defense agencies have made in this document are met fully and expeditiously," said John P. DeVillars, administrator for EPA New England.

Copies of the revised Federal Facilities Agreement can be found in the local libraries in Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich as well as at the Installation Restoration Program Office at the MMR.