AFFTC EDWARDS AFB
Edwards Air Force Base covers approximately 301,000 acres, and is principally an aircraft research and development facility. The Main/South Base at the western edge of Rogers Dry Lake is primarily used for maintaining and refueling aircraft. In the past, large amounts of fuel and solvents were spilled. Poor disposal practices also resulted in the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), metals, and other chemicals to the ground. At the Air Force Research Laboratory on a remote elevated ridge, rocket engine testing activities resulted in four extensive groundwater contamination plumes of VOCs and perchlorate in fractured granite bedrock. Contaminated areas in other parts of the Base include an abandoned sanitary landfill containing heavy metals and an area where electroplating wastes were dumped. The North Base, located five miles northeast of the Main Base area, has a drum storage site at the northern end of Rogers Dry Lake and three unlined surface impoundments used for liquid wastes during the 1960s and 1970s. The 13,800 employees at Edwards Air Force Base obtain some of their drinking water from wells located within three miles of the Main/South Base. A more immediate concern is the potential for vapors from volatile chemicals in the groundwater reaching buildings located above the subsurface contamination. Lancaster and small communities are located miles away from Base operations and contamination.
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