Camp Hero Formerly Used Defense Site — Final Decision Document
In October 2022 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its Final Decision Document for the Camp Hero Formerly Used Defense Site at Montauk Point, New York. The document concludes a remedial investigation process that began in 2000, produced a comprehensive remedial investigation in 2019, and was followed by an addendum in 2022. The Army Corps determined No Further Action was required, meaning contamination at the site did not present actionable risk to human health or the ecological environment under CERCLA standards.
The document is significant beyond its environmental conclusions. It is the most recent comprehensive official U.S. government survey of the physical infrastructure at Camp Hero, and it confirms specific details about the site that are central to its history.
The site covers 461 acres at the eastern end of Long Island. It is owned by New York State and operated as Camp Hero State Park. The document formally confirms the existence of underground bunkers, specifically Battery 112, Battery 113, and Battery 216. Battery 113 held two 16-inch casemated guns. Battery 112 included a plotting room. The FPS-35 Radar Tower is confirmed as listed on the National Register of Historic Places and noted as sealed and restricted from park visitors. The document states that buildings and bunkers on the site have been sealed, but that some portions may be accessible to trespassers.
Two areas of the site, designated Areas H and K, are explicitly excluded from this investigation. The document states they are military munitions sites that will undergo separate CERCLA investigation on a different timeline. That exclusion is significant: the No Further Action determination does not apply to the full extent of the site. Ordnance and explosive material was removed from Area H and part of Area K in 2003. The remainder of those areas remains under separate active investigation.
The public meeting held October 24, 2019 at the Montauk Library produced comments from residents reporting an abnormal cancer rate in a nearby development of 27 families, questions about a 10,000-gallon fuel oil spill that reached Oyster Pond in the 1980s, and concerns about private drinking water wells adjacent to the site that were not tested during the investigation. Those comments and the Army Corps responses are transcribed in full on the continuation page.
The groundwater investigation found no contamination attributable to former DoD activities at levels that would present health risk. The document notes that determining whether detected constituents were attributable to DoD activities is difficult because more than 40 years have elapsed since the site was operational, during which natural degradation of many compounds would have occurred.
The document formally identifies the following physical infrastructure as confirmed by Army Corps investigation: Battery 112 (underground bunker with plotting room), Battery 113 (underground bunker with two 16-inch casemated guns and associated ammunition storage), Battery 216 (two 6-inch shielded guns with mechanical power room and powder room), the FPS-35 Radar Tower and Antenna (Building 201, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, sealed and restricted), the motor pool building (converted to active state park use), and the park officer residence building.
The document confirms that buildings and bunkers on the site have been sealed. Some portions may be accessible to trespassers. The FPS-35 Radar Tower is in a restricted area from park visitors.
Areas H and K are excluded from this investigation. They are military munitions sites under separate CERCLA investigation. The No Further Action determination covers environmental contamination in the 18 Decision Units investigated. It does not represent a comprehensive clearance of the entire site.
DOCUMENT: Final Decision Document, Camp Hero Formerly Used Defense Site, Montauk, New York. FUDS Project Number C02NY002403.
AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. DATE: October 2022. SIGNED BY: Reinhard W. Koenig, P.E., SES, Programs Director, North Atlantic Division.
PUBLIC REPOSITORY: Montauk Public Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954. Also held at USACE New England District, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742.
The Camp Hero Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS), also referred to as "The Site", is a 461-acre New York State Park (Camp Hero State Park) located at the eastern end of Long Island at Montauk Point, in Montauk, New York (NY). The Site is currently owned by NY State (NYS) and operated by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP).
This Decision Document (DD) presents the Selected Remedy for the Site in accordance with Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, more commonly known as the National Contingency Plan (NCP). This decision is based on the Administrative Record file for this site. NYS concurs with the Selected Remedy.
The selected remedy for the Site is No Further Action (NFA) based on the results of the Remedial Investigation (RI) completed in 2019 and the subsequent RI Addendum completed in 2022, which determined that there was no actionable risk to human or ecological receptors (USACE, 2019a and 2022).
The Selected Remedy is protective of human health and the environment, and it complies with Federal and State requirements that are applicable or relevant and appropriate to the remedial action. Because this remedy allows for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure (UU/UE) for the reasonably anticipated future use, a statutory review every five years per 40 CFR 300.430(f)(4)(ii) is not required. Note: Residential development is not an anticipated future use.
