tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32852755423826293592024-03-06T13:36:28.469-05:00Weapons of Mass Destruction in DCAllen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.comBlogger303125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-14191663031082473712023-11-16T16:02:00.000-05:002023-12-11T10:45:08.004-05:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchcDtS4dPQ8z5FqAX84XGXvyRq_QIKgfXxVSShksYnp0d5q3FEFDhbQ40h1R00ifRWBfejzJ-_MioVpKcOsN5pcUeb0k9QlOqf_lOkjbkyVNB7S9yR9R6dPFek9N_2Wmf227gPapqhAMi/s1600-h/Rumsfeld3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5170793205707757602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchcDtS4dPQ8z5FqAX84XGXvyRq_QIKgfXxVSShksYnp0d5q3FEFDhbQ40h1R00ifRWBfejzJ-_MioVpKcOsN5pcUeb0k9QlOqf_lOkjbkyVNB7S9yR9R6dPFek9N_2Wmf227gPapqhAMi/s320/Rumsfeld3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 291px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 196px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"The area in the south and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial. It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/235261/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Donald Rumsfeld</span></span></a><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><br />
<div style="color: #6fa8dc;">
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/235261/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ABC This Week</span></i></span></a><br />
<a href="http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2003/03/20030330202613attocnich0.3604242.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March 30, 2003</span></span></a></div>
Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-11393833779690101362023-11-16T10:32:00.030-05:002023-12-24T15:03:21.168-05:00NPS Does About Face, Vows to Search Park for More Munitions<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Good afternoon, Mr. Hengst. In response to your questions, see the following:<br /> <br />Q: <i>When will your agency intrusively investigate the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2023/04/two-aues-munitions-discovered-on-east.html" target="_blank">mounds</a> of soil where munitions debris was found on the west side of [Fort Totten] park last spring?</i> <br /><br />A: This investigation is a <span style="color: #04ff00;">high priority</span> for NPS [National Park Service] and the Army. However, we do not have a date yet, as we are still working to identify <span style="color: #04ff00;">funding</span> for the investigation. The area has been closed and made <a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline" target="_blank">safe</a> until that work is undertaken. <br /><br />Q: <i>Can that investigation include the rest of the original staging area north of the road where the <span style="color: red;">Spring Valley</span> landfill was <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JcduybA0R5enf7dPpMDaqiYunuyL3M42/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">dumped</a> [pg. 2] in 1992?</i> <br /><br />A: The investigation is expected to focus on the area <span style="color: #04ff00;">north</span> of Farragut Street NE where WMATA conducted <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf" target="_blank">staging</a> [pgs. 13 - 14] for the <i>Metrorail Green Line</i> construction. It would also look at areas along the roadway that were disturbed when <i>Holcim</i> (formerly <i>Aggregate Industries)</i> bulldozed along the roadway in early 2023. Further investigations beyond this immediate area will be determined upon the <span style="color: #04ff00;">results</span> of this work.<br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYrK0MxIhfzDcyHiKHEuqNdQogqe4XhLBUWYKNvzD12blJ-gW417V39H2snQBF1LMAy4g710F7WUfI_AJpDhyphenhyphenEKqrS5TGEr8FNPC6zptzXp9GipxUVmx3-d9etL8wDXHkJvVVy1SynrKYv1QuK-M7bLUnqJYNWJfQRPGuq4Qvr2lIXkb0EOavj6J0eeeS/s560/SvRabPptFtTottenWestRdSoilPile(10-10-23)pg30.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="560" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYrK0MxIhfzDcyHiKHEuqNdQogqe4XhLBUWYKNvzD12blJ-gW417V39H2snQBF1LMAy4g710F7WUfI_AJpDhyphenhyphenEKqrS5TGEr8FNPC6zptzXp9GipxUVmx3-d9etL8wDXHkJvVVy1SynrKYv1QuK-M7bLUnqJYNWJfQRPGuq4Qvr2lIXkb0EOavj6J0eeeS/w400-h290/SvRabPptFtTottenWestRdSoilPile(10-10-23)pg30.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/RAB%20Presentation_October2023.pdf" target="_blank">Soil mounds bulldozed along roadside (pg. 30)</a></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Q: <i>Why doesn’t your agency return to the eastern section of the park for a closer look at land on either side of the narrow <span style="color: #04ff00;">foot trail </span>where the 75mm was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">unearthed</a> in July 2020?