Page 1 of the TAPP Contractor's Fall 2005 Newsletter for the PAERAB

Text Box: A recent letter dated September 20, 2005 from Picatinny Arsenal to the USEPA and the NJDEP reports that the “Army’s goal is to award the PBC contract in January 2006.” At the June 2005 PAERAB meeting two contractors in the audience indicated that they had received a draft solicitation for the PBC. However, a final solicitation has not yet been issued. At the recent public meeting a representative of Shaw Environmental indicated that the Army Environmental Center (AEC) was still working on a solicitation and had many legal matters to resolve before a final solicitation could be put forth. While Picatinny Arsenal has suggested January 2006 for award of the PBC, it is possible that an award may be delayed even further. In their September 20, 2005 correspondence Picatinny Arsenal provided a table listing various sites and corresponding actions that have taken place to continue forward progress of installation restoration. Unfortunately Picatinny Arsenal may be running out of money to continue any more work. Funds for Fiscal Year ’06 were irrevocably committed to the PBC. These funds cannot be recovered to continue work with the present TERC contractor – Shaw Environmental. Action may be coming to a standstill soon while AEC

Text Box: continues to work on the solicitation for the PBC that was originally to have been awarded this past summer. The delay in award of the PBC has had a ripple effect on the progress of other remedial actions at the base. For example, within 90 days of the ROD being executed for the Post Farm Landfill, a Land Use Control (LUC) remedial design was due. That design was due on March 21, 2005 but has not yet been submitted because implementation of the Post Farm Landfill remedial action is tied into the PBC. More distressing is the loss of funds resulting from the delay in award of the contract. A total of $5.69 million had been allocated for the present fiscal year with the majority of the funds to be used for payment of the successful PBC contractor. Given the lapse of the contract award for the present fiscal year, those funds are returned for use on other military installations. On a related note, Picatinny Arsenal renewed their commitment to complete the remediation of all high relative risk sites by the end of fiscal year ’07. It would seem that the successful PBC contractor will have to have an incredibly ambitious schedule to meet such a goal especially since January 2006 could be the earliest date for award of a contract.

POINTS OF INTEREST:

· The last PAERAB meeting was held on October 20, 2005 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Rockaway, New Jersey. Minutes of the meeting will be distributed to RAB members in November.

· The USEPA signed the Burning Grounds ROD in early September. Implementation of the ROD can’t take place until burning of waste in the area can be eliminated which is predicated on putting the new incinerator on line. The incinerator project has been plagued with delays and a startup date may still be far in the future.

· The USEPA has a new regional administrator, Mr. Alan Steinberg, who was sworn in on September 7, 2005. Mr. George Pavlou returned as director of the Emergency and Remedial Response Division on September 8, 2005.

Pond View Estates	2
Training	2
Njdep staffing	2
Area D	3
IAP out soon	3
Site 180 Plan	3
Area E ROD	4
New Guidance	4
RAB Concerns	5
Base Visitors	5

Text Box: Environmental Happenings At Picatinny Arsenal

Text Box: Recent field activities for July, August, and September 2005 included the following: Groundwater Treatment Plan Semi-Annual Groundwater and Surface-water Monitoring: Collection of surface-water samples

Text Box: from 15 locations within Green Pond Brook. Collection of groundwater samples from wells around the golf course. (July) Phase II and Phase I 2A/3A Sites Screening-Level Ecological Risk Assessment: Placement of approximately 200 live

Text Box: traps in the 400 and 1000 enclosures for the collection of small mammals. Collection, identification and release of the mammals will begin next week following a week for the small mammals to get accustomed to the traps. (July) Small mammals

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