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| News > $41.5M Environmental Cleanup Contract Awarded at Former George AFB |
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The Air Force has been working to clean up pollution at the former George AFB since 1981. A new Performance Based Remediation Contract will close an estimated 18 of 33 remaining active cleanup sites over the next eight years, resulting in unrestricted use of those sites. (Photo by Scott Johnston)
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$41.5M Environmental Cleanup Contract Awarded at Former George AFB
Posted 4/16/2012 Updated 4/16/2012
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Air Force Real Property Agency Public Affairs
4/16/2012 - Victorville, CA -- The Air Force Real Property Agency has awarded a Performance Based
Remediation (PBR) contract valued at approximately $41.5 million for
environmental cleanup work at the former George Air Force Base (AFB) in
Victorville, California. Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, Inc.,
headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, received the contract, which has an
eight-year period of performance ending in 2020.
Unlike traditional environmental cleanup contracts that require the
contractor to complete specific predefined tasks in the process, a PBR
allows Air Force project managers to specify desired performance outcomes
and take advantage of private sector innovation and creativity to achieve
those outcomes in a timely and cost-effective manner. The contracts are
performance based because payment is based on achieving the contract
performance objectives.
All work must comply with regulatory agreements and environmental
regulations and protect human health and the environment.
PBRs have been found to increase competitive bidding, resulting in
lower costs and faster completion of cleanup projects.
The contract at George includes all 33 active cleanup sites. The
contractor will close 18 of the 33 active cleanup sites, resulting in
unrestricted use of those sites. A site is considered fully closed when all
regulatory requirements have been met, the remedy has resulted in
unrestricted use of the site, and no additional funding is required for
future cleanup or maintenance. Remediation at the other 15 sites involves
longer-term cleanup requirements or restrictions and final cleanup will
occur sometime after the scope of this contract.
Don Gronstal, Air Force Real Property Agency BRAC Environmental
Coordinator for the former George AFB said, "Prior to the contract award,
Air Force estimates showed that six of the 33 active sites could attain site
completion status during the contract performance period. With the new PBR
approach, the Air Force increases the number of projected completions to 18,
allowing for greater unrestricted site use and reduction of long-term costs.
We're very excited about the more aggressive cleanup that will result from
this contract."
The Air Force has been working to clean up pollution at the former
George AFB since 1981, spending nearly $113 million to rid the ground and
aquifers of jet fuel and solvents. George, designated as a Superfund site in
1990, was closed as an Air Force base in 1992. Contamination resulted from
spills and leaks during routine aircraft maintenance and jet engine testing,
from jet fuel storage and transfer facilities, and from fire-fighting
training while the base was active (1941-1992.) Additional contamination
resulted from the use of the pesticide Dieldrin for termite control in the
base housing area during the same period, a common practice at the time.
To date, Air Force cleanup efforts have removed tons of contaminated
soil, more than 80 underground storage tanks, 493,495 gallons of jet fuel,
136 gallons of the solvent Trichloroethylene (TCE), and 400,781 gallons of
what's known as Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons as gasoline (TPH-g), and closed
a hazardous waste storage area. More than 50 once-contaminated sites have
been closed during years of cleanup.
The Air Force Real Property Agency is responsible for remediation
and property transfer at 40 former Air Force installations throughout the
United States under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program. At the
height of the BRAC process, AFRPA managed 87,000 acres, or about 137 square
miles of property. In the two decades since the first BRAC in 1988, the
agency has transferred 88 percent, or more than 116 square miles of land -
twice the area of Washington, D.C. - to local communities for public use.
Throughout the transfer process, the Air Force remains committed to
protecting human health and the environment. |
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