This DD presents the final decision for soil, sediment, surface water, shallow perched groundwater, and deep aquifer groundwater. The Department of Defense (DoD) is the lead agency under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) at the Camp Hero FUDS. The Army is the executive agent on behalf of DoD charged with meeting applicable environmental restoration requirements at FUDS. Program management and execution responsibility for FUDS have been delegated to the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the USACE has developed this DD for DoD. This DD is consistent with the CERCLA, as amended, and the NCP. This document will be incorporated into the Administrative Record file for the Camp Hero FUDS, which is available for public view at the Public Repository for this project at the Montauk Public Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954 as well as the USACE New England District office located at 696 Virginia Road, Concord, Massachusetts, 01742.
This document, presenting a selected remedy with a total cost to complete estimate recorded in the FUDS Management Information System of $0, is approved by the undersigned and pursuant to the delegated authority in the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) memorandum dated 25 May 2022 subject: Assignment of Mission Execution Functions Associated with DoD Lead Agent Responsibilities for the FUDS Program, and subsequent re-delegations.
Signed: REINHARD W. KOENIG, P.E., SES — Programs Director, North Atlantic Division
The Camp Hero FUDS is a 461-acre site located at the eastern end of Long Island at Montauk Point, in Montauk, NY. The Site is currently owned by NYS and operated as Camp Hero State Park by the NYSOPRHP. The Park is bound by Montauk Highway (Route 27) to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, Montauk Point State Park to the east, and an undeveloped sanctuary area to the west.
It should be noted that this DD excludes Areas H and K of Camp Hero, which are military munitions sites that will undergo CERCLA investigation on a different timeline. The Camp Hero FUDS includes abandoned infrastructure from the FUDS activities, such as buildings, bunkers, water well enclosures, and a radio tower. Two FUDS buildings have been converted into active NYS Park infrastructure: vehicle maintenance and park officer residence buildings.
The overall former Camp Hero facility includes the following current landowners: NYSOPRHP (415 acres) and Town of East Hampton (46 acres). The majority of the former Camp is owned by NYSOPRHP and is operating as the Camp Hero State Park, a public recreational area.
The former Camp Hero was established in early 1942 as a Coastal Defense Installation to defend the approaches to NY and was named in honor of Major General Andrew Hero. Three self-sufficient batteries (Battery 112, 113, and 216) and supporting facilities were constructed and included barracks, mess halls, hospital facilities, a motor repair shop (current Motor Pool building), a recreation facility, sentry boxes, and water supply and sewage facilities. A total of 600 enlisted men and 37 officers were stationed at Camp Hero.
Camp Hero was a sub-installation of the 11th Coast Artillery Regiment (Harbor Defense) located at Fort H.G. Wright, Fishers Island, Block Island Sound, NY. Fort H.G. Wright was under the control of the Eastern Defense Command. Elements from the 11th Coast Artillery Regiment, along with elements from the 242nd Connecticut National Guard Coast Artillery Regiment (Harbor Defense), augmented the 11th Coast Artillery Regiment at Fort H.G. Wright.
Battery 216 contained two 6-inch shielded guns, a mechanical power room, and powder room for storage of ammunition and powder charges. Battery 113 consisted of two 16-inch casemated guns, and battle allowances of ammunition and powder charges were stored within the battery. Battle allowances of ammunition and powder charges for the Camp Hero battery guns were stored within the individual batteries at the site. War reserve allowances of ammunition for the batteries were also required; however, this ammunition was stored outside of Camp Hero installation boundaries at an unknown central depot location under the control of the Chief of Ordnance. Batteries 112 and 113 had a battle allowance of 200 16-inch, 2,240-pound (lb) projectiles and a war reserve allowance of 300 16-inch, 2,240-lb projectiles. Battery 216 had a battle allowance of 200 6-inch, 90-lb high explosive (HE) rounds and 300 6-inch, 105-lb armor piercing (AP) rounds, and a war reserve allowance of 300 6-inch, 90-lb HE rounds and 400 6-inch, 105-lb AP rounds.
Additionally, 37-millimeter (mm) weapons and 0.50-caliber antiaircraft weapon platoons were assigned to protect Camp Hero from air attack. Camp Hero's weaponry was periodically fired to practice over water but was never fired as an act of hostility. It is presumed that the antiaircraft weapon ammunition for Camp Hero and nearby facilities was also stored within the battery ammunition storage facilities.
