KINGMAN, Ariz. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District hosted a public meeting Feb. 5 regarding the upcoming Time Critical Removal Action at sites in the former Kingman Ground-to-Ground Gunnery Range.
The purpose of the meeting was to make representatives from the Corps of Engineers available to the public to discuss the soil removal activities of hazardous material associated with the clean up in a portion of the Chaparral Mesa II and New Kingman subdivisions located near the intersection of East Thompson Avenue and Rose Drive.
“We are here to take care of the people in these communities and build a stronger relationship between them and the Corps of Engineers,” said Fran Firouzi, the project manager for the LA District. “We want to make sure the people understand that we are here to do all we can to clean up the debris left over from the use of this land during World War II, and we will mitigate the risk to the health of the residents here.”
The sites involved in the removal action at the Formerly Used Defense Site were used as skeet ranges during World War II. The area was home to the Kingman Flexible Gunnery School, one of only seven schools of its kind in the U.S. There were 15 skeet ranges located at the gunnery school. The ranges were constructed side-by-side in an overlapping pattern. World War II clay pigeons were constructed with coal tar pitch which contains chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Skeet remnants, or the debris from clay targets, remain in the area.
Using the TCRA process, Firouzi said the Corps and its contractor, Eco and Associates, Inc., will "abate, prevent, minimize, stabilize, mitigate, or eliminate the release or threat of release” [40 Code of Federal Regulations 300.415(b) (1)]. A removal response is appropriate only when site-specific conditions indicate an imminent threat to human health, safety, or the environment (Engineer Regulation 200-3-1). Project activities will include the development of a TCRA work plan, public involvement activities, soil sampling, soil excavation and disposal, site restoration, and the development of the TCRA Completion Report. Eco will remove soil from the affected properties in the time critical section and replace it with soil not contaminated with PAHs.
During the meeting, Corps representatives, along with members of the team involved with the project, spoke with members of the public and answered questions in the open forum. Nearly 30 members of the public attended the meeting.
“I think it went very well,” Firouzi said. “Our goal was to get the word out about our plan and to let the public get a better understanding of our policies. I think we were successful.”
The cleanup work is scheduled to begin later in February.