Army considering installing contamination prevention tech in development next to Area B

The U.S. Army is considering installing protective technology in homes being built next to Fort Detrick’s Area B, after groundwater samples showed contamination from the site is also present under the development.

In May, the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) that oversees the remediation of Fort Detrick’s Area B received updated information on the extent of groundwater contamination at the site, which is currently under construction.

Those updates included a map showing high concentrations of contamination along the southwest fence line of Area B and a nearby residential development that could potentially impact dozens of planned homes.

Area B is a 399-acre section of the base that is detached from the main campus, between Kemp Lane and Shookstown Road. The section was used as a test site for the Army’s biological warfare program in the mid-20th century.

After then-President Richard Nixon ended the program in 1969, scientists disposed of hazardous waste in unlined trenches and pits within Area B, leading to groundwater contamination.

Army scientists have spent decades studying the contamination and the extent to which it has spread.

In 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the groundwater at Area B as a National Priorities List Superfund site.

A Superfund site is a location that has been contaminated with hazardous waste that poses risks to the environment and human health. The EPA designates Superfund sites and places them on the National Priorities List.

Rocky Gorge Development, based in Virginia, plans to develop about 300 residential units, which will be a mix of townhouses and condominiums, between Shookstown Road and Area B.

The area will be called Gambrill Glenn, according to Christopher Dorment, Rocky Gorge’s chairman and owner. The project developer, Gambrill View Development, is a subsidiary of Rocky Gorge.

Dorment estimated the entire development would be completed within the next five to six years.

The data that was presented is from quarterly groundwater samples drawn from 62 wells throughout Area B and the residential development from 2023.

Samples were also drawn during 2024, but that data was not included in the presentation because it needed to go through a data validation process.

Of the 37 Area B wells, 12 of them exceeded maximum contaminant levels for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like chloroform, trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene.

At the residential development, 23 of the 25 wells — the majority of which were shallow monitoring wells — exceeded VOC contaminant levels.

Trichloroethylene is a known carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer. Chloroform and perchloroethylene are likely to be carcinogenic, according to the EPA.

Betty Law, a RAB member, said the information presented in May lines up with findings the board has seen before about where the potential contamination is.

She said the map showing where the highest contamination detections are on the Waverley View residential development is “clear and immediate, and anybody can look at it and say, ‘Yeah, I see where the contamination is worse.’”

Contamination at residential development by Area B

This map shows concentrations of groundwater contamination on the residential development in Waverley View, also called Gambrill Glenn, next to Fort Detrick Area B. The darker areas show higher concentrations of trichloroethylene, and a 100-foot buffer zone has been drawn around the detected contamination.

Several rows of the Gambrill Glenn homes are at some sort of risk for vapor intrusion, according to the map.

Vapor intrusion is the process by which vapors from volatile chemicals migrate from contaminated groundwater through soil and into the basements and foundations of buildings.

The vapors can pose health risks to those who inhale them and degrade indoor air quality, but the effects can be mitigated by installing protective technologies.

Joseph Gortva, chief of Fort Detrick’s environmental division, said the Army’s next steps are to create an engineering evaluation cost analysis that lays out potential mitigation technology for the at-risk homes.

He said later this year the Army will hold a public hearing on the analysis. After that, the Army could sign an action memorandum and would legally be allowed to start installing protective technology.

Dorment said that Rocky Gorge is “very supportive and very willing to cooperate with all these remediation efforts” that the Army is putting into place.

“The strong impression I have is that they’re going to have what they call vapor intrusion barriers put in as the houses are constructed,” he said. “We’re very aware of where ... the potential contamination exists and very aware of what their plans are.”

A bill passed this year in the Maryland General Assembly that requires sellers of homes within a mile of a Superfund site to provide a separate addendum to potential homebuyers once they sign and date a sales contract.

Fort Detrick Area B is designated a Superfund site.

The addendum would notify the buyer of the property’s proximity to a Superfund site, define what a Superfund site is and provide links to EPA resources.

Under the legislation, the buyer could void the contract for the home near the Superfund site within five days of signing and dating it and receive a full refund.

In terms of the Army’s next steps for the Area B remedial investigation, Gortva said the Army will continue collecting samples to fill data gaps, which should be completed within the next year and a half.

After sampling is finished, the remedial investigation document can be made, which Gortva estimated would be in the next two to three years, and the Army can then look at remedies for the contamination.

“We are closer to the end of the remedial investigation, which is a good thing, because that means we’re closer to some type of remedy selection at the site,” he said.