</i><br /><br />A: An investigation of the area east of the CSX/Metrorail tracks, between Gallatin and Galloway Streets NE, may be considered for a later time. We have requested, and are receiving, information from WMATA about their construction activities in this area. We are also working with the Army on a <span style="color: #04ff00;">history</span> of the Fort Totten sites and their uses over time. Our intent is to better understand the work conducted by WMATA, and how construction materials may have been <span style="color: red;">moved around</span> between the sites east and west of the tracks, before we look more closely into an investigation of this area. </span><br /></span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xeiwsGh7x0zYsh140ePs-SKEfWlYcVyu/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span>Brian Joyner, Acting Superintendent<br /><i> National Park Service</i><br /> November 16, 2023</span></span></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Dear Deputy Superintendent; </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">I’m writing to inquire on the status of the Park Service’s investigation of World War I-era chemical munitions and laboratory waste buried at <i>Fort Totten National Park.</i> As you know, in addition to a <span style="color: #04ff00;">75mm shell</span> <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">exposed</a> by heavy rains on a foot trail in the eastern arm of the park in July 2020, <span style="color: red;">two additional</span> artillery shells were <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2023/04/two-aues-munitions-discovered-on-east.html" target="_blank">discovered</a> in mounds of soil along a road inside the western section last April. News media in May <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/05/army-seeks-to-id-unknown-liquid-in-wwi-munition-similar-to-chemical-weapon-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank">reported</a> that discussions of whether a major cleanup might be required in the park were paused due to questions about the <span style="color: #04ff00;">contents</span> of a Livens Projector found in one of those mounds. Earlier this week at Tuesday’s public meeting of the Spring Valley FUDS <i>Restoration Advisory Board</i> (RAB), project manager Dan Noble said that — after detecting <span style="color: #04ff00;">chlorine</span> in the liquid fill of the century-old artillery shell — the Army Corps sent the Livens to <i>Edgewood Arsenal</i> for further analysis. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SwNnwzgsCJ3lV9XKyf4HYj0iWwF-RVhrSxNa07kK_8ItlTg6Wq5zTkD35VSuzJx7Bg-vMvcBjgO9jEHB8W3ZVC8UEfbPk1_v4eI4Hltsw_YUnwFj7jEWcuzP6fAGugmNvii94loq9K2mBp_mt0JYwVkLoaFKPNwBEM5zp-r13IPwzaIdx3Gg-zDnlrH6/s782/SvRabPptFtTottenWestRdSoilStabilized(10-10-23)pg29.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="782" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SwNnwzgsCJ3lV9XKyf4HYj0iWwF-RVhrSxNa07kK_8ItlTg6Wq5zTkD35VSuzJx7Bg-vMvcBjgO9jEHB8W3ZVC8UEfbPk1_v4eI4Hltsw_YUnwFj7jEWcuzP6fAGugmNvii94loq9K2mBp_mt0JYwVkLoaFKPNwBEM5zp-r13IPwzaIdx3Gg-zDnlrH6/w400-h261/SvRabPptFtTottenWestRdSoilStabilized(10-10-23)pg29.png" width="400" /></a></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><span><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/RAB%20Presentation_October2023.pdf" target="_blank">Berm stabilized with erosion control matting (pg. 29)</a></span></span></p></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Noble reported on a site visit he conducted to inspect the soil mounds before they were stabilized and showed before-and-after photos of the area, which have been <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/RAB%20Presentation_October2023.pdf" target="_blank">posted</a> on the Army's website (pgs. 29 - 33). Noble also described his serendipitous <span style="color: #04ff00;">discovery</span> of two additional items as he walked past the mounds: a metal munition fragment and glass beaker lid that were <i><span style="color: red;">“very similar”</span></i> to material investigators typically encounter at the FUDS cleanup site in Spring Valley. Regardless of <i>Edgewood’s</i> findings on the specific content of the Livens shell, it’s obvious that more munitions debris and laboratory waste remains buried at <i>Ft. Totten</i> following the 1992 dump of <span style="color: #04ff00;">toxic landfill</span> from excavations on Glenbrook Road in Spring Valley ...</span><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xeiwsGh7x0zYsh140ePs-SKEfWlYcVyu/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Allen Hengst<br /> <i>Email to NPS</i><br /> October 13, 2023 (pgs. 3 - 4)</a></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WASHINGTON — An area of <i>Fort Totten Park</i> remains closed and fenced, and cement barriers and <i><span style="color: #04ff00;">“no trespassing”</span></i> signs will remain while the <i>National Park Service </i>(NPS) and U.S. Army further investigate the metal canisters, determined to be WW I-era munitions, <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2023/04/two-aues-munitions-discovered-on-east.html" target="_blank">found</a> there in the spring. Based on investigations to date, the NPS and the Army have determined it is possible <i>Fort Totten Park</i> contains <span style="color: red;">additional</span> <span style="color: #04ff00;">munitions</span>. The