Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise

The EM CX, as part of the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, serves the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others by providing high quality engineering and scientific support to environmental remediation, munitions response and compliance programs around the world.

The EM CX staff is a diverse team of responsive, dedicated, innovative professionals who support USACE, the Environmental Community of Practice, and the Army in meeting environmental and munitions response challenges. The CX works with their customers to attain solutions that benefit and protect the public and the environment. 

The EM CX supports the USACE Headquarters and offices worldwide on complex environmental and munitions issues through independent technical reviews, quality assurance reviews, munitions safety submission reviews, discipline-specific technical support, guidance development, participation on multi-agency panels and advisory committees, development and instruction of PROSPECT and informal training, and the evaluation of and recommendations on innovative technologies. The EM CX also provides environmental management assistance on special studies and analyses.

The roles and responsibilities of the EM CX are outlined in ER 10-1-50. The CX operates with responsibilities and authorities granted from USACE Headquarters. The EM CX is designated a mandatory center of expertise (MCX). Per ER 1110-1-8158, Corps-Wide Centers of Expertise Program (January 1998). An MCX is a USACE organization that has been approved by HQ USACE as having a unique or exceptional technical capability in a specialized subject area that is critical to other USACE commands.”

The responsibilities of an MCX are to maintain state-of-the-art technical expertise in the assigned specialty; and provide technical assistance and specific services to HQ USACE, all other USACE commands, and other organizations per the mission and function statements.

EM CX Project Images

At this Air Force site, a Remediation System Evaluation, called RSE, conducted by the Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise, reduced the annual operation and maintenance costs by 20 to 30 percent.
A packaging team conducts a survey prior to a removal action for chemical agent identification sets at Fort Benning, Ga. The Huntsville Center Environmental and Munitoins Center of Expertise provides quality assurance and technical support to Corps offices worldwide in their execution of environmental and munitions response missions like this one.
The objective of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) is to reduce and eliminate threats to human health and the environment posed by uncontrolled hazardous waste sites like this one in Kansas.
A 5-inch projectile and a BDU-33, along with other munitions that show the effects of time, are prepared for destruction during a Military Munitions Response Program site inspection at a Formerly Used Defense Site on Culebra, Puerto Rico’s northwest peninsula. The Military Munitions Support Services online workshops allow experts in the field to share best practices on sites like these and others around the U.S.
A technician prepares to go underground to inspect a tank at Kincheloe Air Force Base, a formerly used defense site in Kinross, Mich.

Our Areas of Expertise

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Engineering

Environmental and innovative technology assessments

Optimization and value engineering studies

Green and sustainable remediation evaluations

Cost engineering

Field oversight and troubleshooting

 

Environmental Health

Worker health and safety

Radioactive site surveys

Radioactive waste remediation and disposal

Human health and eco risk assessment

Risk management and risk communication

Asbestos and lead abatement

 

Environmental Laws and Regulations

Federal and state environmental regulations

Department of Transportation hazardous materials requirements

Hazardous waste manifesting

 

Environmental Sciences

        Multi-media environmental sampling

        Analytical methods (field measurements/ fixed lab) and data management

        Geophysics

        Statistical applications, classic and geostatistics

        Fate-and-transport, including groundwater and air pathway analysis

 

Military Munitions Responses

Munitions and explosives of concern

Munitions constituents

Conventional munitions

Recovered non-stockpile chemical warfare materiel

Range clearance operations and readiness support

Various overseas missions involving munitions

 

Program/Project Management

Program policy and guidance

Funds distribution for EPA Superfund

Cost recovery

Contract acquisition and management

Cost-to-complete (environmental liability)