FINAL US Army Corps of Engineers HUNTSVILLE ENGINEERING SUPPORT CENTER Defense Environmental Restoration Program for Formerly Used Defense Sites Ordnance and Explosives Chemical Warfare Materials ARCHIVES SEARCH REPORT FINDINGS ARMSTRONG COUNTY AIR-TO-AIR GUNNERY RANGE Dewey and Sully Counties, South Dakota Project Nb. B08SD08 190 1 SEPTEMBER 1996 Prepared by US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS ST. LOUIS DISTRICT ORDNANCE AND EXPLOSIVES CHEMICAL WARFARE MATERIALS ARCHIVES SEARCH REPORT FINDINGS Armstrong County Air-to-Air Gunnery Range Dewey and Sully Counties, SouthD akota Project Number B08SDO81901 TABLE OF CONTENTZ$ 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Authority l-l 1.2 Subject l-l 1.3 Purpose l-l 1.4 Scope l-l 2.0 Previous Investigations 2.1 Corps of EngineersD ocuments 2-l 2.2 Other Reports 2-l 3.0 Site Description 3.1 Land Usage 3-l 3.2 Climatic Data 3-l 3.3 Geology and Soils 3-2 3.4 Hydrology 3-4 3.5 Ecology 3-5 3.6 Demographics 3-6 4.0 Historical Ordnance Usage 4.1 Historical Site Summary 4-l 4.2 Review of Historical Records 4-2 4.3 Summary of Interviews 4-7 4.4 Air Photo Interpretationa nd Map Analysis 4-7 5.0 Real Estate 5.1 Confirmed DOD Ownership 5-l 5.2 Potential DOD Ownership 5-l 5.3 SignificantP ast Ownership other than DOD 5-l 5.4 PresentO wnership 5-l i 6.0 Site Inspection 6-1 7.0 Evaluation of Ordnance Presence 7-1 8.0 Technical Data of Ordnance and Explosives 8-l 9.0 Evaluation of Other Site Information 9-l APPENDICES A REFERENCES B GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS C TEXT/MANUALS D REPORTS/STUDIES E LETTERS/MEMORANDA/MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS F REAL ESTATE DOCUMENTS -- NOT USED G NEWSPAPERS/JOURNALS -- NOT USED H INTERVIEWS I PRESENT SITE PHOTOGRAPHS J HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS -- NOT USED K HISTORICAL MAPS/DRAWINGS -- NOT USED L SITE SAFETY AND HEALTH PLAN/SITE INSPECTION REPORT M REPORT DISTRIBUTION LIST REPORT PLATES Plate 1 Vicinity Map Plate 2 Site Map Plate 3 Findings ii 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Authority In 1986, Congresse stablishedt he Defense EnvironmentalR estorationP rogram at 10 USC. 2701 et.seq. This program directed the Secretaryo f Defenset o “carry out a program of environmentalr estorationa t facilities under the jurisdiction of the Secretary.” In March, 1990, the EPA issueda revised National ContingencyP lan. Under 40 C.F.R. 300.120, EPA designatedD OD to be the removal responsea uthority for incidents involving DOD military weaponsa nd munitions under the jurisdiction, custody and control of DOD. Sincet he beginningo f this program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineersh as been the agency responsiblef or environmentalr estoration at Formerly-Used Defense Sites (FUDS). Since 1990, the U.S. Army Engineeringa nd Support Center, Huntsville, has been the Mandatory Center of Expertise and Design Center for Ordnancea nd Explosives. 1.2 Subiect The former Armstrong County Air-to-Air Gunnery Rangec onsistedo f approximately 404,439 acres and was used for training exerciesb y pilots stationeda t various airfields during World War II. The site is locateda pproximatelys ix miles east of EagleB utte in Dewey and Sully Counties, SouthD akota. 1.3 Puruose This Archives SearchR eport (ASR) compilesi nformation obtainedt hrough historical researcha t various archives and records holding facilities, interviews with personsa ssociated with the site.o r its operatioris, and personalv isits to the site. All efforts were directed towards determiningp ossibleu se or disposalo f ordnancea nd/or CWM on the site. Particular emphasisw as placedo n establishingt he type of munitions, quantitiesa nd area of disposal. Information obtainedd uring this processw as usedi n developingr ecommendations for further actionsa t the site. 1.4 scooe The entire site of the former precisionb ombing range, consistingo f 404,439.41 acre& was evaluatedin assessingth e potentialf or OE contamination. It is designateda s DERP-FUDS Site No. BO8SD081901. This report presentst he history of the site, descriptiona nd characterizationo f the immediate surroundinga rea, real estate ownership information, findings of a visual field survey, and OE site analysis, including an evaluationo f potentialo rdnancec ontamination. A separate Executive Summary supplementsth ese ASR FINDINGS and furnishes the CONCLUSIONS and RECOMMENDATIONS. l-l 2.0 Previous Investieations 2.1 Cores of EnPineen Documents Under the Defense EnvironmentalR estorationP rogram, the OmahaD istrict prepared a Project Inventory Report (INPR) which containeda Findingsa nd Determination of Eligibility (FDE), for the subjectA rmstrong County Air-to-Air Gunnery Range. The FDE statest hat the site, acquired in 1943, was usedi n support of Pierre Army Air Field, Fairmont Army Air Field, Harvard Army Air Field, and Bruning Army Air Field. The site was determined to be eligible for the DefenseE nvironmentalR estorationP rogram for Formerly Used DefenseS ites as establishedu nder 10 USC 2701 et seq. A RAC scoreo f 3 was assigned. A copy of the INPR is includeda t AppendixD . A February 1993 site inspectionb y the Omaha District did not find evidenceo f ordnance except for some SO caliber points and casingsd isplayedb y one of the landowners. The INPR stated that a Certificate of Clearance( COC) had not been located for the subject site. 2.2 Other Reoorts No other site investigationr eports were obtainedd uring the archive search. 