A 33-acre federal park in Northwest Washington was abruptly shut yesterday and will remain closed indefinitely after soil analysis found arsenic levels far above what the federal government considers safe ... Park Service spokesman Bill Line said in an interview that before agency officials were notified about the high arsenic levels, they "had no prior reason to suspect anything other than safe conditions existed in Fort Reno Park." Washington Post
May 15, 2008: pg. B-1
The Partners discussed the Terry Slonecker/Rich Albright aerial photograph of high arsenic readings in the District of Columbia area and an article that recently appeared in the Examiner. The year 2000 photograph came from T. Slonecker's doctoral thesis and shows the northwest District of Columbia area and Spring Valley with some red spots indicating high arsenic readings. There are spots at Fort Reno and at Friendship Park. The statement by [Richard] Albright to the Examiner a couple of weeks ago said that toxic chemicals have spread.
Spring Valley FUDS
Partnering Meeting Minutes
November 27, 2007 (pg. 18)
LOS ANGELES TIMES (5/18/08):
ReplyDelete"The discovery of dangerously high levels of arsenic that prompted the closure of a popular park in Washington last week came as a shock to families who enjoy the green space for soccer games and picnics. One possible source of the poison is especially disturbing -- it could stem from mortician practices during the Civil War ... Trish Taylor, community involvement coordinator for the EPA, said investigators might be dispatched to study historical records and review old maps to get to solve the mystery. She said she considered it premature to speculate on the Civil War link as the source of the contamination. The discovery was made when Terry Slonecker, a geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey, was looking for arsenic in a nearby area where the Army had conducted chemical warfare research and had buried hazardous explosives during World War I. He detected unusual readings on the far edge of his study site, which turned out to be Fort Reno. Since 2002, the Army Corps of Engineers has been removing arsenic-laced soil from residential yards in Spring Valley, home to American University, which also has been affected by the World War I research.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arsenic18-2008may18,0,3270064.story
Allen,
ReplyDeleteIt is was a shocking news...