two metal canisters, found April 18, were discovered in the park after unauthorized work conducted by an adjacent property owner pushed approximately 10 feet of soil onto NPS land. One munition was a <span style="color: #04ff00;">75-mm</span> projectile, approximately 3 inches in diameter and 11 inches long. The other munition was a <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/livens-gun-pit-yesterday-today.html" target="_blank"><span>Livens</span> projectile</a>, approximately 6 inches in diameter and 19 inches long. <br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOlWLiqMFN-7wVsNEJFrYNNz82CB_EUXmnXPhN_ChSFt3BLfCn13xFJMqfeBNcBdcUdlfKOBwLZlVUKV9G1ESQwgBzAWOwU_Q9F4DLW01_9CMZt2WTDJaLEuXrpveKbTL4ieWPTB4bkE_1Xx1RM5_P93PMTp95Y-AQeZNp59t9NkbRXl_VgV5Zg1MQUT48/s450/SvMunitionsMarb(1995).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="447" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOlWLiqMFN-7wVsNEJFrYNNz82CB_EUXmnXPhN_ChSFt3BLfCn13xFJMqfeBNcBdcUdlfKOBwLZlVUKV9G1ESQwgBzAWOwU_Q9F4DLW01_9CMZt2WTDJaLEuXrpveKbTL4ieWPTB4bkE_1Xx1RM5_P93PMTp95Y-AQeZNp59t9NkbRXl_VgV5Zg1MQUT48/s320/SvMunitionsMarb(1995).jpg" width="318" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.cma.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/MARB-diagram-447x450.jpg" target="_blank">The MARB was established in 1995 <i>(US Army)</i></a></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Initial assessment by Army experts indicated the 75-mm projectile <span style="color: #04ff00;">did not</span> pose a hazard and the Livens projectile contained an unknown liquid ... Both items were evaluated by the Army’s <i>Materiel Assessment Review Board </i>(<a href="https://www.cma.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/2023_02_15_RCMD_FS_MARB.pdf" target="_blank">MARB</a>) ... Initial testing of the liquid in the Livens projectile was inconclusive, so it was taken to <a href="https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0300421" target="_blank"><i>Aberdeen Proving Ground</i></a> in Edgewood, Maryland, on Aug. 2, for additional testing. The additional testing indicated that the Livens <span style="color: #04ff00;">did not</span> pose a hazard ... The NPS and Army are seeking funding to conduct a <span style="color: red;">comprehensive investigation</span> at <i>Fort Totten Park.</i> More information regarding the use of the site during the construction of the <i>Metrorail Greenline</i> can be found <a href="https://www.nps.gov/cwdw/learn/management/fort-totten-trail-construction.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br /><a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/2023-11-09-fort-totten-park-update.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Autumn Cook<br /> <i>National Park Service</i><br /> November 9, 2023</span></a><br /></p>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-4766243546271578342023-09-04T11:51:00.002-04:002023-12-13T09:00:12.903-05:00Appeals Court Panel Rules EPA Must Regulate Perchlorate<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, today <span style="color: #04ff00;">unanimously</span> ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/04/epa-reaffirms-2020-decision-to-not.html" target="_blank">decision</a> against regulating the toxic chemical <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2019/03/army-will-update-3-year-old-data-with.html" target="_blank">perchlorate</a> in drinking water was <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/05/ewg-applauds-federal-court-ruling-mandating-epa-regulate-toxic" target="_blank">illegal</a>. The following is a reaction by <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/erik-d-olson" target="_blank">Erik D. Olson</a>, Senior Strategic Director for Health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): <i>“The court <a href="https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/zgpobldzovd/Perchlorate%20Lawsuit%20Decision%20D%20C%20Circuit.pdf" target="_blank">ruled</a> that EPA must regulate perchlorate-contaminated drinking water because the agency had found that it poses a <span style="color: #04ff00;">health risk</span> to millions of Americans. After more than a decade of delay and litigation, EPA now must issue a drinking water standard for this widespread and dangerous contaminant. It’s about time." </i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">Judges [David B.] Sentelle and [David S.] Tatel issued a joint opinion striking down EPA’s decision not to regulate; Judge [Florence Y.] Pan issued a separate concurring opinion, rendering a unanimous ruling against the EPA. Judges Sentelle and Tatel found that EPA lacked the authority to <span style="color: red;">reverse</span> the agency’s previous decision to <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/epa-will-regulate-perchlorate-as-calif.html" target="_blank">regulate</a> this toxic rocket fuel component. Judge Pan agreed that EPA’s action must be struck down, but because EPA <a href="https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/zgpobldzovd/Perchlorate%20Lawsuit%20Decision%20D%20C%20Circuit.pdf" target="_blank">was</a> <i><span style="color: #04ff00;">“arbitrary and capricious”</span></i> [pg. 30] in making its decision, not that the agency lacked the authority to do so. She found that EPA’s <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/05/defying-court-order-law-science-epa.html" target="_blank">refusal</a> to regulate based on a finding that decreasing the average IQ of vulnerable children was not an adverse effect <i>“did not meet the statutory standard.”