Tyndall environmental update

  • Published
  • By Herman Bell
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Tyndall Air Force Base's past is steeped in a rich legacy of training our nation's warriors however; this same legacy of historic training has resulted in unforeseen environmental impacts that continue to be addressed.

Correcting the risk and impacts of yesterday's acceptable practices as well as minimizing environmental challenges associated with the base's training mission of today, rests with the 325th Civil Engineer Squadron's Natural Resources Element.

"Like those military professionals before us, future generations have entrusted care of this 29,000 acre military reservation to us, and it's our duty and obligation to conserve and protect it," said Joseph McLernan, 325 CES Asset Management (CEA) flight chief.

The installation restoration program (IRP) is one way CEA ensures the base environmental objectives are met. It investigates historical sites with potential contamination, assesses any associated human health and ecological risks, and conducts needed cleanup actions.

"The purpose of the IRP is to cleanup past activities, eliminate and manage exposure risks and restore the land for future use," said Mr. McLernan. "While recent press reports would lead you to believe we are failing to achieve these objectives, nothing could be further from the truth."


"Developing new and improved methods, which lead to changes in regulatory requirements are a sign of progress," said Mr. McLernan. "However, implementing these new methods and complying with changing regulatory requirements after an environmental clean-up is underway isn't easy, fast or inexpensive and helps form the root causes for these negative press reports."

Tyndall has many sites already identified.

"We currently have 39 sites identified under the installation restoration program at Tyndall," said Mr. McLernan. "Of these, 13 are in various stages of investigation and remediation."

Since Tyndall's IRP began in the 1985 timeframe, according to Mr. McLernan, 23 sites at the base have been remediated and closed with regulatory concurrence with no further action required, and two additional sites are awaiting regulatory concurrence and then will be closed.

Mr. McLernan said the sites being addressed in the existing remediation contracts include Shoal Point Bayou pesticide contamination, old landfill sites, petroleum contamination at old fire training areas, former bulk fuel storage locations, and a WWII vintage aerial gunnery training range.

Collectively, the five existing cleanup contracts have a value of $10.5 million. This is in addition to the approximately $15 million Tyndall has spent since the 1980s to investigate and cleanup IRP sites. Assuming the current contracts are eventually completed as originally envisioned, it is estimated an additional $12-$20 million will be needed to totally cleanup all of Tyndall's IRP sites.

While IRP consumes much of his time, Mr. McLernan is quick to point out that the focus of the CEA flight goes well beyond correcting past environmental impacts.

"Because Tyndall is considered an industrial operation, we are obligated to comply with all federal, state and local environmental permits and regulations," he said.

Mr. McLernan believes all Tyndall personnel should be very proud of their daily efforts to care for the environment.

"It's a total team effort, from senior leadership to our lowest ranking Airman; everyone takes their responsibilities for environmental compliance very seriously," he said. "Controlling and preventing air, land and water pollution directly impacts not only the quality of life for those who live, work and play on base, but also all our surrounding communities."

Mr. McLernan said controlling the waste stream could well be the most visible and least understood component of the environmental program.

"I think we all know, understand and appreciate the need for recycling," he said. "Here at Tyndall we have a robust recycling program that in FY 08 cut our waste stream by 35 percent. During this time we saved over $281,000 in landfill tipping fees by recycling 1,437 tons of material such as paper, plastic, aluminum, scrap metal, and cardboard. Tyndall has also crushed and reused over 75,000 tons of concrete from runway repair projects, thus avoiding the transportation and tipping fees required to take this waste to a construction debris landfill."

While the missions of the past have created today's challenges, Tyndall's leadership remains committed to being good stewards of both the nation's security and natural resources.

325th FW Commander, Brig. Gen. Darryl Roberson, has continued a strong commitment to partnering with local and federal agencies to protect the environment. General Roberson summed up his approach with the following thoughts in his Environmental Compliance Memo:

"In the end, this is our home. We live and work here. Our families live and work here and we owe them and all Americans our commitment to safeguard our resources and protect the environment while ensuring mission accomplishment."