Norton Presses USACE Chief to Expedite Spring Valley Cleanup

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) is trying to expedite federal efforts to excavate and restore the Spring Valley FUDS, located in Spring Valley, the residential neighborhood near American University.  At a Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee hearing, Norton, a senior member of the subcommittee, asked Lieutenant General Thomas Bostick, Chief of Engineers, United States Army Corps of Engineers,  if there was any way to speed the project’s timeline.  Norton requested a response from the Corps within 30 days ... 

Norton said: “If there are dangerous chemicals that still hide in this highly residential neighborhood, the sooner we know it the better"... Norton has been working with the Army Corps since 1993 to clean up the site, where numerous toxins, including arsenic, lewisite and mustard gas, have been found.  Unlike most FUDS, Spring Valley is the home of a major university, American University, which has more than 12,000 students, and is located in a sought after, densely populated residential area.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
Press Release
April 22, 2015

Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick

Del. Norton: [1:32]  During WW I there were chemical weapons manufactured in one of our neighborhoods ... Because all the information wasn't known, one of our most illustrious communities was built over that.  The Corps has pledged to make sure that community is cleaned up ... I don't know if you've ever had an older project than this, but we're talking about 25 years if we keep this up ... I have to ask you, General Bostick, is there any way to speed up this timeline, considering we're talking about a neighborhood where real people live and go to work every day and have had to abide this work for almost 25 years? ...

Gen. Bostick: [1:34] I know that they're working as hard and as diligently and as safely as they can ... Honestly, I suspect that they're going as quickly as they can.

Del. Norton: [1:35] I was sure that you would say that and I'm sure that they are, but I wish that you would get back to me — perhaps within a month's time — and see whether there's any way to speed up that timeline.     

Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee

April 22, 2015

"Chemical weapons were manufactured in one of our neighborhoods."

45-Day Public Comment Period Begins for Draft RI Report

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District is releasing the draft Remedial Investigation report for the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERLCA.  The Remedial Investigation report details 22 years worth of investigations and work, such as removals of arsenic contaminated soil and munitions related items that have taken place at the Spring Valley FUDS.  The report also outlines the potential unacceptable risks and hazards thought to remain within the Spring Valley FUDS ... The Feasibility Study will outline how the Corps of Engineers plans to address any potential unacceptable risks and hazards.  

After the Feasibility Study we will prepare a Proposed Plan, which will identify a preferred clean-up action to address remaining risks and hazards.  You are encouraged to review the Remedial Investigation report in the public record and submit comments on the report ... A 45-day public comment period will run from April 8 - May 26, 2015.  Written comments can be sent to the following mailing address: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Brittany Bangert, Rm. 11400, 10 South Howard St., Baltimore, Md. 21201; or by e-mail to: Brittany Bangert no later than May 26, 2015.  Mailed letters must be postmarked by May 23, 2015.

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Washington Post
April 8, 2015