Previous investigations at Camp Hero included underground storage tank (UST) and aboveground storage tank (AST) closures and reports, focused site assessments, and sitewide surveys and reports. Key reports that provide historical data for Camp Hero are briefly summarized below.
UST and AST Registration and Closure Reports: All USTs and ASTs have been removed at Camp Hero except for two USTs and two ASTs that are currently in-use by non-DOD entities. The USTs and ASTs with reported petroleum releases and respective NYSDEC spill case numbers are in closed status.
Building 203 Site Assessment Report (USACE, 1994): The 1994 Site Assessment Report documents the excavation of former diesel USTs 16 and 18 at former Building 203, where 2,500 yards of diesel-impacted soil were removed. Geoprobe borings were advanced around and within the excavation, and confirmatory soil and groundwater samples were collected. The results of the soil and groundwater samples were below screening criteria. The Spill Report Case was closed by the NYSDEC in July 1995.
Feasibility Study (FS) and Hazardous Materials Survey Preliminary Report (Cashin Associates, 1998): The 1998 Camp Hero FS and Hazardous Materials Survey Preliminary Report identified several areas that had an actual or potential Hazardous and Toxic Waste (HTW) presence based on the presence of former military buildings and refuse found onsite. In addition to the HTW, projectile fragments were discovered along the southern bluffs of the Site (Area K) and indicated the potential presence of ordnance and explosives (OE). The 1992 study did not collect any analytical samples, except for one sample collected in an area of oil staining under electrical equipment in Battery 113 that was analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The electrical equipment has since been removed.
Data Collection Report (Westin, 2000): The 2000 Data Collection Report investigated potential soil and water contamination within select areas at Camp Hero in support of a decision regarding whether further environmental action was required. Concrete chip, surface and subsurface soil, groundwater, and sediment samples were collected and compared against applicable regulatory criteria or guidelines. Conclusions from the investigation determined that PCB levels in the concrete provided no significant human health or ecological threats via migration and were below regulatory levels in surface soils. Subsurface soil samples at the former Power Plant indicated elevated levels of beryllium, while groundwater samples indicated elevated levels of chromium and lead.
Since 2000, the USACE has been conducting various OE investigations in Areas H and K, which are excluded from this DD. However, for reference, ordnance explosive and non-ordnance scrap was removed from Area H and part of Area K in 2003.
An RI was completed at Camp Hero from 2015 to 2019 to identify and summarize the nature and extent of potential releases and impacts in site media from former military operations, and to subsequently quantify whether unacceptable risks are posed to human health or ecological receptors associated with exposure to constituents from these historical operations. A historical records review was conducted in 2015 as part of the RI that identified 45 potential Areas of Concern (AOCs) at Camp Hero; two additional AOCs were identified in 2016, for a total of 47 AOCs. These AOCs included former waste disposal and coal storage areas, abandoned drum locations, formerly documented and alleged USTs and ASTs, a Motor Pool building, and other areas associated with historical DoD operations.
The RI field effort was completed in three phases; the Phase I field investigation was completed from May to June 2016, the Phase II field investigation was completed from November to December 2016, and the Phase III field investigation was completed from May to June 2017. Approximately 1,300 soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater samples were collected during the three RI field events.
The RI Addendum was conducted in 2020 through 2022 to address the deep aquifer groundwater at and in the vicinity of Camp Hero. The addendum included installation of four new permanent monitoring wells in two locations in the south-southwest corner of Camp Hero, between DU01 and the closest potential human receptors along Old Montauk Highway. Groundwater samples were collected from seven onsite and seven offsite Upper Glacial Aquifer (UGA) monitoring wells in December 2020 and February 2021. Each sample was analyzed for 71 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 49 semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), 17 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 9 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and 26 metals, totaling 172 unique constituents per sample.
The conclusions of the RI Addendum were: (1) Metals with relatively high results are naturally occurring and non-hazardous CERCLA constituents (barium, iron, and manganese). (2) The remaining constituents were detected at low concentrations with mostly spatial distribution throughout onsite and offsite wells. (3) Determining if the source of detected constituents is from DoD activities is difficult to determine due to 40 or more years of elapsed time since Camp Hero FUDS was operational, natural degradation for some constituents such as VOCs, and the relative immobility of others such as SVOCs, PAHs, and PCBs. (4) Spatial distribution of constituents between onsite and offsite wells indicates a strong potential source from widespread use of septic drain fields throughout Montauk Point and/or general anthropogenic releases. (5) None of the detected constituents presented actionable risk. Thus, based on this limited deep groundwater aquifer investigation, the NFA determination that was recommended at the conclusion of the RI remained appropriate for Camp Hero under CERCLA.
