Former Laredo Air Force Base

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Site Map of Areas of Concern

Construction Landfill Site Area Construction Landfill Site Area Fire Training Site Area Fire Training Site Area Pistol Range Pistol Range Industrial Waste Treatment Plant IWTP Industrial Waste Treatment Plant IWTP Fuel Farm Fuel Farm Sanitary Landfill Sanitary Landfill

Construction Landfill Site Area
The construction landfill is a site where construction debris was placed. The investigation is not complete, but it is assumed that most of the debris is probably inert.

Sanitary Landfill
The Sanitary Landfill Area, located on the northwest side of the former Laredo AFB, was used for sanitary waste disposal. The Sanitary Landfill consisted of approximately19 trenches and one irregular shaped pit. Today, the Alta Vista residential subdivision and Newman Elementary School property cover the former Sanitary Landfill Area.

Fire Training Site Area
Fire training is the area where the air force and airport trained their fire crews by setting fuel and used oil on fire and then putting the fire out. It has been investigated and has impacted soil. There are ongoing discussions concerning what to do and how much the city and the Department of Defense will pay.

Pistol Range
The shotgun ranges, used for skeet shooting, were located where the Alta Vista and the Vista Hermosa residential subdivisions exist today. Portions of the southern shotgun range also had interim land use as a golf course while the northern shotgun range overlaps the Sanitary Landfill Area.

Industrial Waste Treatment Plant IWTP
The Industrial Waste Treatment Plant IWTP area is located south of the existing residential subdivisions. The IWTP was reportedly constructed in 1969 and operated until 1974 when the LAFB was closed. The IWTP consisted of a control building, a clarifier, a sludge lagoon, and associated subsurface piping. Investigations are still underway to discover what streams the IWTP was designed to treat and what may have been in those streams the IWTP was designed to treat and what may have been in those streams. The plant is small and probably only treated one or two hundred gallons per minute. Effluent from the IWTP was directed to the AFB sewer, which in turn discharged into the City of Laredo sewer system. The solids removed from the water by the system were discharged in the sludge lagoon. Remains of the former IWTP include the control building, clarifier, and a sanitary sewer manhole. The property has not been developed.

Fuel Farm
The Former Laredo AFB Fuel Farm area consisted of multiple underground storage tanks (USTs) and acted as a supply center for gasoline used during aircraft training. The Fuel Farm was in operation from 1942 to 1946 and later from 1952 to 1974. Once the Laredo International Airport began operation, the City of Laredo used the Fuel Farm as its own resource. In 1990, phase-separated hydrocarbons (PSH) were discovered at the site and resulted in a groundwater extraction effort. USTs were removed in 1992 and 1997 and the groundwater extraction system is no longer operating. The site is currently listed as a Potential Responsible Party (PRP) site. Negotiations between the City of Laredo and the USACE began in 2000.