2-l 3.0 e 3.1 3.1.1 Location The former Armstrong County Air-to-Air Gunnery Range, consistingo f 404,439.41 acres, is located approximatelys ix miles east of EagleB utte, SouthD akota. The majority of the site is within the boundarieso f Dewey County with a portion in Sully County. 3.1.2 Past Use Prior to DOD acquiring usageo f the land, it was used for grazing and agriculture. 3.1.3 Current Uses The majority of the land is used for grazing with somes mall farming operations. 3.2 Climatic Data The site is located in a continentalc limate, with frequent daily temperaturef luctuations and distinct seasons. Winters generally is cold and dry with storms of short duration. Normal l temperaturesf or the seasona re in the middle teens and precipitation is mainly in the form of snow. Seasonasl nowfall has varied from under9 inchest o over 75 inches. Blizzard type storms occur on occasionb ut are infrequent. Average yearly snowfall is a little under3 3 inches. Spring is characterizedb y marked increasesin both temperaturea nd precipitation. Nearly one-third of the annualr ainfall occurs during the spring months Summersa re hot but not extreme. Temperatureso f 100 degreeso r over usuahy occur three or four times a year, but nights are normally cool and comfortable. Summertime precipitation is mainly in the form of showers and thunderstorms. Hail occurs about 2 times a year on the averagew ith the thunderstorms. Autumn is a very pleasants easonw ith mild warm days, cool nights, and plentiful sunshine. The prevailing winds are south southeasterlye very month of the year except February which is northwesterly. The winds are persistentlys trong most of the year, but highest in March, April and May and lowest in July and August. At noon, the meanr elative humidity is 67 percent in January, 54 percent in April, 53 percent in July, and 53 percent in October. 3-1 In Huron, the sun shinesf or about 55 percent of the daylight hours in winter, and for more than 75 percent in summer. Skiesa re clear about 29 percent of the time, partly cloudy about 29 percent and cloudy about 42 percent. Climatologicald ata for the area are summarizedi n TABLE 3-l. Data were collecteda t the National WeatherS ervice meteorologicals tation at the Huron RegionalA irport. The site is located approximately 80 miles northwest of the RegionalA irport. CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA FOR HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA TABLE 3-1 Month Temperature Precipitation Wind Average Directmn December 7.8 28.3 0.47 11.1 SSE AVerage 33.4 57.0 20.08 Il.5 SSE 3.3 Geoloav and Soils 3.3.1 Geology The site is located in the southernM issouri Plateau- UnglaciatedS ectiono f the Great Plains Province. The Missouri Plateaui s generally comprisedo f old plateaus,t errace lands, local badlands,a nd isolatedm ountains. The Armstrong Gun Rangel ies just north of the White River Badlandso r “Big Badlands”w hich has characteristicso f steep slopesa long with numerousa nd closely spacedd rainagel ines. North of the badlandsi s a single widespread rolling upland which seemst o representa once continuouss urface from which the newer and sharperr elief has been carved. At the site, this general level is cut on shale (Pierre formation) which containsa lmost no sandstoneb eds (Fenneman1 931). 3-2 The Pierre formation has a total thicknesso f about 1400 feet; however, a maximum of only 200 feet is exposedin the area. Of this exposuret he upper 30 to 40 feet are the most significant for structural mapping. The Pierre is called shale, and in general, the exposures of massivea ppearings oft rock do have the appearanceo f a typical uniform shale. The color is usually medium to dark gray when dry and black when wet, but may be buff, brown or mottled gray and brown near the top of the formation. Close inspectionr evealst hat the upper Pierre containsc onsiderables ilt and becomesm ore silty towards its top. At some exposurest he rock consistsh ugely of very thin streaks of clay shalei ntercalatedw ith very thin streakso f silt (Morgan and Petsch 1945). 