Government to Start Searching Brevard Beachside Dump for Military Waste
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Patrick Space Force Base military personnel called in to remove a mortar from a resident's property in South Patrick Shores. Photo by DP Braden on September 2018. |
Government to Start Searching Brevard Beachside Dump for Military Waste
SOUTH PATRICK SHORES, FL - More than three hundred homes sit on a former military landfill within less than a mile area south of Patrick Space Force Base, where residents reawakened the discussion of military debris buried underneath their homes in 2018.
Congress in 1980 recognized the dangers of burying hazardous waste, and federal officials identified 54 toxic dump sites in Florida. These dangerous materials leech into the groundwater and can cause environmental damage and contaminate drinking water. They can also kill vegetation, cause erosion on the property, groundwater can be poisoned, and gasses can seep into homes.
In the early 1970s, the U.S. Air Force closed landfills by covering waste with a 1 to 12 feet deep soil layer. No control measures (e.g., liners or impermeable caps) were installed when the landfills were closed, leaving the hazardous materials available to migrate from the site. Open dumpsites with no liners are considered a challenging issue in groundwater protection.
After WWII, toxic chemicals are suspected of contaminating water on bases and nearby communities with chemicals ranging from cleaning solvents, explosives, and firefighting foam. Some health issues include cancers, asthma, colon, and digestive disorders, stillbirths, miscarriages, headaches, and nose bleeds.
Jacksonville oncologist, along with cancer survivors and nationally recognized environmental health advocate Stel Bailey helped get the state to investigate cancers in the Satellite Beach and Suntree area. After a yearlong wait, the Florida Department of Health released the results in May 2019. They concluded that cancer rates were higher but that there was no significant public health risk. The agency failed to examine all cancer types and didn't include hundreds of local cancer cases reported to the department. Breast cancer was one they left out that is associated with chemical exposures, as seen in a Camp Lejeune study.
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Jacksonville Oncologist, Erin Brockovich, Stel Bailey, Bob Bowcock, Jeff Dubitsky in Satellite Beach, Florida, September 2018 |
In the '90s, the community of about 3,000 residents had 11 cases of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and an additional 16 cases on the base, totaling 27 cases of cancer. Statistically, two cases of Hodgkin's disease could have been expected in the area. They also had a high incidence of Lou Gehrig's (ALS) disease. Residents brought health concerns to state and federal agencies who ultimately blamed cancer cases on a virus and went silent.
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Mapping in 2018 documenting items unburied by the Fight for Zero team. Tech DP Braden |
Hazardous Waste Violations
The military is one of the country's largest polluters. Patrick Space Force Base (formerly air force) has been inspected many times, dating back to 1986 by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) agency. In July 2014, the facility was out of compliance with violations, including failure to properly identify hazardous wastes, exceeding the limit of stored hazardous waste, failure to properly label containers, improper storage of hazardous waste that exceeded toxicity limits for cadmium, management of hazardous waste without a permit and disposal of toxic warfarin trash to a local landfill. When FDEP inspectors went to the facility to inspect on July 22, 2015, the Base would not allow the inspectors to access the grounds. According to the notes in the following inspection in September, this matter was closed without formal enforcement. [2]A Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) Designation
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Dug up debris in South Patrick Shores in 2018 |
Area Targeted for Cleanup
On February 27, 2023, the federal government began its investigation with ground penetrating radar (GPR). This radar surveys the top of the ground using a small lawnmower-sized instrument. They will scan yards in the area that signed the "rights-of-entry" forms to test for groundwater and soil contamination. A draft report is expected to be released in mid-2024. Three hundred property owners were eligible for the environmental investigation. So far, 182 owners have signed the "right-of-entry" form to allow the Corps to explore their yards.
The agency will test homes for vapors if the groundwater or soil samples cause concern.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to begin the first phase of the Remedial Investigation field work (ground penetrating radar) near Patrick Space Force Base. For information, email FUDS.Florida@usace.army.mil or call 800-710-5184.![]() |
Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) mapping by Fight for Zero: https://www.fight4zero.org/fudsmap |
Fight for Zero is composed of seven chapters in the state of Florida and works with community groups from across the country directly impacted by toxic exposures. The organization aims to protect natural resources while fighting for zero illness. They have been at the forefront of numerous environmental health investigations. For more information on Fight for Zero, please visit http://www.fight4zeor.org, and please consider donating to help continue this work!
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