The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District continues to lead cleanup efforts in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, and local government at the former West Virginia Ordnance Works facility, an 8,320-acre Formerly Used Defense Site property located along the east bank of the Ohio River, six miles upstream of Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
What is now the McClintic Wildlife Management Area was once a Trinitrotoluene (TNT) manufacturing facility, producing 281,000 tons of TNT for the U.S. military between 1942 and 1945 during World War II. The site was nominated by the state of West Virginia for the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. The NPL represents sites that represent significant environmental and health hazards that can have far-reaching negative impacts to the communities and environment surrounding them.
The Louisville District has served as the lead agency, responsible for management and execution of the remediation efforts since 1994.
At the former West Virginia Ordnance Works property, USACE identified 45 areas of interest for further investigation, most of which have been closed out through No Further Action determinations. Currently the site contains five actively funded remedial projects, four of which require Long-Term Management.
“While WVOW is not wholly unique in its size, it is more complex than typical projects, especially for those in Remedial Action and Long-term Management phases,” said Matthew Kluge, a project manager in the USACE Louisville District Environmental Support Section. “Over the past several years, USACE has been proactive in planning for system upgrades, replacements, and repairs to not only prevent issues, but to optimize systems and make them run more efficiently.”
A large part of Long-Term Management is to oversee the effectiveness of groundwater contamination treatments. The Louisville District is developing an innovative bioaugmentation treatment design that may reduce treatment timeframes and meet restoration goals more quickly.
The Louisville District has worked closely with both EPA Region III and WVDEP in developing these strategies, as well as with overall project status and monitoring. All parties are committed to maintaining this collaborative relationship.
According to the team, the Louisville District’s goal at McClintic WMA is to reduce risk to human health and the environment through the implementation of effective, legally compliant and cost-effective remedial actions.