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REMEDIATION PROGRAM

As the primary launch site for the U.S. Space Program, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), has long been engaged in a wide variety of operations that are an integral part of the NASA primary mission. These operations involved the use of toxic and hazardous materials. Federal, state, and local governments have developed strict regulations that require disposers of hazardous waste to identify the locations and contents of past disposal sites and to take actions to eliminate any hazards in an environmentally responsible manner. NASA-KSC has a program to evaluate sites where contamination is present under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. (RCRA) and its Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA). A list of current sites is found on the left navigation bar.

KSC's remediation program has its roots in two Consent Orders (no longer open) issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in the late 1980s for KSC's oldest remediation sites, Wilson Corners (now Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) #1 and Ransom Road Landfill (now SWMU #3). KSC also operates a permitted Hazardous Waste Storage Facility under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). As a result, with the RCRA Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) in 1984 came the requirement to identify potential release sites and implement corrective action at those sites as warranted. The HSWA portion of KSC's RCRA permit was issued by the EPA in 1986 and was renewed in 1997. EPA since delegated corrective action authority to the FDEP and KSC's HSWA permit with FDEP was executed in 2002.

EPA's SWMU Assessment initially identified 16 sites for investigation under the corrective action program. Additional sites were also identified by KSC as the program was implemented. In addition to corrective action sites, KSC's remediation program office also manages petroleum contamination sites under Chapter 62-770 of the Florida Administrative Code. To date, KSC has identified and/or investigated 200 sites located on KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (sites currently or previously operated by KSC).

As illustrated in the pie chart on the Remediation Projects page, of the 200 sites investigated to date, 109 have received No Further Action approval, 19 are currently undergoing SWMU Assessments, 18 are in the Confirmation Sampling (CS) phase, and 7 are in more comprehensive RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) phase. In addition, Corrective Measures Studies are underway for 5 sites, and Corrective Measures are being implemented at 41 other sites. Finally, Statements of Basis have been issued for 31 sites where Corrective Measures have been approved by FDEP and where administrative land use control implementation plans (LUCIPs) have been initiated.


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