2 days ago
Funding uncertainty could delay contamination prevention tech in homes near Area B
Federal funding uncertainties could delay the U.S. Army's plans to install technology in planned homes next to Fort Detrick's Area B to prevent health risks from contaminated groundwater.
During a meeting Wednesday for Area B's Restoration Advisory Board (RAB), which is overseeing the land's remediation, Army officials said that moving the project forward depends on receiving enough money from the federal government.
Area B, a 399-acre parcel of land between Kemp Lane and Shookstown Road, separate from the main Fort Detrick campus, was used as a test site for the Army's biological warfare program in the mid-20th century.
After the program was ended in 1969, scientists disposed of hazardous waste in unlined trenches and pits within Area B, leading to groundwater contamination.
Army scientists have spent decades studying the contamination and the extent to which it has spread.
In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the groundwater at Area B as a National Priorities List Superfund site.
A Superfund site is a location that has been contaminated with hazardous waste that poses risks to the environment and human health. The EPA designates Superfund sites and places them on the National Priorities List.
Contaminated groundwater from Area B has made its way to the land next to the parcel, which is where the company Rocky Gorge Development is building a residential community called Gambrill Glenn.
Gambrill Glenn will have about 300 residential units.
The Army has detected levels of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene in the Gambrill Glenn area.
Trichloroethylene is a known carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer. Tetrachloroethylene is likely to be a carcinogen.
More than 50 Gambrill Glenn homes are at some risk for vapor intrusion, according to a map showing where the highest contamination levels on the residential development were detected.
Vapor intrusion is the process by which vapors from volatile chemicals migrate from contaminated groundwater through soil and into the basements and foundations of buildings.
The vapors can pose health risks to people who inhale them and degrade indoor air quality.
The health risks can vary depending on the types of chemicals in the vapors, levels of chemicals found, the length of exposure and the health of the exposed individuals.
Symptoms can include eye irritation, nausea, headaches and respiratory irritation, according to the EPA. Low-level exposure to chemicals over several years can increase the lifetime risk of chronic disease or cancer.
The Army plans to install protective technology against vapor intrusion in the homes that could be impacted.
Cost analysis
During the RAB meeting on Wednesday, Joseph Gortva, chief of Fort Detrick's environmental division, said none of the homes that need the protective technology are being built yet.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has prepared an engineering evaluation and cost analysis for various vapor intrusion protection systems. The analysis was presented to Fort Detrick's RAB in December.
Based on the engineering evaluation and cost analysis, the Army plans to install a vapor barrier and a sub-slab depressurization system under the townhouses' foundations.
A sub-slab depressurization system uses a powered fan to create a vacuum under a slab foundation, venting vapors from the slab out through the roof, according to the presentation.
The vapor barrier would be installed as an extra layer of protection to keep groundwater vapors out of the homes.
The Army has to host a public meeting on this analysis and plans to hold it in 2025. After this meeting, the Army can sign an action memorandum and legally be allowed to start installing the protective technology.
The analysis has been reviewed by the Maryland Department of the Environment and the EPA and has been revised based on their comments.
Additionally, the Army is in ongoing discussions with the Gambrill Glenn developers about preparing to install the technology.
Moving the project forward depends on the completion of those discussions, any environmental covenants, public notice and the availability of funding, according to Eric Kauffman, a contracted consultant supporting Fort Detrick.
He said the funding profile for the Army is 'grim,' and this project may have to be carried out in the coming federal fiscal year.
'We really don't have an update on that, other than it's a hurry-up-and-wait situation,' he said.
'A budget nightmare'
Gortva said that without secured funding, the Army can't move forward with the next step of this project, which is hosting the public information session on the engineering evaluation and cost analysis.
'Even if tomorrow, [the lawyers] concluded all the negotiations, we still need that funding,' he said. 'The question mark is, is this going to be FY25 or is it going to be FY26? I don't have an answer to that right now.'
Right now, the Army is trying to conserve money any way it can, such as moving all future RAB meetings to being virtual for the foreseeable future.
In the past, people have been able to attend meetings in-person in a rented meeting room at the Hampton Inn on Opossumtown Pike or online.
RAB member Jen Peppe Hahn asked Gortva if the Army could provide a list of how federal funding cuts are directly affecting local things, such as the restoration of Area B.
Gortva said he doesn't know if that's possible, because right now, 'almost everything' could be affected, and it's a case-by-case basis depending on what does or doesn't get funding.
To his understanding, he said, Congress sets aside a certain amount of money for the U.S. Department of Defense to use for restoration activities. That money is allocated by the Army Environmental Command.
Because there was not a set fiscal year 2025 budget, they were operating on a fiscal 2024 continuing resolution and using the same budget they had for the prior year.
At the same time, not all of the money for projects is available from the start — instead, money for programs is coming in chunks.
'If you have something you have to pay for that is more than what funding is coming in, you can't exactly pay for it at that time unless you save up money for it,' Gortva said. 'Because of that, how funding is coming in different blocks, it affects the entire program as a whole. Things become disjointed.'
He told Hahn that Fort Detrick would try to get the vapor intrusion protection technology funded in whole, and it's a high priority for the garrison.
But the garrison can't control whether or not the Army Environmental Command picks Fort Detrick to get project funds.
'In the past, we've always been fortunate that our projects have been well described, that they have an outcome that's easy to understand of what we're trying to achieve, and the projects are put together well so that they get funded,' Gortva said.
'... We hope that we continue our ability to get the funding that we need to do the program ... but there's no guarantees for anyone here.'
RAB member Roberta Huber succinctly described what the Army is dealing with: 'A budget nightmare.'