3.3.2 Soils The site soils are composedo f severald ifferent soil profiles. The area is large and the terrain differs drastically from location to location. The majority of the soils fall into three soil profiles. Thesep rofiles are intermingledw ith each other throughout the site. The first profile consistso f shallow, well drained, sloping to very steep, calcareousc layey soils on the higher parts of the landscape. The surface layer was formed in materialf rom the underlying shale. This soil is a light brownish-gray, highly plastic clay found to a depth of 10 inches. It is hard when dry and friable when wet. The subsoil is shalef ound to a depth of 60 inches. The soil propertieso f the first profile are shown below. Soil Profile DEPTH SOIL PERCENTAGE PASSING PLAS- (in) DESCRIPTION SIEVE NUMBER TICITY INDEX I #4 #40 #zoo O-10 highly plastic clay 100 95-100 85-100 60-90 28-55 IO-60 shale 100 95-100 85-100 60-120 31-85 Table taken from Soil Survey of Dewey County. SD The seconds oil profile that is commonly encounteredw ithin the site area is similar to the above profile, but is found on the lower parts of the landscapea nd the depth of clay is deeper. The surface layer is a grayish-brown, highly plastic clay to a depth of 33 inches. It is extremely hard when dry, extremely firm when moist, and very sticky and plastic when wet. The subsoili s a very dark gray shale to a depth of 60 inches. A typical profile is shown in the following table. 3-3 Soil Profile DEPTH SOIL PERCENTAGE PASSING PLAS- (in) DESCRIPTION SIEVE NUMBER t!xiF TICITY INDEX #4 #40 #200 o-33 highly plastic clay loo 90-100 85-100 SO-85 22-50 33-60 shale 100 95-100 90-100 60 25-60 Table taken from Soil Survey of Dewey County, SD The third soil profile is similar to the second, but the depth of clay is shallower then the abovep rofile. Again, the surface layer is a grayish-brown, highly plastic clay to a depth of 16 inches. The subsoil layer is multicoloredp laty shale to a depth of 60 inches. A typical profile is shown below. Soil Profile DEPTH SOIL PERCENTAGE PASSING PLAS- (in) DESCRIPTION SIEVE NUMBER %+F TICITY INDEX #4 #40 #200 O-16 highly plastic clay 100 90-100 85-100 60-90 28-63 16-60 shale 100 95-100 90-100 75-I 15 SO-80 Table taken from Soil Survey of Dewey County, SD The potential for frost developmentin the Armstrong Air-to-Air Gunnery Ranges ite extends to a depth of 5 112t o 6 feet. 3.4 Hydrolou 3.4.1 Ground Water Ground water is one of SouthD akota’s most important natural resources. Ground-water reservoirsc onstitute a large and reliables ource of water for domestic, industrial, stock, and 3-4 municipal use; although it’s resourcesa re utilized more in the east then the west. Shallow aquifersa re absento r scarcei n much of the State, but those that do exist are rechargedb y infiltration of precipitation that falls on the immediatea rea. In Dewey County, artesianw ater from wells can be obtainedo ver practically all of the county without undue cost due to the numerousd eep aquifers. Only the major formations are discussedb elow. The DeadwoodF ormation consistso f quartz sandstonein terbedded with clay. It is approximately4 50 feet thick and yields small to moderatea mountso f water for stock and domestic supplies. The Winnipeg Formation, which overlies the Deadwood Formation, is about 180 feet thick. It is a sandstoneu nit which yields saline water under pressure. The water in this formation has not been used but reports estimatet he yield to be about average. The Whitewood Dolomite and Red River Formation consistso f massive,b uff limestonea nd dolomite with a maximum thicknesso f about 550 feet. It contains an enormousv olume of salinew ater under high artesianp ressurea t temperaturesa s high as 185”. Thesea quifers are not useda s a sourceo f water in South Dakota. The Madison Group rangesi n thicknessf rom 250 to 600 feet and is fine-grainedl imestonea nd dolomite containingn umerousc averns, somew hich are lined with calcite crystals. It yields large quantitieso f good to salinew ater that is under high artesianp ressure. The Inyan Kara Group is a conglomerates andstonew hich has a maximum thicknesso f about 485 feet. It is a permeablea nd productivea quifer but it yields saline water that usually is under enough pressuret o flow from wells. The supply is developedm oderatelya nd could support a larger withdrawal (US GeologicalS urvey 1964). In the area of the Armstrong Gun Range, there are bodieso f shallow ground water. Domestic consumptioni s usuallyf rom these bodies, wherever the quality is good, and from reservoirsw hen acceptable( Rothrock and Robinson 1938). 3.4.2 Surface Water The site is drainedb y many small creeks which generally flow to the south and east and dischargei nto either the CheyenneR iver or the Missouri River which are part of the Lake OaheM ain Stem Reservoir project. No stream gagesa re locatedo n any of the small creeks near the site. A US Geologicals tream gage on the CheyenneR iver at the western boundary of the site has stagea nd flow records from 1920t hrough 1967. A new gage was established upstreamo n the CheyenneR iver at Cherry Creek with records from 1961 to the present. The information on the endangereda nd threateneds peciesf or this site has been provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service( USFWS) and the SouthD akota Department of Game, Fish and Parks (DGFP). The USFWS provided the following list of Federally-listeds peciest hat includesc andidate, threateneda nd endangereds peciesf or Dewey, Haakon, Stanley, Sully, and Potter counties, SouthD akota: American burying beetle (Nicroohorus americanus),e ndangered;s turgeon 3-5