Feds to hold Nov. 9 meeting to update status of environmental investigation near Patrick Space Force Base
Worried about what military waste may lurk underneath your yard or home?
Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be available Nov. 9 at Pelican Beach Park in Satellite Beach to discuss the status of an environmental investigation and pending cleanup of former defense sites just south of Patrick Space Force Base, a military mess that has raised fears of health risks for decades.
The Corps plans to move forward with investigations and cleanups, where property owners have signed "rights-of-entry."
"While the deadline to receive signed rights-of-entry has passed, we encourage all property owners who received and have not yet signed the form to do so as soon as possible," the notice to residents reads. "If someone signs the form after we start field work, we cannot guarantee that the property will be investigated."
Vapor intrusion: Feds suspect how military dumpsite toxins enter Space Coast beachside homes: vapor intrusion
Documents exposed: Key documents exposed military's role in dump site near Patrick Air Force Base
Next steps: Feds lay out next steps in military dumpsite cleanup among Space Coast beachside homes
More than 300 homes lie within the 52-acre area south of Patrick Space Force Base targeted for cleanup. Some residents fear what dangers a shovel might one day find in their yards. Nobody's been injured from an explosion yet, but other findings in backyards have kept the fear alive.
"While practice munitions and smaller (ammo) cartridges have been recovered, we have no evidence of munitions with explosives hazards," Andrew Rebman, project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said in a video presentation posted last November.
The agency plans to probe South Patrick Shores yards for any dangerous debris or chemicals left behind before, during and after World War II. Workers will drive in mini-excavators, grab soil samples by hand, use ground-penetrating radar to survey for metals. If soil or groundwater samples raise suspicions, workers will place small canisters inside homes to test for vapors.
Feds lay out next steps in military dumpsite cleanup among Space Coast beachside homes
The Corps plans to conduct a soil-vapor-intrusion study of willing South Patrick homeowners' houses, in instances where soil or groundwater contamination is found. But not all residents are on board yet for the Corps investigation.
Thus far, 182 of 317 eligible homeowners (50%) has signed "right-of-entry" forms to allow the Corps on their property to sample for soil and air contamination. In January, Brevard Public Schools also decided to allow the Corps entry to look for contamination on the grounds of Sea Park Elementary School.
According to Corps documents, the Corps also lists on its interactive FUDS map several other sites that don't currently have cleanup projects:
Canova Beach Radar Station — On Aug. 23, 1943, the federal government acquired 12.28 acres for use as the Canova Beach Radar Station. The facility included a transmitter building, power plant, radar tower, 8,000-gallon fuel underground storage tank and septic tank. By 1948, the military no longer needed the radar station and the property was deeded to two private individuals.
ARNDCOM Facility — On Nov. 1, 1962, the federal government leased 10 acres in Brevard from a land development corporation for a temporary Army mobile military air defense site in Satellite Beach. The Army Air Defense Command used it for a mobile military air defense site. The lease was canceled on May 1, 1963, and the land returned to the property owner.
More information about the sites can be accessed at this Corps site.
Some fear the Corps won't dig deep in the South Patrick Shores area enough to find contamination, literally.
Sandra Sullivan, of South Patrick Shores, has pushed the Corps for years to clean up the contamination near the base, including what's buried in her yard. To further the cause, she joined the base's Restoration Board, a panel that advises the military on base-related environmental cleanups. "I have learned that the appropriate test is direct-push technology — a core sample to the water table," Sullivan wrote in an email.
"While I am appreciative of the $5.8 million dollars for dump testing which was sped up by Congressman (Bill) Posey, it is sad for our community, that the USACE testing the fill is to garner a 'no-further response,' " Sullivan wrote, referring to the possibility that the agency fails to sample adequately to find enough contamination to merit a cleanup. "How they test determines the results. It is not rocket science that contamination that needs to be tested is below the debris."
Residents have been disappointed before at what they say hasn't been aggressive enough testing. For example, in May 2019, the Florida Department of Health released a more than yearlong investigation of illnesses in the area, concluding no significant public health risks. At the time, the Jacksonville oncologist who grew up in Brevard and had helped get the state to investigate cancers in the Satellite Beach and Suntree areas, said the state's investigation fell far short of what she'd asked for. The DOH investigation failed to examine all cancer types, the oncologist and other critics said, or include hundreds of local cancer cases activists and survivors reported to the health department.
"Too many have died over the decades, including too many children," Sullivan added. "Friends and children have died while we continue to wait for testing."
Want to learn more about former military contamination sites along Brevard's barrier island?
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives will be available to discuss the Naval Air Station Banana River Off-Base Disposal Area and the environmental investigation and proposed fieldwork approach between 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, at the Pelican Beach Club House, 1525 Florida A1A, Satellite Beach. For more information, email FUDS.Florida@usace.army.mil or call (800) 710-5184.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: US Army Corps to update investigation, cleanup plans near Patrick Space Force Base
