Johnston Island

The U.S. Army is in the process of destroying the country s stockpile of aging chemical weapons, stored at eight locations in the continental United States and on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The deadline for completing the destruction of these weapons, as specified by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) international treaty, is April 29, 2007. Originally, the Army selected incineration as the preferred baseline destruction technology, and it currently operates two incineration facilities—one on Johnston Atoll and one at the Deseret Chemical Depot near Tooele, Utah. The Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) completed destruction of the stockpile on Johnston Island in late 2000, and closure of the... 

In July 1977, following the completion of Project PACER HO dedrumlng and subsequent site clean-up operations at NCBC and Johnston Island, Air force scientists Initiated an extensive site monitoring program. The objectives of this program were ... 

Table VII. Concentration (ppm) of Total Herbicides, Total Phenols, and TCDD In 12 Soil Samples Collected July 1977 from the Herbicide Orange Storage Areas, Johnston Island and...

Studies on the penetration of the herbicides and on the microbial content of the samples were conducted at both the Naval Construction Battalion Center and Johnston Island. The results of these studies have been described by Young, et. al. 

Chemical Agent Stockpiles Elsewhere, 6 Johnston Island Chemical Agent Stockpile, 8 Role of the National Research Council, 8... 

Location of JACADS, the Red Hat Storage Area, and other facilities on Johnston Island, 7... 

JACADS, the first fully integrated baseline incineration system for the disposal of stockpiled chemical agent and munitions, is located on Johnston Island, part of the Johnston Atoll, approximately 800 miles southwest of Hawaii. The facility occupies 130 acres of the 625-acre island and includes one large process building, with three furnaces and auxiliary equipment. 

Finding 2. Decisions on the end use and identification of the ultimate owner of Johnston Island or other chemical disposal facilities have not been reached in a timely way. For J AC ADS, the need for prompt action on this matter at a high level was pointed out in a letter report of this committee dated May 4, 2000 (NRC, 2000a). Regulatory requirements and analytical procedures/protocols to meet end-state requirements for JAC ADS were not completed as of the writing of this report. 

Johnston Island is approximately 7 percent natural the remaining 93 percent was created by dredging the surrounding coral reef to build a runway for military operations during World War II. A protective seawall surrounding the island requires periodic maintenance to keep most of the island (which is 7 feet above sea level) from being reclaimed by the sea. 

JACADS JOHNSTON ISLAND JOHNSTON ATOLL CHEMICAL AGENT DISPOSAL SYSTEM AREA DECOMMISSIONING MATRIX WORK AREA SCOPE SHEET 2 OF 6 ... 

Johnston Atoll consists of Johnston Island and three much smaller nearby islands that function primarily as nesting sites for various seabird species. The entire atoll complex, including Johnston Island, is managed jointly by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Fish and Wildlife Service as a national wildlife refuge. 

The Army plans to leave Johnston Island following completion of the destruction of the chemical stockpile. To complete the closure of JACADS, the Army must demonstrate to EPA that its portion of the island is acceptable for future use (whatever that use is determined to be). Other parts of Johnston Island will require cleanup by appropriate government agencies to address contamination by non-JACADS wastes. These include plutonium, Agent Orange,... 

In the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army (the major tenant) and the Department of the Air Force (the current steward) will play lead roles in various aspects of closure. Another defense agency, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, has been responsible for cleaning up the plutonium on Johnston Island. Although the Air Force is the current steward for the island, it will probably not be the agency ultimately responsible for the overall atoll and therefore is not in a position to make final determinations about end use. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Department of Commerce) is concerned about aquatic life in the lagoon. The U.S. Coast Guard (Department of Transportation), as well as other agencies, may also be interested in the ultimate use of the atoll. If it is designated surplus property, the General Services Administration (GSA) may become involved. The Federal Aviation Administration (Department of Transportation) operates the runway on Johnston Island. The FWS (Department of the Interior) operates the wildlife refuge and may be the final steward of the atoll. 

More specifically, current plans call for the Army to place the site under the jurisdiction of the Air Force upon completion of JACADS closure activities. Although it is likely that FWS will ultimately assume stewardship responsibility for Johnston Island, the Army presently plans to provide part-time monitoring staff for a period of 5 years after closure operations have been completed. 

Delays were encountered in closure risk assessment for JACADS because the Army s first CSM, prepared by US ACHPPM and submitted to EPA Region IX in December 1999, provided only a human health risk assessment based on industrial end use for JACADS (EPA, 2000 U.S. Army, 2000e). Neither the Air Eorce (the present Johnston Island owner) nor the EWS (the anticipated owner) was asked to review the CSM before it was submitted to EPA. After subsequent meetings with all stakeholders, a CSM that included both ecological and human health risk assessment methodologies was submitted to EPA in July 2000 as part of RCRA permit modification C3-050 (U.S. Army, 2000e). 

The goal of the cleanup for Army facilities on Johnston Island is to achieve for each contaminant of concern a concentration less than a value established for that contaminant in a standard. Two sets of standards are under consideration the industrial standard and the residential standard, each established for the end use implied by the name. As might be expected, the industrial standard is less strict than the residential standard, and the concentration will generally be higher for the industrial standard. Because cleaning to the residential standard typically costs more than cleaning to the industrial standard, there is strong interest in the choice that will be made. 

Although the Army is responsible for closure of only the JACADS area of Johnston Island, a closure plan that integrates Air Force and Army closure activities would provide opportunities for cost savings. It might, for example, allow eliminating cross-contamination and reducing disposal costs. 

The end use of Johnston Island will dictate which structures can be abandoned and which will require modifications. Good advanced planning can minimize wasted effort in meeting end-state requirements. 

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