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EPA Declares Ft. Meade’s Tipton Airfield Free of Hazardous Waste

Release Date: 1/25/1999
Contact Information: Ruth Podems, (215) 814-5540

FORT MEADE, Md. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed all hazardous waste cleanup work at the Tipton Army Airfield property at Fort George G. Meade, and issued a “Record of Decision” saying no further action is necessary.  This cleanup was a cooperative effort among the EPA, the Army, the Maryland Department of Environment and the State of Maryland.

During the cleanup, drums of hazardous waste were removed and an acid pit was cleaned out.  In addition, over 2,000 ordnance items were recovered and disposed of.  Ordnance items are military weapons, including artillery and heavy guns.  Further work remains to be done on an inactive landfill at the site, situated on property east of the Little Patuxent River.

Fort Meade was placed on EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List of the most hazardous sites in the nation last July.  Sites placed on the list are eligible for long-term financial, technical and personnel support from the EPA to clean up the site.  The Tipton Airfield portion of the site is in the process of being deleted from the list.

Currently, Anne Arundel County has leased three buildings and a portion of the Tipton Airfield property to use as an airport.  The Tipton Airfield property will be transferred to Anne Arundel County by the fall.

Ft. George G. Meade has been a U.S. Army installation since 1917, located in northwestern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, along the Little Patuxent and Patuxent rivers, midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.


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