EPA RCRA ID: MD4170024687
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes, or did so in the past, investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, groundwater, surface water and air. For more information, and for more information on RCRA-specific terms used on this page, please visit EPA’s umbrella RCRA web page or EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action page.
On this page:
- Cleanup Activities
- Facility Description
- Institutional/Engineering Controls
- Enforcement and Compliance
- Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
- Contacts for this Facility
Cleanup Activities
On November 21, 2000, EPA issued a Permit to the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) for corrective action and waste minimization based on the authorities of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA). The Permit requires proper management of hazardous materials and a RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI). The purpose of the RFI is to determine the extent of releases of hazardous waste and/or constituents at the facility. The RFI will include an environmental investigation of the Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) and Areas of Concern (AOCs) at the site. EPA has approved the NNMC Interim Measures report for remediation of onsite contaminants at AOC #1 and AOC #12. EPA has received and reviewed the Priority One Interim RFI Report of the environmental investigation. EPA approved the ecological risk assessment on March 6, 2007. Approval was also granted for the Priority III Project Plan.
The Draft-Final RCRA Facility Investigation Report was submitted on August 15, 2008 and EPA provided comments on February 18, 2011. A meeting was held with NNMC to discuss EPA comments on March 15, 2011. On May 5, 2011, EPA issued a letter to NNMC concurring with the conclusion given in the RFI report that no further action is required for 12 SWMUs and AOCs. EPA also completed its review of the AOC 4 UST Excavation Report and granted approval for no further action in a letter to NNMC on May 11, 2011.
During BRAC construction in the area of Gate 5 debris was discovered. During excavation approximately 30 roll-off containers (~943 tons) of soil which included tires, drums and crushed 5-gallon pails were removed. Confirmatory samples were taken.
EPA issued a Statement of Basis for no further investigation or cleanup for SWMUs four, five, six, eight, nine, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 25, 28, 34 and AOCs one, seven, eight, and 12; concurrently EPA is issuing a draft permit for the further investigation of the remaining 10 SWMUs and five AOCs at the Facility. The public notice was issued June 19, 2013 and the public comment period ended on August 5, 2013.
On February 7, 2017, EPA issued a Statement of Basis for no further investigation or cleanup for the rest of the SWMUs and AOCs, included in the RCRA Corrective Action Permit. Concurrent with the Statement of Basis, EPA also issued a Notice of Termination Permit for the Facility.
Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility
| Action | Status | Date of Action |
|---|---|---|
| Human Exposure Under Control Human Exposure Under Control(CA725) | ||
| Groundwater Migration Under ControlGroundwater Migration Under Control (CA750) | ||
| Remedy DecisionRemedy Decision (CA400) | ||
| Remedy ConstructionRemedy Construction (CA550) | ||
| Ready for Anticipated Use Ready for Anticipated Use (CA800) | ||
| Performance Standards AttainedPerformance Standards Attained (CA900) | ||
| Corrective Action Process TerminatedCorrective Action Process Terminated (CA999) |
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility
| Action | Area Name | Date of Action |
|---|
For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Facility Description
Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.
The 243-acre federal facility, formally known as the Naval Medical Command National Capital Region, is now known as the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), Bethesda, MD. NNMC is a large hospital, laboratory and medical research facility which generates various waste streams. The facility is located in Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland within the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.
NNMC consist of 35 SWMUs and 12 AOCs. Chemicals of concern include tetrachloroethane, trichloroethane and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene which have been detected in the background studies. The RCRA Facility Investigation of the site will determine the nature and extent of contaminants at the SWMUs and Areas of Concerns. EPA will evaluate the data gathered during the RFI and determine if clean-up measures are necessary to protect human health and the environment.
Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility
Institutional Controls are not required at this site.
Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.
Are Controls in Place at this Facility?
|
Control(s) Type |
Control(s) in Place? |
Areas Subject to Control(s) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Institutional ControlsNon-engineering controls used to restrict land use or land access in order to protect people and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances remaining in the site/or facility. (CA 772) |
Informational DevicesInformational Devices (ID) |
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Governmental Controls (GC) |
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Enforcement and Permit Tools (EP) |
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| Proprietary ControlsProprietary Controls (PR) | |||
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Engineering ControlsEngineering measures designed to minimize the potential for human exposure to contamination by either limiting direct contact with contaminated areas or controlling migration of contaminants. (CA 770) |
Groundwater ControlGroundwater Control (GW) |
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Non-Groundwater |
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For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.
Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.
RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO
Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:
- RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
- Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
- Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
- Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites
Documents, Photos and Graphics
Contacts for this Facility
EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.
For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.