dod tactical herbicide sites - United States Department of Defense

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e continually maintained while the Air Force sought a final solution for the dispositionof the surplus.After 1970, the Herbicide Orange inventory at NCBC was augmented by receipt ofshipment of surplus Herbicide Orange that had been in temporary storage at Eglin AirForce Base, Florida, and by receipt of shipment of surplus Herbicide Pink (n-butyl 2,4,5-T) that had been in storage at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. The research efforts todevelop a viable option for the disposal of Herbicide Orange expended approximately180 drums of herbicide, leaving the inventory in April 1977 at 15,470 drums (850,850gallons). Immediately after the US Environmental Protection Agency issued the permitfor the at-sea incineration of Herbicide Orange, Operation PACER HO (pacer an AirForce term for movement, and HO for Herbicide Orange) was implemented at NCBC on29 April 1977.Assessment: Operation PACER HO required the dedication and coordination ofmilitary and civilian personnel from numerous state and federal agencies and from themilitary installations in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Hawaii, Utah,Georgia, Oklahoma, and California. The Programming Plan detailed requirements for (1)de-drumming operations at Gulfport, Mississippi and Johnston Island; (2) environmentalmonitoring at Gulfport and Johnston Island; and (3) disposal by at-sea incineration in aremote area off Johnston Island. The plan also included personnel requirements, medicaland environmental surveillance, emergency protocols, public relations coordination, andtechnical guidance for all of the engineering and transportation requirements. The activeduty military at the AFLC Occupational and Environmental Laboratory, Brooks AirForce Base, Texas played key roles in the oversight of all activities during OperationPACER HO. The physical operation for PACER HO commenced on 2 May 1977 atNCBC. The schedule called for all actions to be completed at Gulfport within 38 days atwhich time the operation would shift to Johnston Island, with final activities including atseaincineration to be completed by day 123 (5 September 1977).The need for Operation PACER HO personnel for the NCBC portion of the operationwas met by issuing a call for active duty military volunteers from the Air Force LogisticsCommand’s five Combat Logistics Support Squadrons (CLSS). More than 200 menvolunteered from Robins Air Force Base Georgia (the 2955 th CLSS), Hill Air Force Base,Utah (the 2952 nd CLSS), Kelly Air Force Base, Texas (the 2954 th CLSS), Tinker AirForce Base, Oklahoma (2953 rd CLSS) and McClellan Air Force Base, California (2951 stCLSS). Additional civilian and military personnel came from Andrews Air Force Base,Maryland, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and the United States Air ForceAcademy, Colorado.The members of CLSS teams were responsible for carrying out all phases of PACER HOincluding empting drums, loading tank cars, pumping the herbicide onboard the M/TVulcanus at the Gulfport Outport Dock, and crushing and stacking the emptied 55-gallondrums. The uniform of the day for all CLSS members in the processing of the herbicideincluded protective clothing, masks with respirators and goggles, and personalmonitoring devices that were checked at regular intervals. The medical staff from the72
Aerospace Medical Division at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas provided pre- and postexposurephysical examinations to all active duty members of the CLSS units and otheractive duty military participating in PACER HO. The operation was completed at NCBCon 10 June 1977.Following the completion of Operation PACER HO at NCBC, military from theOccupational and Environmental Health Laboratory, Brooks Air Force, Texas supervisedthe initial clean up of the NCBC storage site including disposal of dunnage, contaminatedprotective clothing, and other waste materials. These were subsequently disposed of in anapproved landfill at the National Space and Technology Laboratory in Bay Saint Louis,Mississippi. The crushed 55-gallon drums were sold to a smelter. In August 1977, a soil,sediment, and biological monitor program was put into place to track the fate of TCDDand residues of Herbicide Orange in the NCBC environment. This monitoring programwas conducted by Active duty Air Force officers from the Occupational andEnvironmental Health Laboratory, San Antonio, TX and from the Engineering andServices Laboratory, Air Force Engineering and Services Center, Tyndall Air Force Base,Florida, conducted the monitoring program. In February 1989, the Air Force inaccordance with the Defense Environmental Restoration Program completed a final sitecleanup at NCBC by incinerating all remaining TCDD-contaminated soil.Sources: Department of the Air Force (1974): Final Environmental Statement on theDisposition of Orange Herbicide by Incineration. November 1974, Department of the AirForce, Washington, DC. Unclassified, available for public distribution.Young AL, Calcagni JA, Thalken CE, Tremblay JW (1978): The Toxicology,Environmental Fate, and Human Risk of Herbicide Orange and Its Associated Dioxin.Technical Report OEHL-TR-92, USAF Occupational and Environmental HealthLaboratory, Aerospace Medical Division, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. Approved forpublic release, distribution unlimited.Miller RA, Shafts PA, Stieritz SF, Termena BJ (1980): The Disposal of HerbicideOrange, 1971-1979. Office of History, Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-PattersonAir Force Base, Ohio.Channel RE, Stoddart TL (1984): Herbicide Orange Monitoring Program. TechnicalReport ESL-TR-83-56, Engineering & Services Laboratory, Air Engineering & ServicesCenter, Tyndall AFB, Florida. Approved for public release, distribution unlimited.Cook JA, Haley DJ (1990): Full-scale Incineration Demonstration at the NavalConstruction Battalion Center, Gulfport, Mississippi. Final Report prepared by EG&GIdaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, Idaho, Technical Report ESL-TR-89-39, Engineering & ServicesLaboratory, Air Force Engineering & Services Center, Tyndall AFB, Florida. Approvedfor public release, distribution unlimited.73
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The History of the USDepartment of
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING SF 298B
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Table of ContentsPage/sAbstract 3Th
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The History of the US Department of
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eing evaluated, i.e. potential expo
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The Distinction Between Tactical an
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highly trained air and ground-suppo
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Administration (Tactical Herbicides
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Buckingham WA (1982): The Air Force
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Tactical Herbicides Deployed in Vie
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Search Strategy for Historical Docu
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DOD TACTICAL HERBICIDE SITESSite 2L
Page 25 and 26: DOD TACTICAL HERBICIDE SITESSite 4L
Page 31 and 32: In support of the test and evaluati
Page 33 and 34: aspen, and vaccinium. The 1963 test
Page 35 and 36: DOD TACTICAL HERBICIDE SITESSite 12
Page 43 and 44: extended to a height of 50 feet wit
Page 45 and 46: DOD TACTICAL HERBICIDE SITESSites 1
Page 49 and 50: Seven tests were also conducted at
Page 51 and 52: species found on the north side of
Page 57: Sources: Buckner JE (2 January 1969
Page 62 and 63: Majka JT, Cheng HH, McNeal BL (1982
Page 64 and 65: discussion, the United States Air F
Page 66 and 67: (TCDD) was complete, and preliminar
Page 68 and 69: No records could be found of how th
Page 70 and 71: Assessment: A total of 358 acres of
Page 72 and 73: Assessment: On 8 October 1973, test
Page 74 and 75: would require about 1,000 steel cyl
Page 80 and 81: Sources: Department of the Air Forc
Page 82 and 83: and those who participated in Opera
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