May 27, 2013

Suspect Test Tube Halts Intrusive Excavations at Cleanup Site

Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 21, the site crew encountered a suspect closed container item during our excavation behind the retaining wall in the backyard at 4825 Glenbrook Road ... The item is a test tube with approximately 1 inch of solids in the end. 
   Location of sealed ampule
It was encountered in the same vicinity as the auger hole where the 75mm munition debris item was discovered previously.  There were no air monitoring detections at any time during this incident.  Therefore, there was no risk to our workers or the community.  We implemented our safety protocols and secured the item.  We contacted the appropriate response agencies.  

CARA (Army response agency) transported the item to Edgewood on Wednesday, May 22.  CARA and ECBC (Army Lab) will analyze the contents of the item and report the results to USACE by Tuesday, May 28.  The project delivery team (PDT) will assess the situation once analysis results are provided.  At this time, no additional intrusive work will be performed at the site until we have an agreed upon path forward after the PDT review the analysis. 
Rebecca Yahiel, USACE
Glenbrook Road Neighborhood Update 
May 23, 2013

2 comments:

Allen Hengst said...

Rick Stauber commented:

I am concerned that intrusive (drilling) work is be being conducted without monitoring equipment being present. This is a known chemical warfare site with glassware potentially containing toxic materials. I don't understand Rebecca Yahiel's comments concerning there were no "risks to her workers or the community." There have been many "accidents" involving broken glass containing CWM [chemical warfare materiel] that went undetected because there were no monitoring devices present during intrusive work.

It would seem that the USACE is rolling the dice, so to speak, and gambling that nothing happens — not a safe way of doing business.

Allen Hengst said...

Brenda Barber, USACE, said

We received the final lab report from ECBC late yesterday evening. The final results indicate the contents of the sealed test tube are CN (tear gas). This is not a chemical agent. We will continue to perform site preparation work at the site.

 
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