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Project History

Site and Response History

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is performing environmental remediation activities in focused areas at the former Camp Maxey, Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS). The former Camp Maxey is located nine miles north of Paris in Lamar County, Texas and approximately three miles south of the Texas-Oklahoma border. It is within 105 miles of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas (to the west) and 155 miles of Shreveport, Louisiana (to the east). The U.S. Highway 271 forms part of the eastern border of the site.

Site History

The former Camp Maxey FUDS comprises approximately 10,144 acres of land and 4,283 acres of water (14,427 total acres) of an original 41,428-acre U.S. Army post; utilized for training infantry and housing World War II prisoners of war. It was activated in July 1942, shortly after the U.S. declared war on Japan in December 1941. In October 1944, the camp was designated an Infantry Advance Replacement Training Center. Infantry soldiers were trained in live fire of weapons including pistols, carbines, rifles, machine guns, mortars, anti-tank guns, artillery, grenades, and mines. The camp was deactivated in October 1945, after World War II ended, and declared surplus in May 1947.  A portion of the original camp was transferred to the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG).  This area is still currently employed as a TXARNG training area named “Camp Maxey.” To distinguish the current TXARNG facility from the FUDS site, the latter is referred to as “former Camp Maxey.”  Other lands that were originally part of former Camp Maxey were dispersed in the 1940s and 1950s but many were reacquired by the Federal Government in the 1960s for the construction of a dam and reservoir in the Sanders Creek valley.  The lake was subsequently named Pat Mayse Lake. 

The USACE now owns the Lake and all lands immediately surrounding the Lake and operates these for public recreation in the form of hunting, camping, fishing, trail riding, and other outdoor activities.  Other areas originally part of former Camp Maxey, now are utilized for agricultural, commercial or residential use by private landowners.

 

Project Details

The following munitions items have been identified in the Former Camp Maxey areas:

· 2.36-inch M6A3 HEAT Rockets

· 37mm HE and APHE Projectile

· 57mm AP Projectile

· 90mm M71 HE Projectiles

· 105mm Smoke Canisters

· 155mm Illumination and HE Projectiles

· 60mm M49A2, Illumination, and Practice Mortars

· Rifle Grenades (M9 and M9A1)

· Practice Hand Grenades

· MK II Hand Grenades

· M1 Practice Mines

· Smoke Canisters

· HEAT Rockets

Due to the risk to land owners, workers, and recreational users from munitions and explosives of concern (MEC), the USACE is investigating and remediating lands within the former Camp Maxey boundary.  The response at former Camp Maxey is progressing in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its amendments, and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP).  The lead regulator overseeing the response is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Remediation Division.

Site Name:  Camp Maxey

FUDS Number: K06TX0305

Federal Facility Identification (FFID) Number: TX69799F668600

Information Repository:  Paris Public Library, 326 S. Main St., Paris, Texas  75460

Acronyms:

AP Armor-Piercing

APHE Armor-Piercing High Explosive

ASR Archives Search Report

CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

EE/CA Engineering Evaluation / Cost Analysis

FUDS Formerly Used Defense Sites

HE High explosive

HEAT High explosive, anti-tank

LTM Long-Term Management

LUCs Land Use Controls

MC Munitions Constituents

MD Munitions Debris

MEC Munitions and Explosives of Concern

mm millimeter

MRS Munitions Response Site

NCP National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan

QC Quality Control

RI/FS Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study

TCEQ Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

TCRA Time-Critical Removal Action

TPWD Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

TXARNG Texas Army National Guard

USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

WMA Wildlife Management Area

Last Updated: August 2023