</i> She also <a href="https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/zgpobldzovd/Perchlorate%20Lawsuit%20Decision%20D%20C%20Circuit.pdf" target="_blank">noted</a> that EPA decision also <i>“was based on a <span style="color: #04ff00;">biased</span> dataset”</i> [pg. 17] on perchlorate occurrence in tap water <i>“that was selectively updated.”</i> </span> <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/court-rules-epa-must-regulate-perchlorate" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">~ Margie Kelly </span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/court-rules-epa-must-regulate-perchlorate" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> <i>NRDC</i></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/court-rules-epa-must-regulate-perchlorate" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> May 9, 2023</span></a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"> <br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoV-FWT65-xXd1NmHuf8_2G4_mt8v9GkrkDtm-pIO628vIntK6780w14lwfQDFsvsNDRAPrCnaopkH1Ti8c9HF1MfK_OGdmCEY5e2HyL9oStSye-LI07sJy4HvHWhoqtZsIqJUQ905WLWFmsxVmlPZiylO9NkLe-m3tnYt7Y-j5Cl1mG1JbltvxjbHxvMb/s593/SvPercManuMap(12-16-02).gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="593" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoV-FWT65-xXd1NmHuf8_2G4_mt8v9GkrkDtm-pIO628vIntK6780w14lwfQDFsvsNDRAPrCnaopkH1Ti8c9HF1MfK_OGdmCEY5e2HyL9oStSye-LI07sJy4HvHWhoqtZsIqJUQ905WLWFmsxVmlPZiylO9NkLe-m3tnYt7Y-j5Cl1mG1JbltvxjbHxvMb/s320/SvPercManuMap(12-16-02).gif" width="320" /></a></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/perchlorate_FY933A12152002205722.gif" target="_blank">40 states manufacture or use perchlorate (EPA)</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #93c47d;">NRDC Argued EPA Failure to Regulate Perchlorate Was Unlawful</span></b></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br />In arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, today lawyers for NRDC told a three-judge panel that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/04/epa-reaffirms-2020-decision-to-not.html" target="_blank">against</a> regulating the toxic chemical perchlorate in drinking water was <span style="color: #04ff00;">illegal</span>. The following is a reaction by <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/erik-d-olson" target="_blank">Erik D. Olson</a>, Senior Strategic Director for Health at NRDC: <i>“Today the court heard why EPA’s refusal to set a drinking water standard for the widespread toxic chemical perchlorate is unlawful and unsupported by science. Doctors and health experts have long called for EPA to <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/05/defying-court-order-law-science-epa.html" target="_blank">protect</a> the public, especially fetuses, infants, and young children, from this <span style="color: #04ff00;">brain-damaging</span> toxic chemical. We are hopeful that the court will rule that EPA erred and must move ahead with a perchlorate standard.”</i> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Last March, the EPA <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/perchlorate-drinking-water" target="_blank">announced</a> it would not revisit a decision to not regulate perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel associated with brain damage in fetuses and infants, leaving millions of people unknowingly exposed to the chemical through their tap water. The determination affirmed a Trump EPA <a href="https://www.ehn.org/perchlorate-water-children-health-2646008373.html" target="_blank">decision</a> to <span style="color: red;">not</span> regulate perchlorate in drinking water. Perchlorate, widely used in rocket fuel and munitions ... is the first unregulated drinking water contaminant for which EPA has proposed a standard in more than 25 years under the provisions of the <i>Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996.</i> The Defense Department (DOD) and its contractors are <span style="color: #04ff00;">major users</span> of perchlorate and there are innumerable DOD facilities where perchlorate pollution has been found. