Original Date: 02/28/2000
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Crane Army Ammunition Activity’s Demolition Range experiences soil erosion problems every time it rains. By building a series of soil sediment ponds on all downward slopes, runoff water is filtered more than once before reaching the valley. The pond highest on the hill filters the majority of the silt, and the next one or two ponds filter the remaining silt.

Sediment ponds are used to reduce soil erosion problems at Crane Army Ammunition Activity’s (CAAA’s) demolition range. CAAA’s demolition range personnel, equipment operators, and supervisor planned and built a successful multiple-tiered sediment pond scheme that eliminated the need for contractors, better utilized current equipment, enhanced wildlife, improved runoff water quality, and enhanced community public relations.

CAAA’s demolition range experiences soil erosion problems every time it rains. The loose soils from tractor work and the detonations are washed downhill creating the need for sediment retention ponds to stop the water long enough for the soil to settle out of the water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers water that is laden with soil content and flows into waterways a form of pollution. CAAA’s past practice was to hire contractors to build retention ponds in the valleys below the demolition areas to capture the soils and, when required, hire general contractors to transport soil back to the hilltop. Hiring contractors was problematic for several reasons: contractors were often in the way of CAAA’s demolition mission; they tried to work the project during rainy months; and they failed to accomplish the task with undersized equipment in the time allotted.

CAAA’s demolition range personnel and equipment operators are local landowners in the surrounding community and are cautious stewards of the land. The foresight of this workforce and their environmental beliefs drove the decision to reutilize CAAA’s own equipment and operators to build multiple-tiered ponds and move the soil back up the hill during ongoing normal disposal operations. By building a series of ponds on all downward slopes, runoff water is filtered more than once before reaching the valley. The pond highest on the hill filters the majority of the silt, and the next one or two ponds filter the remaining silt. Equipment is better used to retrieve eroded soil because the first pond is so close to where the soil originated.

The benefits of the current practice include: