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Johnston Atoll Closure
South Pacific

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT

ENTRANT: CH2M Hill
ENGINEER IN CHARGE: Jay Gaudlitz

COMPREHENSIVE, INTEGRATED APPROACH

Large-Scale Environmental Restoration: Fifty-five years of base operations including storage and incineration of chemical weapons, and nuclear testing left significant environmental contamination on Johnston Atoll, a group of four small Pacific islands located 800 miles from Hawaii, its closest neighbor. In 2002 The Air Force and CH2M HILL led a 20-month mission to return the atoll to its previous state as a wildlife refuge. Diverse stakeholders in the project included the Air Force and other Defense Department agencies, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) personnel; biologists, ecologists, geologists, and toxicologists; and environmental, electrical, mechanical, and civil engineers.

From December 2003 to June 2004, property transfer, toxic material abatement, demolition, and habitat restoration activities continued relentlessly. CH2M HILL cleaned up groundwater and soil containing multiple contaminants at 8 major sites and emptied, cleaned, and flattened the infrastructure of a 2,000-person town while simultaneously ensuring 200 onsite personnel had necessary food, water, fuel, sanitation systems, communications, medical facilities, and airlift/sealift capabilities.

Model for Self-Sufficiency: CH2M HILL controlled the use of 600,000 gallons of fuel while cleaning and closing pipes, tanks, and an 8.5-mile fuel distribution system; demolished buildings before removing underlying PCBs; completed demolition on three islands before 400,000 birds nested; and continued to produce water using the reverse-osmosis plant to support personnel and the newly restored habitat.

Through hands-on engineering, these critical distribution systems functioned throughout the many challenges of the closure. System failure was not an option. Any deviation from the schedule could have cost $300,000/day to rectify. CH2M HILL incurred no delays and beat the June 30, 2004, closure deadline.

QUALITY

Stringent Cleanup Levels: CH2M HILL successfully met the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit action levels by treating nearly 20,000 tons of dioxin-contaminated coralline soil onsite and transporting 8,000 tons of PCB-contaminated soil for offsite disposal.

Massive Takedown: CH2M HILL demolished 253 facilities (1.1 million square feet); decommissioned 135 facilities (8.4 million square feet); abated 290,000 square feet of friable asbestos-containing material, lead-based paint, and arsenic-containing tile; removed over 1 million square feet of potentially friable asbestos-containing material; cleaned and decommissioned 8.5 miles of fuel piping; and cleaned and demolished 46 storage tanks.


Early Finish: CH2M HILL closed the base two weeks ahead of schedule.

“A total team effort by an outstanding group of professionals resulted in this extremely successful environmental cleanup.”
--Colonel Timothy Byers, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) civil engineer

“You [closed the base] safely, you did it professionally,… You did all the right things at all the right times for all the right reasons, and for that I thank you.”
--Colonel John Medeiros, 15th Mission Support Group Commander

INNOVATION

New Environmental Standards: At petroleum-impacted sites, an innovative risk assessment (using advanced laboratory analyses and expert data regarding petroleum saturation in soil and leachability) and an assessment of exposure pathways and likely ecological receptors led to significant modification of the TPH action level.
Consequently, over 30,000 tons of petroleum-impacted soil were safely left in place and over 1,700 tons were excavated for onsite bioremediation. The EPA commended CH2M HILL for the methodology used in the assessment.

Innovative Engineering Solutions: Leakage from barrels containing 1.3 million gallons of herbicide orange contaminated six acres of soil with dioxin—the most toxic contaminant known. Rather than ship the waste to another location, CH2M HILL removed contaminants using a thermal desorption system (TDS), a process never previously used successfully for dioxin treatment on this scale. After excavation, nearly 20,000 tons of soil were baked at almost 1,000 degrees F and resulting gas emissions filtered through carbon.

Due to the complexity of treating dioxin thermally, only two such projects of this magnitude have ever been attempted. Given the precedent-setting technical achievements made, both projects faced significant engineering challenges. CH2M HILL, working within a highly accelerated timeframe, performed a significant re-design of the thermal system while beating the island closure deadline.

COMPLEXITY

Significant Increases in Scope: Through the course of this project, the demolition/decommissioning scope expanded from 1.6 million to 9.5 million square feet. During this effort, CH2M HILL recovered a mountain of scrap steel with a footprint equivalent to two 40-foot-high football fields and demolished/decommissioned a small town’s worth of manmade structures.

Forecasting Challenges: CH2M HILL transported all equipment and supplies to the islands on barges, never missing a departure date, which would have required at least 14 days to reschedule at $300,000/day. CH2M HILL inventoried, containerized, and shipped 22,000 property items to 5 destinations; shipped 6,000 tons of scrap metal for recycling; and completed over 120 air missions.

Expert Environmental Monitoring: CH2M HILL teamed with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to perform onsite biological assessments of the marine environment. Research results, since used in other ecological forums, determined the direction of engineering activities. Because widespread excavation increased the possibility of exposure to plutonium, personnel wore protective gear and full-face respirators, and soil and air radioactivity levels were continually monitored using specialized technology.

ADVANCEMENT

Small Business Support: A total of 85% of $57 million in subcontracts was awarded to small businesses and native Hawaiian-owned companies.

Recycling Effort: Almost $1 million in excavation equipment, vehicles, machining tools, storage tanks, fuel, and electrical components was donated to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Cost Savings: Closure of the base resulted in a multi-million dollar savings in the annual defense budget.

Rich and Varied Ecosystem: In collaboration with the FWS, CH2M HILL enhanced 25 acres of habitat with 160,000 indigenous plants, working at night and setting aside limited water reserves for the plants to increase their chances of survivability.

Today these biologically diverse islands and the surrounding reef host a myriad of tropical reef fish, 12 species of seabirds, and 33 species of coral. The reef community also supports three endangered species: green sea turtles, humpbacked whales, and Hawaiian monk seals.

“The team is leaving a legacy of uncontaminated land …, and for that they should be strongly congratulated.”       --Colonel Ray Torres, 15th Airlift Wing Commander

Copyright 1996-2005 American Academy of Environmental Engineers - All Rights Reserved. American Academy of Environmental Engineers, Excellence in Environmental Engineering, Environmental Engineering Selection Guide, Environmental Engineer, and Who's Who in Environmental Engineering are all trademarks or registered trademarks of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, Inc.