A Conceptual Site Model (CSM) describes: 1) the contaminant source(s); 2) the release and transport mechanisms; 3) the exposure media; 4) the exposure routes; and 5) the potentially exposed populations. An exposure pathway is the link between environmental releases and local populations that might come into contact with, or be exposed to, environmental contaminants. The primary objective of the CSM is to identify the complete and incomplete exposure pathways. A complete pathway has all the five components listed above, whereas an incomplete pathway is missing one or more.
COPCs that were evaluated in the RI and RI Addendum included: VOCs, SVOCs, PAHs, PCBs, and metals. There is no documentation of the actual release mechanisms at Camp Hero FUDS for the COPCs other than the petroleum release at Building 203, which is currently a closed site by NYSDEC and exempt from CERCLA. As previously described, the sources of COPCs could be naturally occurring, anthropogenic, discharges from septic drain fields throughout Montauk Point, or from Camp Hero FUDS.
The former Camp Hero is located on the eastern tip of Long Island, known locally as the South Fork, within Suffolk County, NY, approximately 5 miles east of the village of Montauk. The Camp is bounded by Montauk Highway (Route 27) to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the south, Montauk Point State Park to the east, and an undeveloped sanctuary area to the west. The Town of East Hampton owns Turtle Cove Town Park to the east and a residential area adjacent to the northwest boundary of the Park. Main access to the Park is from Route 27 onto park roads.
The landscape includes wooded areas, freshwater wetlands, and seaside bluffs. The Camp Hero main entrance is located at the northeast corner of the Park. The Park currently contains hiking trails and roadways leading to former military buildings, picnic areas, and recreational areas. One former military building, the Fixed-Pulse Radar Surveillance (FPS)-35 Radar Tower and Antenna (Radar Tower), is listed under the NRHP. However, the FPS-35 Radar Tower is sealed and in a restricted area from park visitors. Three park buildings are active at this time: the park ranger gate house at the main entrance, a vehicle maintenance building, and a building used as a residence for a Park Police officer. The Park property is fenced, and the inactive buildings and bunkers have been sealed; however, some portions of these areas may be accessible to trespassers.
Long Island is in the Atlantic Coastal Plain Physiographic Province of the United States. The eastern end of Long Island is divided by a series of connected bays and rivers that create two peninsulas known locally as the North and South Fork. Camp Hero State Park is located on the extreme eastern point of the South Fork. Physiographic features of Long Island are dominated by the Ronkonkoma Moraine. The Ronkonkoma Moraine forms an irregular ridge of coalescing hills traversing Long Island from west to east. The surface features of this moraine are characterized by hills and depressions (knob-and-kettle topography) with steep terrain, thickly wooded areas, and densely vegetated wetlands. Within Camp Hero State Park, the hills rise in elevation to approximately 110 feet above mean sea level (amsl). Along the south shore of the Park, steep bluffs rise abruptly from sea level to elevations of 30 to 80 feet amsl above narrow, rock-strewn beaches.
Based on the results of the Remedial Investigation and RI Addendum, no unacceptable human health or ecological risks were identified at Camp Hero FUDS. The human health screening evaluation did not identify any adverse health effects from drinking water from the UGA groundwater for onsite hypothetical residents, offsite residents living southwest of Camp Hero, or the public at Montauk Point State Park and the Montauk Lighthouse and Museum located northeast and adjacent to Camp Hero.
The selected remedy for the Camp Hero FUDS is No Further Action. This determination is based on the results of the RI completed in 2019 and the RI Addendum completed in 2022, which found no actionable risk to human health or ecological receptors from contamination attributable to former DoD activities at the site.
The NFA remedy is protective of human health and the environment. The remedy complies with applicable or relevant and appropriate Federal and State requirements. The remedy is cost-effective. The remedy uses permanent solutions and alternative treatment or resource recovery technologies to the maximum extent practicable. The remedy does not satisfy the statutory preference for treatment because treatment is not required when there is no actionable risk. The remedy will not result in hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remaining on site above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure.
No significant changes were made between the Proposed Plan and the Final Decision Document.
