PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE (AFB)
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
SOLANO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Travis Air Force Base (AFB), in Solano County, adjacent to Fairfield, California, encompasses an area of about 5,025 acres. The base was placed on the EPA National Priorities List in 1989. For environmental cleanup purposes, four Operable Units (OUs) have been delineated. These OUs consist of landfills, disposal areas or spill sites, fire fighting training areas, tank storage areas, groundwater contamination and potentially contaminated surface water bodies. The primary environmental contaminants found at Travis AFB include solvents, metals and fuels.
There appears to be very limited off-base migration of contaminants, with limited potential for harmful exposure. Institutional controls limit access to on-base source areas, operable units and abandoned structures, and have eliminated possible exposures to other sites of contamination and physical hazards within Travis AFB. However, if land use changes, the likelihood of human exposure should be re-evaluated by the Air Force, the EPA, the state of California, or ATSDR.
ATSDR concluded that of the 11 potential exposure scenarios evaluated, there is one Indeterminate Public Health Hazard situation (because of lack of information), five No Apparent Public Health Hazard situations, and five No Public Health Hazard situations.
The Indeterminate Public Health Hazard situation (because of lack of information) are:
The No Apparent Public Health Hazard situations are:
The No Public Health Hazard situations are:
ATSDR recommends the following actions:
Travis Air Force Base (AFB) is adjacent to Fairfield, California, in Solano County (See Figure 1). Travis AFB was established in 1943 to service and ferry aircraft to the Pacific War Zones. The base encompasses an area of about 5,025 acres. Travis AFB is a part of the Air Mobility Command and is host to the 60th Air Mobility Wing. The primary mission of the base is airlift of troops and freight (1).
The population of Solano County is about 340,425, with a total of about 113,425 households (2). The cities of Fairfield and Suisun City (populations about 95,000 and 27,200, respectively) lie to the west of Travis AFB (See Figure 1). Base housing serves about 3,700 military personnel and 4,400 family members. The total civilian worker population for the base is about 3,775 (1).
Immediately outside the base boundaries to the north, east and south, land is used predominantly for livestock rangeland, or as wildlife management areas, including extensive wetlands.
In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed Travis AFB on the National Priorities List (NPL).(1) Most hazardous waste on Travis AFB is generated by aircraft maintenance operations, fuel supplies storage areas, or installation industrial operations (1). For remedial activity purposes, Travis AFB has delineated four Operable Units (OUs). The sources of contamination in these OUs are landfills, disposal areas or spill sites, fire fighting training areas, tank storage areas, groundwater contamination areas and potentially contaminated surface water bodies (See Figure 2). Appendix B briefly describes the four OUs, and the contaminant source sites within each. Included in Appendix B is a brief explanation of the process used to determine whether an individual site required further evaluation for possible public health impacts.
The primary environmental contaminants at Travis AFB are solvents, (including trichlorethylene (TCE)), fuels, metals, and small amounts of low level radioactive wastes.
Contaminated environmental media on-site include soil, surface water and associated sediment, and groundwater. Although public access to the facility is not prohibited, the facility is fenced and not readily accessible around much of its perimeter. On-site OUs are fenced, paved-over or otherwise not easily accessible to the public. Potential for exposure off-site would include groundwater, surface water and sediment and fish in the surface water bodies. Groundwater contaminant plumes off-site are not found in areas where water wells are currently in use or have been used in the past. Surface water bodies off-site are accessible.
After entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Defense (DOD), in 1991, ATSDR visited the 96 DOD installations then on the NPL and ranked them according to their potential public health hazards. ATSDR personnel visited Travis AFB in February, 1991. On the initial visit, ATSDR reviewed the available site-specific information and visually inspected the contaminated sites and areas where hazardous substances have been released into the environment. The focus of the visit was to determine if people could come into contact with site contaminants at levels that pose a health hazard, and, if needed, to recommend actions to stop or prevent such exposures. Travis AFB received a relatively low priority ranking to initiate a public health assessment in comparison with other DOD installations. The low ranking indicates that no immediate public health hazards were found at Travis AFB. The second visit was made in September, 1996 to obtain updated environmental information collected during remedial activities occurring since 1991. ATSDR met with representatives of the Air Force, U.S. EPA and state environmental regulators. ATSDR evaluated the current situations and the potential for ongoing exposure of the community to contaminants from Travis AFB.
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