Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany

Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Albany is an active Marine Corps installation covering roughly 3,579 acres in Dougherty County, Georgia, just east of the city of Albany. The base was commissioned on March 1, 1952, as the Marine Corps Depot of Supplies, and depot-level maintenance work began in 1954 with the rebuilding of ground combat and combat support equipment. The installation was renamed Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany in 1978 as it took on the full range of logistics support for Marine Corps ground weapon systems. For decades it has served as a major depot maintenance and supply hub supporting Marine Corps units, particularly on the East Coast.

Those decades of industrial activity left a legacy of contamination. According to EPA, landfill operations from the 1950s through the mid-1980s, spills and leaks from industrial operations and piping, and leaking electrical transformers contaminated soil and groundwater beneath the installation. Investigators eventually grouped 14 source areas requiring further investigation into six operable units for cleanup purposes. The following contaminants have been documented at MCLB Albany, and they have raised concerns about potential exposure among service members, civilian workers, and nearby residents.

1. PCBs: Polychlorinated biphenyls are synthetic chemicals that were widely used as insulating fluids in electrical transformers before U.S. production was banned in 1979. At MCLB Albany, leaking PCB transformers were identified as one of the sources of soil contamination. PCBs persist in the environment for long periods, and exposure has been associated with potential effects on the liver and immune system as well as an increased risk of certain cancers.
2. TCE: Trichloroethylene is a chlorinated solvent long used to degrease metal parts, a routine task at a depot that rebuilds military vehicles and equipment. TCE and related compounds have been detected in groundwater beneath the base, and the Navy has conducted treatment work targeting solvent source areas. TCE exposure has been associated with potential effects on the kidneys, liver, and immune system, and it is classified as a human carcinogen.
3. Other industrial solvents: Beyond TCE, volatile organic compounds from maintenance and waste disposal operations reached groundwater, and the base-wide groundwater remedy addresses chlorinated solvent plumes in three separate areas. Depending on the chemical and the level and duration of exposure, solvents of this type have been associated with potential neurological, liver, and kidney effects.

EPA added MCLB Albany to the Superfund National Priorities List in 1989. In 1991, the Navy, EPA, and the State of Georgia signed a Federal Facilities Agreement under which the Navy leads the investigation and cleanup with oversight from EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Between 1995 and 2010, cleanup crews removed contaminated soils, installed soil covers and caps, and completed remedies at five of the six operable units, with land use controls remaining in place. Work continues on the sixth operable unit, base-wide groundwater, including monitoring of three plume areas and an optimization study to improve treatment. A federal health agency (ATSDR) concluded that the three on-base drinking water supply wells did not pose a past or current public health hazard, but it classified the nearby Fleming Road neighborhood as an indeterminate hazard pending additional private well sampling, and five-year reviews have found the remedies protective in the short term.

Veterans and civilian employees who served or worked at MCLB Albany may wish to keep up with cleanup documents and five-year reviews as they are released. Anyone with questions about possible exposure during their time at the base can speak with a VA provider, who can review their service history and discuss whether any health screening or benefits programs may apply.