Contract: Worldwide Environmental Remediation Services (WERS), U.S. Army Engineering & Support Center, Huntsville (USAESCH)

The United States Army Corps of Engineers, Southwestern Division, Fort Worth (CESWF) contracted USA to perform the Removal Action/ Construction Support (RA/CS) for the 228 acre proposed Scout RECCE Range (SRR) located at Fort Bliss, Texas/New Mexico. This project was a task order funded through USA’s $2.175 billion shared-capacity, 5-year IDIQ contract with USAESCH.

As part of the project’s phased-in-approach mandated by the Installation and the range Construction Contractor’s schedule, USA’s Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC) field team had 30 calendar days to complete the clearance of the designated construction footprint ahead of each construction crew, maintaining a safe distance between MEC work and range construction activities. Through open communication and close coordination with the Government, USA successfully mitigated all potential risks associated with cost, quality, and the rigid schedule. USA commenced and completed all RA fieldwork approximately 3 months ahead of schedule. The success of this project was achieved through planning well in advance from project inception and continuously monitored and controlled to ensure the clearance operations were performed to the Government’s requirements.

The types of activities performed during the munitions response action at the SRR include project planning; site setup; civil surveys (or location surveys and mapping); MEC/Material Potentially Presenting an Explosive Hazard (MPPEH) surface clearance; vegetation removal; large targets (RRD) removal; as well as target rails/ties destruction and removal. Project work also included MEC/MPPEH subsurface removal; onsite MEC/MPPEH/RRD/Material Documented as Safe (MDAS) disposal; and project reporting/closeout. 

MEC Removal and Support teams performed all fieldwork under the direction of USA’s Field Management Team, which consisted of the Site Manager, the Senior UXO Supervisor (SUXOS), the UXO Safety Officer, and the UXO QC Specialist. During the surface and subsurface clearance, the MEC teams excavated 122,223 anomaly locations (or digs), recovered 121,896 MDAS items associated with the munitions, 12,999 RRD items, and 872 MEC/MPPEH items that required explosive demolition. All MEC/MPPEH items recovered were disposed of using consolidated demolition shots.  The MEC Removal Teams also recovered approximately 102,017 lbs of MDAS and 8,063 lbs of RRD (not including the rails/ties and the large targets). No additional MEC/MPPEH, MD or RRD items were recovered during construction support of the SRR.