EPA and NASA agree to address pollution from WWII-era defense at Wallops Flight Facility

Contamination by a variety of hazardous chemicals in areas of the Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague, Va., will be addressed by a new federal agreement that avoids assigning the site to the National Priorities List.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration agreed Friday that NASA will take steps to address contamination at the facility in Accomack County with EPA oversight, according to a news release.

“This agreement shows that cleaning contaminated, formerly used defense sites is a top priority for both EPA and NASA,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio in a statement. "The attention and focus that EPA has placed on the Superfund program is making a real difference in the lives of people living in communities near Superfund sites across the country."

NASA has agreed to do the following:

• An investigation and feasibility study to determine the nature and extent of the contamination and explore remedies
• Propose remedial action plans to give the public a chance to comment
• Select one or more remedies for the site
• Design and implement fixes
• If necessary, take action to address any imminent and substantial threat to human health or the environment during any part of the process.

NASA has operated the Wallops Flight Facility since 1959 and owned it since 1961. Prior, much of the site was owned by the U.S. Navy.

During WWII, the Navy operated the Chincoteague Naval Auxiliary Air Station at the site, and after the war operated the Naval Aviation Ordnance Test Station there. The land, now deemed a Formerly Used Defense Site, was used for anti-submarine operations, as a personnel training area, and as a test range for the development of guided missiles, aircraft weapons, artillery and aviation fire control equipment, the release states.

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The contamination is known to be associated with these activities, and not with NASA's presence at the site, the release states.

The Formerly Used Defense Site program is overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will also provide funding for NASA's cleanup. Investigations between 2000 and 2016 by the Army Corps at various areas around Wallops Flight Facility identified several areas of concern.

According to the release, contaminants include:

• Volatile organic compounds: perchloroethene, trichloroethene, 1,2-dichloroethene, benzene and toluene
• Semi-volatile organic compounds: naphthalene, benzo(a)pyrene and dioxins
• Polychlorinated biphenyls
• Metals
• Total petroleum hydrocarbons
• Munitions and explosives
• Munitions constituents (chemicals used in formulations as propellants, pyrotechnics and explosives in weapon systems, munitions and blasting agents)

Efforts to address this contamination are part of an ongoing effort to clean up various types of historical contamination at the site. They are not associated with PFAS contamination found around the base.

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In 2004, NASA and EPA entered into their first consent agreement, under which NASA agreed to conduct cleanup on areas of concern where NASA was the responsible party.

In 2020, NASA and EPA entered into a second consent agreement to address Formerly Used Defense Sites where the Department of Defense was determined to be the responsible party.

The new agreement allows cleanup to to be addressed under the Federal Facility Superfund Alternative Approach. This means that the site will be cleaned up without being added to the National Priorities List, also known as Superfund, but will use the same process and standards.

Wallops Flight Facility is the first federal facility in the country to be addressed this way, the release states. The method, EPA claims, can save time and resources.

Regional environmental watchdog reporter Julia Rentsch can be reached at jrentsch@delmarvanow.com.