The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, invites you to attend a Public Town Hall meeting for the former F. E. Warren Atlas “D” Missile Site 3, a Formerly Used Defense Site, located approximately eight miles northwest of Carpenter, WY.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Burns City Hall Auditorium, 327 South Main, Burns, Wyoming. The Corps seeks to improve public participation by informing the community about the progress of environmental restoration efforts at the site.
Site 3 was one of four Atlas “D” missile sites operated as part of the 565th Strategic Missile Squadron at F. E. Warren Air Force Base. The site was used for the maintenance, storage, and potential launch of Atlas “D” intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). The Atlas “D” missile was a liquid-fueled, rocket-powered ICBM, equipped with inertial and ground-based radio-guidance systems and a thermonuclear warhead.
During operations at Atlas “D” missile facilities, the ICBMs were regularly fueled as part of readiness exercises. At the completion of a readiness exercise, the Rocket Propellant (RP)-1 fuel was pumped back into the RP-1 fuel Underground Storage Tank (UST), and the missile’s RP-1 fuel tanks and lines were flushed with approximately 25 gallons of the chlorinated solvent trichloroethene (TCE). The waste TCE and residual RP-1 fuel were then released into drainage sumps and subsequently discharged onto the ground surface at each launch building’s burnout pit. The waste TCE infiltrated into the ground and migrated to the underlying groundwater within the Ogallala Formation, forming a chlorinated solvent plume that extends east-southeast beyond the site boundary. The plume is approximately 7,800 feet long, 2,000 feet wide, and 180 feet thick.
The Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, have been conducting remediation activities at the site since 2004.
The Town Hall meeting will be open to all community members of the local area. Information will be presented on efforts that have been made relating to the ongoing environmental studies and restoration activities at the former Atlas “D” Missile Site 3. Those that attend will also have the opportunity to provide comments and ask questions.
If you have questions, please call U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District, Project Manager, Environmental Remediation Branch, Craig Downey at (402)-995-2061 or email at Craig.E.Downey@usace.army.mil
Release no. 20161018-001