dod tactical herbicide sites - United States Department of Defense

drumming operations at the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC), Gulfport,Mississippi and Johnston Island; (2) environmental monitoring at Gulfport and JohnstonIsland; and (3) disposal by at-sea incineration in a remote area off Johnston Island. Theplan also included personnel requirements, medical and environmental surveillance,emergency protocols, public relations coordination, and technical guidance for all of theengineering and transportation requirements. The active duty military at the AFLCOccupational and Environmental Laboratory (OEHL), Brooks Air Force Base, Texasplayed key roles in the oversight of all activities during Operation PACER HO. Thephysical operation for PACER HO at Johnston Island commenced on 27 July 1977.On Johnston Island civilian employees were hired by a contractor to perform the dedrummingoperations. USAF officers from OEHL monitored all operations. Two 10-hourshifts of approximately 50 men each were used. All workers were provided daily changesof freshly laundered work cloths, and men working within the de-drum facility woreprotective clothing consisting of cartridge respirators, face shields, rubber aprons, gloves,and boots. Men on each crew remained in the same job through the de-drumming andtransfer operations. A requirement for employment was pre- and post-operationalphysical examinations similar to those given to the active during military at NCBC.In the actual de-drumming operation, the drums were handled using techniques similar tothose at the NCBC. The herbicide and rinsing liquids from the drums were pumped intomodified fuel tankers and transported to the Johnston Island Dock where the material waspumped aboard the M/T Vulcanus. A total of 24,795 drums of Herbicide Orange wereprocessed between 27 July and 23 August 1977. Both environmental and occupationalmonitoring was accomplished on land and aboard the M/T Vulcanus. All sampling onJohnston Island was conducted by Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio.Personnel from TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, California, and military officers from OEHLdid the shipboard sampling.Following the completion of Operation PACER HO at Johnston Island, militarypersonnel from OEHL supervised the initial clean up of the storage site includingdisposal of dunnage, contaminated protective clothing, and other waste materials. Thesewere subsequently disposed of in an approved burn site on the island. Afterward theresidue was buried, and the remaining 36,000-plus crushed 55-gallon drums were sold toa smelter. In August 1977, a soil, sediment, and biological monitor program was put intoplace to track the fate of TCDD and residues of Herbicide Orange in the Johnston Islandenvironment. This monitoring program was conducted by active duty Air Force officersfrom OEHL, the Department of Chemistry and Biological Sciences at the United StatesAir Force Academy, and from the Engineering and Services Laboratory, Air ForceEngineering and Services Center, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. In February 1989, theAir Force, in accordance with the Defense Environmental Restoration Program,completed a final site cleanup at Johnston Island by destroying all remaining TCDDcontaminatedsoil by the use of an on-site thermal desorption system employing lowtemperaturethermal desorption technology. The site was covered by approximately 6inches of topsoil and planted with vegetative species native to the region.75