“It had a hex plug burster adapter screwed into the nose of the projectile,” Noble told WTOP. “It would convert what was developed as a conventional munition into a chemical munition” ... Even before a contractor digging a utility trench in Spring Valley in 1993 uncovered a buried military ordnance, which prompted the USACE
investigation that revealed homes on Glenbrook Road were built atop
chemical weapon burial pits, contaminated soil from Glenbrook Rd. was trucked
to a landscaping project at Ft. Totten Metro station ... In 1992, the
heavy equipment operator spreading Glenbrook Road soil at the Fort
Totten Metro site felt sickened from the fumes of the soil, and the U.S. Park Service [NPS] ordered it be removed, Noble told [pg. 13] the Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board ... Allen Hengst, who has been blogging about the issue for the last 15 years, said he thinks the contaminated soil was moved
from the Ft. Totten Metro site a few hundred yards away to the area
where the trail is being constructed. Hengst said he believes the NPS
search after the 2020 discovery was perfunctory, and limited to the immediate trail area in Ft. Totten. Hengst suggests a wider search would likely uncover more chemical remnants from the Spring Valley site. It’s not clear any more physical investigation will be done.
ANC Seeks 'thorough' Investigation
Of Toxic 1992 Dumping at Ft. Totten
Of Toxic 1992 Dumping at Ft. Totten
The possible link between an empty World War I shell, discovered
in 2020 during construction of a trail through Ft. Totten Park, and the
massive Spring Valley cleanup of chemical weapons has the local
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner seeking a “thorough investigation.” Gordon-Andrew Fletcher,
ANC Commissioner 5A-08, represents the area where the NPS discovered a
World War I-era unexploded shell during construction of a paved, lit
trail through wooded parkland
that will replace an informal path neighbors in Michigan Park used to
get to the Fort Totten Metro station in Northeast D.C. ... Fletcher
said: “I do commend Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for calling for a meeting with all necessary stakeholders, because this is an environmental safety issue.”
In response to WTOP’s reporting that the empty 75mm shell discovered by the NPS had been modified for use as a chemical weapon and that contaminated soil from the Spring Valley cleanup had been trucked to Ft. Totten in 1992, Norton said she would call for a joint meeting of the NPS, the USACE, Metro and council members and ANC from Wards 5 and 3. “I think we have to make sure we do a thorough search, a thorough investigation, to make sure that there’s nothing there, for years to come,” said Fletcher, who is also a candidate
in the upcoming primary for Ward 5 council seat ... “The NPS
investigation of the trail site at Ft. Totten did not reveal any
additional shells or concerns for the health or safety of the
community,” said [NPS spokesperson Cynthia] Hernandez ... “Ward 5 already has many environmental safety concerns due to air pollution and leaking underground storage tanks,” said Fletcher, noting that residents in the Brentwood neighborhood have filed suit
against Mayor Muriel Bowser to stop the District from building a bus
depot. While a lengthy investigation would likely slow construction of
the long-awaited path, Fletcher prioritizes safety.
February 10, 2022
