Mountain Home Air Base May Leave Superfund List Tests Show Water Pollution Too Low To Be Health Concern

Mountain Home Air Force Base is prepared to leave the Superfund list of the nation’s most contaminated sites - but not because of environmental cleanup.

A five-year, $8 million investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined groundwater pollution there is too low to be a health concern.

It paves the way for the air base to become the first federal facility in the country to be removed from the list.

Dozens of test wells on the base did not find any contaminants in the groundwater at levels above federal drinking water standards, said YuTing Liu, Environmental Protection remedial project manager.

The agency is recommending against an expensive cleanup of potential sources of contamination. Instead, it is calling for continued monitoring to make sure the levels do not rise.

Contaminants, mostly solvents and fuels, collected during years of airplane refueling and fire practice drills, which involve spilling and lighting fuels.

In one area, near an underground fuel line that once leaked, use of drinking-water wells will be prohibited.

Once base officials get the monitoring in place, the law allows them to petition the EPA for removal.

“The final decision is a responsible and sensible one,” said Gary Burton, base environmental management chief.

“We will no longer be accessing the Superfund account, which means that taxpayer cleanup dollars can be used where they are most needed, in communities where contamination is a real problem.”

Knocking Mountain Home Air Force Base off the list would drop the number of Superfund sites in Idaho from eight to seven, out of the 1,238 nationwide.