Long Island is in the Atlantic Coastal Plain Physiographic Province of the United States. The eastern end of Long Island is divided by a series of connected bays and rivers that create two peninsulas known locally as the North and South Fork. Camp Hero State Park is located on the extreme eastern point of the South Fork. Physiographic features of Long Island are dominated by the Ronkonkoma Moraine, an irregular ridge of coalescing hills traversing Long Island from west to east characterized by hills and depressions (knob-and-kettle topography) with steep terrain, thickly wooded areas, and densely vegetated wetlands. Within Camp Hero State Park, the hills rise in elevation to approximately 110 feet above mean sea level. Along the south shore of the Park, steep bluffs rise abruptly from sea level to elevations of 30 to 80 feet above narrow, rock-strewn beaches.
The geology of the Camp Hero State Park area is underlain by crystalline bedrock of Pre-Cambrian age. The bedrock consists of gneiss and schist and is estimated to be 1,300 feet below sea level, inferred from bedrock boreholes on the North Fork of Long Island. Successive overlying units include unconsolidated deposits of Cretaceous, Pleistocene, and beach and marsh deposits of recent geologic age.
The Pleistocene deposits underneath Camp Hero are the result of the advance and retreat of several glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch. These glacial deposits can be divided into two general categories by depositional environment: till (unstratified deposits) and stratified deposits. Till is a poorly sorted mixture of gravel, sand, silt, and clay deposited directly from the glacier by melting ice. Stratified deposits consist of the same till components but are sorted into discrete beds by the action of flowing glacial meltwater.
The upper 200 feet of these glacial deposits at Camp Hero can be broadly divided into an upper unit, consisting of undifferentiated (mixed) till and stratified deposits, and a lower unit of stratified deposits. Within the upper unit, the lower 20 to 40 feet consists of interbedded clay, silt, and thin lenses of fine brown clay. The middle portion is compact clayey and gravelly till, occasionally grading laterally into fine-grained stratified sand deposits. Overlying the compact till are typically stratified deposits 0 to 30 feet thick below the ground surface that are composed mostly of lenses of silt, fine to medium sand, and clayey sand. As interpreted from a series of geophysical logs, the bottom of the upper undifferentiated till and stratified unit is mapped at 20 to 30 feet below sea level across Camp Hero and acts as a confining layer to the stratified sand units below. The thickness of the upper undifferentiated till and stratified unit is greater than 70 feet.
The lower confining layer of this unit was evaluated as one of the main focus goals of the Phase IV RI. The geological mapping and geotechnical analysis of soils from the installation of the four new deep monitoring wells confirmed the presence of a competent confining layer, approximately 12 feet thick, above the UGA. This result was consistent with other historical USGS boring logs reviewed during this investigation.
Surface water features at Camp Hero consist primarily of small unnamed drainage streams and wetland areas. The surface water flow at Camp Hero occurs primarily through drainage channels to three small unnamed streams. Two of the streams collect water from the western portion of Camp Hero and flow northwestward to Oyster Pond; the third stream receives surface water from the eastern portion of Camp Hero and flows north to south and discharges to the Atlantic Ocean.
Some of the drainage channels and wetlands contain water most of the year because they are underlain by deposits of low permeability till, which inhibit infiltration. Most of these drainage features become seasonally dry at Camp Hero when precipitation is low and evapotranspiration is high.
Precipitation that is not lost through evapotranspiration or surface discharge to drainage channels percolates downward into the underlying till and stratified drift unit. The downward movement of water through the till and stratified drift is impeded by interbedded lenses of clay and silt. The water forms perched water lenses due to the presence of silty and clayey sand lenses interbedded with the less permeable lenses of silt and clay. Some perched water moves laterally along the interbedded layers and discharges as seepage into drainage channels, wetlands, and shoreline areas.
The regional aquifer system in Suffolk County consists of a sequence of unconsolidated deposits overlying crystalline bedrock. The hydrogeologic units, in descending order, are: Pleistocene-aged glacial deposits that form the glacial aquifer, the underlying Gardiners Clay, the Cretaceous-aged deposits that compose the Magothy aquifer, the underlying Raritan Clay, and the Lloyd aquifer.
