CONCORD, Mass. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New England District with assistance from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore Military Munitions Design Center, and their contractor, Matrix Environmental Services, LLC will conduct a public meeting on Dec. 7, 2016 to present a no action remedy in the Proposed Plan for the Nantucket Memorial Airport Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) located on Nantucket, Mass. The Proposed Plan will be issued as a public document available for review at the Nantucket Atheneum Public Library by Dec. 1, 2016 and on the Corps website: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Projects-Topics/.
The Nantucket Memorial Airport (NMA) FUDS property consists of 577.5 acres located on the south-central portion of Nantucket Island. The property was leased by the U.S. Government between 1942 and 1946, and was used as a minor auxiliary air facility and staging point to support refueling, airplane training and emergency missions.
The NMA facility was first identified as FUDS eligible by USACE in 1992. A Visual Site Inspection conducted in 2000 coupled with a USACE review of historical documentation in the Archives Search Report (2001) and the Archives Search Report Supplement (2004) found surficial munitions debris (MD) and small arms ammunition in a 2.4 acre potential dumping ground or burial site designated as MRS-1 (Burial Site).
The 2.4 acre Site is a flat rectangular area located on the northeast side of the airport, outside of the airport security fence in an airport-owned industrial park.
The industrial park has been developed by the NMA over the past decade. It is used in part by the airport and was leased to a variety of commercial/landscaping tenants. Current land use for the site is industrial. Future land use is anticipated to remain industrial. Site surface soils have been mostly replaced during site development by the leased tenants and limited undisturbed habitat remains.
Over the past several years, the Corps of Engineers has completed an investigation of the potential explosives safety, health, and environmental issues resulting from a possible munitions burial pit at the site. The Proposed Plan describes the no action alternative for this site based on the investigation findings.
A public meeting will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Public Safety Facility, at 4 Fairgrounds Road, in Nantucket, Mass. An overview of the Proposed Plan will be provided and the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and submit comments on the Proposed Plan.
The public comment period on the Proposed Plan will run from Dec. 1, 2016 to Jan. 6, 2017.
Comments on the Proposed Plan may be submitted until Jan. 6, 2017 by mail to: Matrix Environmental Services, LLC, ATTN: Mr. Kent Boler, 2878 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 100, Marietta, GA 30062; or by email to: kent_boler@matrixdesigngroup.com.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this project, please contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager, Ms. Carol Ann Charette at 978-318-8605 (office) or 978-505-2918 (cell).