Decontamination – groundwater clean up for the US military
| Location: | Massachusetts, US |
| Client: | Army National Guard (ARNG) |
| Value: | (Project) US$132 million |
| Scope: | Site investigation, soil, groundwater and surface water sampling, risk assessment, public meeting support, Geographic Information Systems, lead remediation, innovative technology evaluation, groundwater modeling. |
| Date: | 1997 – ongoing |
| Contact: | Paul Pettit (paul.pettit@amec.com) |
A military site in Massachusetts, US faced potential danger from water that had become contaminated as a result of demolition and equipment disposal. The fear was that untreated water could leak into residential water supplies, causing damage to vegetation and crops.
AMEC’s challenge was to identify groundwater impacts and, if necessary, develop remedies for military training areas lying above a sole source aquifer which was used for drinking water by surrounding residents. Firstly, we identified and mapped plumes of groundwater contamination which was traveling off site. Then we designed and built groundwater extraction and treatment systems capable of dealing with the contamination. The work needed to be achieved within tight cost constraints and, ideally, the treatment needed to be transferable to other waste sites in different locations.
The treatment systems we designed and delivered provided an innovative and cost effective solution for dealing with water contamination. 
Paul Pettit
Executive Vice President
The treatment systems we designed and delivered were able to cope with different types of water contaminants. Since they were also portable, the systems could deal efficiently with contamination hot spots without the need for expensive setup or transport costs. Some of the systems have since been relocated as needed elsewhere on the site. Our systems provided an innovative and cost effective solution to the problem. The pollution risk was eliminated and the military can now deal rapidly with similar problems that may occur in the future.
We have also developed major framework agreements with the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence to provide environmental services worldwide.
Further information
We provide environmental services for the US Army, Navy and Air Force, both in the US and worldwide. This example, at a military site in Massachusetts, involved potential danger from a sole source drinking water aquifer that had become contaminated over several decades as a result of military training with propellants and explosives.