At Camp Hero, perched groundwater lenses are located in the upper till and stratified deposits above confining silt and clay. The perched groundwater lenses were the focus of the groundwater investigation during Phases I through III, while Phase IV focused on the deeper Upper Glacial Aquifer (UGA). The perched water flows horizontally with the slope of topography and seeps into downgradient streams, drainage swales, and wetlands. These downgradient drainage features eventually flow off-site to Oyster Pond in the northwest and to the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Based on monitoring well development and low-flow groundwater sampling during RI activities, the perched groundwater exhibits low yields and is very slow to recharge. During the summer months, when precipitation is less frequent and evapotranspiration is highest, perched water may be locally absent at Camp Hero. The perched groundwater elevations measured during the RI ranged from 35 to 95 feet above the UGA.
A groundwater potability analysis was completed as part of the RI to assess whether perched groundwater at Camp Hero should be considered a potential potable water source. The results of this analysis indicated that the shallow perched groundwater at Camp Hero was unsuitable for drinking based on the perched groundwater characteristics and Suffolk County drinking water well standards.
The UGA is present in the lower unit of stratified glacial deposits underneath the upper confining unit of undifferentiated till and stratified glacial deposits. The glacial aquifer has been classified as a confined freshwater lens hydrogeologic setting. This classification represents areas in Suffolk County where the UGA is confined and bounded laterally and below by saltwater. The UGA is isolated from the rest of Long Island's groundwater system. The confined freshwater lens is under artesian pressure and has a head ranging from about sea level to 3.5 feet above sea level.
At Camp Hero FUDS, the glacial till with confining layers of silt and clay separates the perched groundwater and the deep aquifer. This layer ranges in thickness from approximately 130 feet thick in the central portion of Camp Hero to 100 feet thick along the seaside bluffs. In elevated areas of Camp Hero where there is more till with greater clay content and steeper slopes, the amount of surface water runoff is greater and downward movement of water as recharge to the UGA is inhibited. Based on site observations and review of literature, the areas of Camp Hero and vicinity with the greatest potential for recharge are located in areas with less slope and less till thickness, such as wetland areas, stream beds, and drainage swales.
All four phases of the RI identified low levels of VOCs, SVOCs, PAHs, PCBs, and metals in surface and subsurface soils, surface water and sediments related to onsite streams and wetlands, perched water lenses, and groundwater within the deeper UGA. The Phase IV RI field effort also evaluated off-site groundwater in the UGA that was representative of local groundwater conditions. Based on the results of the four phases of the RI, there was no evidence of a significant release of contamination from Camp Hero FUDS, except for the petroleum release at Building 203, which is exempt from CERCLA and has since been closed by NYSDEC. This conclusion is based on the spatial distribution of the low levels of constituents both on Camp Hero and in the general vicinity off-site of Camp Hero. The disposition of constituents indicates naturally occurring sources of some metals and anthropogenic, septic drain fields, and/or Camp Hero FUDS sources of the other constituents.
The investigation area for this RI was limited to the subset of Camp Hero State Park that contains the footprint of the former military operations, excluding the two parcels Area H and Area K. The majority of the Camp Hero FUDS property (415 acres of the total 461 acres) is used as an NYS Park. Approximately 46 acres within the Camp Hero FUDS boundary is owned by the Town of East Hampton and used for affordable housing, which consists of 27 former Air Force housing units located along the south side of Montauk Highway (Route 27).
Future land use is anticipated to remain the same. Correspondence from NYSOPRHP to the USACE on future park use plans indicated that NYSOPRHP may add new camping areas and new trails to the Park.
There is one onsite deep UGA water well that is currently used for non-potable use at the NYS Park Motor Pool building. There are multiple off-site UGA wells used for potable uses including the residences along Old Montauk Highway to the south-southwest and two drinking water wells to the northeast: Montauk Point State Park and Montauk Point Lighthouse supply wells. The rest of the residences in Montauk Point appear to be serviced by Suffolk County municipally supplied water, which is obtained from an aquifer that is not hydraulically connected to the UGA beneath Camp Hero. There is not a use for the discontinuous perched water at Camp Hero.
Comprehensive baseline human health and ecological risk assessments were completed during the RI and included comparisons of media concentrations of chemicals against applicable human health or ecological screening levels and site-specific background threshold values, quantitative risk calculations, a site and background population means comparison, a geochemical statistical evaluation for metals, and additional characterization of PAHs, including PAH forensics and PAH source evaluation. Based on these evaluations, there were no chemicals of concern identified that could be attributed to a CERCLA release.
