robins air force base (landfill #4/sludge lagoon)

ROBINS AFB

Robins AFB is a 868 acre facility, about fifty miles south west of Macon. It is a repair and maintenance facility, part of the Air Force's Material Command, and it employs over 18,000 people in middle Georgia. The NPL site at Robins consists of a 45 acre landfill and an integral 1.5 acre.sludge lagoon. After a basewide survey in 1982, Landfill number 4, and the sludge lagoon were judged to have the highest potential for migration of hazardous substances and consequently were placed on the NPL in 1987. This listing of the landfill and sludge lagoon included groundwater and wetlands impacted by contamination from the landfill and sludge lagoon. The rest of the facility is regulated under the delegated State RCRA Corrective Action Authority. Landfill number four was operated from 1965 to 1978 for disposal of general refuse and industrial wastes. It is suspected that ordinance and agent orange could also be in the landfill. The sludge lagoon was operated from 1962 to 1978 for the disposal of sludges from the Industrial Waste Treatment Plant. This sludge contained phenols, oils, heavy metals, and cyanide. Miscellaneous industrial wastes, such as solvents, cleaner, paint removers, hydraulic fluids and oils were also placed in the lagoon. The sludge lagoon and landfill were closed in 1978, by capping with a clayey sand cover approximately 5 feet thick and 6 inches thick, respectively. Over time the cover on the landfill had been eroded to non-existence in some parts, and in addition, wild pigs had dug into several areas of the landfill and sludge lagoon.