Federal Facilities Unit
The Federal Facilities Program provides state oversight of environmental assessments and corrective actions at current and former federal facilities including U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) installations and Formerly-Used Defense Sites (FUDS). This work is done through the Defense/State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA). The Federal Facilities Unit works closely with project managers and technical staff at the federal agencies to provide technical expertise and field oversight of federal environmental investigations and cleanups, and to communicate state priorities and regulatory positions to the federal agencies. Learn more about the Federal Facilities Program (PDF).
Identified Sites List
Contaminated sites managed by the Federal Facilities Unit are included in the Identified Sites List (ISL) database. More detailed information is available from KDHE through a Kansas Open Records Act request. Contact the program representatives listed on this web page for additional information.
Defense-State Memorandum of Agreement (DSMOA)
Sites covered by the DSMOA in Kansas include a wide variety of active and former military facilities, such as:
- Air Force bases
- Army bases
- Army ammunition plants
- Nuclear missile silos
- World War II-era Army airfields and bombing ranges
- Anti-aircraft missile batteries
Investigation and remedial action performed at DSMOA sites follow the guidance of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). This guidance is commonly called the Superfund Law. Some active sites also have permits under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which requires investigation and remediation work to address environmental contamination. USACE is responsible for investigating and cleaning up environmental contamination caused by military activities and facilities at Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS). Army and Air Force bases commonly use USACE as their contracting agent for environmental work at their installations.
Once a site has been identified by USACE, EPA, or KDHE, a Preliminary Assessment (PA) is performed to investigate all records available for the site and determine if the site poses an environmental hazard. If the PA finds potential hazards, one or more phases of the investigation will typically sample soil, groundwater, and/or surface water for a variety of contaminants. After identifying all contaminants and their locations, the agencies develop and execute a cleanup plan. Throughout all phases of investigation and cleanup, KDHE, EPA, and USACE work together to make sure all agencies are satisfied that all work is done properly and complies with all applicable regulations. Comments from the public are also solicited at several points during this process, and information on the work is made available to the public.
Even though this process seems straightforward, it often takes many years to complete. Many sites have complex sets of contaminants that are found in many areas and in several media (soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment), so planning and performing investigations at these sites is difficult and expensive. Methods used to clean up the sites may take months or years, especially for groundwater contamination. Finally, because of limited resources, the large number of sites on the DSMOA must be prioritized so that the sites posing the greatest hazards are cleaned up first.
Management Action Plan (MAP) for FUDS
In 2001 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) started a pilot project with several states to create a Management Action Plan (MAP) for all of the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) in each state. The objective of this project was to collect all of the information on each FUDS, including its location, size, history, and contaminants, and place it in one comprehensive document. The purpose of this document is twofold: first, to verify all of the site information and serve as the main reference on FUDS in the state; and second, to prioritize and schedule the investigation and cleanup of each FUDS. USACE, KDHE, and EPA worked closely to make this project a success.
Kansas completed its MAP in November 2001 and was the first state to do so. The MAP is based on a similar document called an Installation Action Plan (IAP) which the Department of Defense creates for each active military installation with contaminated sites. The IAP is a proven method for organizing the investigation and cleanup of contaminated sites at Air Force bases, Army bases, and other types of installations, so the USACE decided to use it as the "blueprint" for creating the MAP. The MAP is designed to be reviewed and updated each year, so that additional information on FUDS can be added, and site priorities and schedules can be changed if necessary.
By summarizing the amount of time and money needed to address all of the FUDS in Kansas, the MAP helps speed up investigating and cleaning up these sites, and should also help USACE receive additional funding to do so.