An HHSE was completed as part of the RI Addendum, which did not identify any adverse health effects from drinking water from the UGA groundwater for onsite hypothetical residents, constituent offsite residents living southwest of Camp Hero, and the public at the Montauk Point State Park and the Montauk Lighthouse and Museum located northeast and adjacent to Camp Hero.
Remedial Action Objectives (RAOs) are based on human health and environmental risks that drive the formulation and implementation of response actions. Since NFA is the selected response for Camp Hero FUDS, an FS was not required; therefore, RAOs were not required to be established.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
This NFA response at Camp Hero FUDS is protective of human health and the environment and complies with Federal and State requirements. A Five-Year Review is not required.
The regulator (NYSDEC) and property owner (NYSOPRHP) are in agreement with the NFA decision.
Cashin Associates, 1998. Camp Hero Feasibility Study, Hazardous Materials Survey, Preliminary Report, Amended Final. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Amended Final, Montauk, New York. June.
NYSDEC, 2019. Letter of Correspondence from Mr. John Swartout to Mr. Greg Goepfert, NYSDEC and NYSDOH Reviews of Draft Final Remedial Investigation Report, Camp Hero, DEC ID# 152231. 7 January 2019.
USACE (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), 1994. UST Closure Report, UST #s 16 and 18, Building 203, Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. October.
USACE, Rock Island District. 2000. Ordnance and Explosive Waste Archives Search Report Findings for the Former Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. Site No. C02NY002403. February.
USACE, 2003. New York District. Explosives Safety Submission, Ordnance and Explosives Removal Action, Former Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. May.
USACE, 2011. Public Participation Requirements for Defense Environmental Restoration Program. Environmental Quality. EP 200-3-1, 30 October 2011.
USACE, 2017. Final Phase III Remedial Investigation Sampling and Analysis Plan. Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, Proposed Plan and Decision Document, Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. May.
USACE, 2019a. Final Remedial Investigation Report. Former Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. January.
USACE, 2019b. Final Proposed Plan. Former Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. October.
USACE, 2022. Final Remedial Investigation Addendum Report. Former Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. February.
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), 1999. A Guide to Preparing Superfund Proposed Plans, Records of Decision, and Other Remedy Selection Decision Documents. OSWER 9200.1-23P. July 1999.
USEPA, 2016. Superfund Community Involvement Handbook. January 2016.
USGS (U.S. Geological Survey), 1963. Availability of Fresh Groundwater, Montauk Point Area, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, Geologic Survey Water-Supply Paper 1613-B.
USGS, 1986. Groundwater Resource Assessment of the Montauk Area, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, Water Resources Investigations Report 85-4013.
USGS, 1997. Hydrogeologic-Setting Classification for Suffolk County, N.Y, with Results of Selected Aquifer-Test Analyses, Open File Report.
Weston, Inc., 2000. Final Data Collection Report for Defense Environmental Restoration Program Formerly Used Defense Sites (DERP-FUDS), Camp Hero - Montauk, New York. August.
The Final Decision Document explicitly excludes Areas H and K from its No Further Action determination. These are identified as military munitions sites subject to separate CERCLA investigation. The nature and timeline of that separate investigation are not specified in this document.
The remedial investigation covered environmental contamination from former DoD activities. It was not a comprehensive survey of all physical infrastructure on the site. The document does not attempt to document the full extent of underground construction at Camp Hero, only those structures within the defined Decision Units relevant to the environmental investigation.
The investigation noted that determining the source of detected contaminants is difficult because more than 40 years have elapsed since the site was operational. The document does not address what activities occurred at the site during its operational period beyond its roles as a coastal defense installation and radar station.
One commenter at the October 2019 public meeting stated that a development of 27 families in the vicinity had an abnormal rate of cancer. The Army Corps response addressed the technical findings of the human health risk assessment, which found no adverse health effects from site contamination, while noting that testing of private residential wells adjacent to the site was outside the scope of this investigation.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District. Final Decision Document, Camp Hero Formerly Used Defense Site, Montauk, New York. FUDS Project Number C02NY002403. October 2022. Signed by Reinhard W. Koenig, P.E., SES, Programs Director, North Atlantic Division.
Source PDF: NYSDEC — Final Signed Decision Document HW.152231 →
Public Repository: Montauk Public Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers FOIA office →
NOTE: This is a public record produced under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program. It is not classified. The transcription covers the primary sections of the 121-page document. The full public meeting transcript is continued on Part 2 of this page.