Mar 31, 2010

Corps Claims No Public Safety Plan Needed for WMD Disposal in DC

"The longest running play in America is here in Washington and it is named Shear Madness, which in my view is exactly what this decision is," said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Stu Ross. "Just pause and think for a moment about what would happen if someone got it wrong." Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Thomas Smith added, "As history has shown us, accidents happen. It would be nice to know there is a plan in place that is more detailed than somebody saying, 'Whoops.'"
NBC 4
Washington, DC
March 30, 2010

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not developed a public safety plan for responding should an accident occur during next month’s destruction of chemical munitions in Spring Valley ... Prior to allowing work to begin, technicians will monitor weather conditions to ensure that in the event of a release the chemical plume would not pose a threat by the time it could reach the residential neighborhood, which is 380 feet from the demolition site.

“As the plume moves away from the origin point, it becomes more and more dilute, and so when it reaches [that] distance it is so dilute that there’s no way it could cause a health threat anymore,” said Dan Noble, the Army Corps Spring Valley project manager.
Ian Thomas
Northwest Current
March 31, 2010 (pg. 1)
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1 comment:

  1. Allen HengstApril 8, 2010 at 9:38 AM

    Christopher Cottrell
    THE EAGLE (4/7/10):

    Army Corps Project Manager Todd Beckwith told the Council that the Corps had determined a public safety plan to be unnecessary. “One of our objectives in planning for the destruction operation was to ensure that we had sufficient safety measures in place on the federal property so the operation would have no impact on the public, thus eliminating the need for public protection actions beyond the federal property” ... When asked if he was informed of any public safety plan in place in the case that something should go awry, ANC 3D02 Commissioner Tom Smith said no and added that Sibley hospital was also unaware of the scheduled munitions destruction until ANC commissioners informed the hospital at an ANC meeting last month.

    http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/story/locals-decry-army-corps-lack-of-public-safety-plan/

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