Cheyenne, WY Airport Cleanup Nears Final Phase

October 10, 2010 - Community residents interested in or affected by groundwater contamination at the Wyoming Air National Guard airport will meet Oct. 26 to learn about final cleanup plans.

The contaminated plume was identified more than a decade ago, according to Jane Francis, the project leader for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. It runs under Del Range Boulevard in north Cheyenne and up to Mylar Park where a barrier was installed earlier to protect Dry Creek.

Two contaminants from the airport are involved — carbon tetrachloride and TCE ([trichloroethlene]).

The latter is the same contaminant from abandoned Atlas missile sites found at the Belvoir Ranch near Cheyenne.

The Restoration Advisory Board, which includes representatives of the community, will meet at 6:30 p.m. at Hobbs Elementary in Cheyenne to talk about how to finally clean up all the contamination at the airport and whatever went under neighborhood houses, Francis said.

"A lot of work has been done on putting in monitoring wells," she said.

The 20 or 30 houses in the area were tested for vapors from the groundwater contamination plume but none was found, she said.

All the homeowners have been contacted.

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