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">DOD has <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/white-house-pentagon-industry-secretly-colluded-skew-national-academy-sciences" target="_blank">opposed</a> strict controls on perchlorate, in an apparent attempt to minimize its cleanup <span style="color: red;">costs</span>. Since perchlorate is unregulated, there is no federally required monitoring of tap water or requirement to inform a community of contamination. In 2011, the EPA formally decided that perchlorate should be <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/epa-will-regulate-perchlorate-as-calif.html" target="_blank">regulated</a> because it is toxic and widespread, with the drinking water of as many as <span style="color: #04ff00;">16 million</span> people contaminated by the chemical. When the Agency failed to develop a standard by the deadline, NRDC <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2016/02/nrdc-sues-epa-to-force-it-to-limit.html" target="_blank">sued</a>, and then secured a court-approved consent decree <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2016/12/epa-to-promulgate-perchlorate-regs-by.html" target="_blank">requiring</a> the EPA to issue a drinking water standard for perchlorate by 2019. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><br /><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2023/230127" target="_blank">~ Margie Kelly<br /> <i>NRDC</i><br /> January 27, 2023</a><br /></span></div></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-76529855137592046962023-06-06T14:06:00.155-04:002023-06-09T07:49:33.897-04:00Elected Officials Grapple with Agency Inertia Over Poisoned Park<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is working with the National Park Service [NPS] and the US Army Corps of Engineers [USACE] to determine the scope of further <span style="color: #04ff00;">soil testing</span> in Fort Totten Park. Recall back in 2017, NPS officials <a href="https://nextstopriggs.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/anc-5a-october-25-2017-meeting-recap/" target="_blank">informed</a> the <a href="https://anc5a.org/" target="_blank">ANC</a> [Advisory Neighborhood Commission] and elected officials in the city that a Metro contractor brought in soil from a toxic World War I munitions testing site in <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/" target="_blank">Spring Valley</a> to rehabilitate NPS parkland on the west side of Ft. Totten Park. That parkland had been used as a staging area for construction of Metro’s green line in the 1990s. NPS stated that the contaminated soil had been <span style="color: #04ff00;">removed</span> from the park and that soil testing in that area did not show any cause for concern. In July 2020, an <span style="color: red;">unexploded ordnance</span> was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">found</a> on the east side of the park where a pedestrian trail was planned between Gallatin & Galloway streets. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDHQk4C6AOTPjvhKD2Qyo7EsthQBpqbUFWD-l988wxEnCgwH2yaeMuG3RjH1B2h-Gp9DDNrKqeEY2pTDCz6IHmB7Jl3AB4mWKgbRWduytliCYzApIk_Jo3gJHG6yzicyFh0UklPJVxoneeIQVSi2AMMjiNsn4WmH71DiUdac1HD-ZRbxHCk_Z2Yz0zg/s720/SvFtTottenTwoMunitionsEms(4-18-23).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="720" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDHQk4C6AOTPjvhKD2Qyo7EsthQBpqbUFWD-l988wxEnCgwH2yaeMuG3RjH1B2h-Gp9DDNrKqeEY2pTDCz6IHmB7Jl3AB4mWKgbRWduytliCYzApIk_Jo3gJHG6yzicyFh0UklPJVxoneeIQVSi2AMMjiNsn4WmH71DiUdac1HD-ZRbxHCk_Z2Yz0zg/s320/SvFtTottenTwoMunitionsEms(4-18-23).jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6a7e501-11d9-477c-a375-f500b3072d42_1200x1600.png" target="_blank">EMS reports to Ft. Totten on April 18 <i>(FOX5)</i></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Residents expressed concern that NPS likely did not know the extent of where soil from Spring Valley was taken in the park. Emails and concerns went unaddressed and residents simply received assurances that everything was okay. In April 2023 <span style="color: #04ff00;">two canisters</span> <i>[sic]</i> were <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2023/04/two-aues-munitions-discovered-on-east.html" target="_blank">found</a> on the west side of the park. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">USACE</span></span> is still <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/05/army-seeks-to-id-unknown-liquid-in-wwi-munition-similar-to-chemical-weapon-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank">testing</a> those canisters <i>[sic]</i> and the area on the west side of the park remains closed. The more recent discoveries of <span style="color: #04ff00;">munitions</span> in the park led Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, at the urging of residents and ANC Commissioner Zachary Ammerman (5A09), to start periodically requesting soil testing <span style="color: red;">throughout</span> the park. Commissioner Ammerman has created a timeline of events at <a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline">https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline</a>. On April 26, ANC 5A passed a <a href="https://nextstopriggs.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/5a-resolution-testing-fort-circle-park.pdf" target="_blank">resolution</a> supporting further testing in the park. </span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaAdVkSFdgrye4AzJEIFj_a4mxHpaG8vL_5lcn8g4X_gAlpPRhyXielDQt51mMA9JMGrGSD9y-T_pufEvdar2Nbs3YtyW3suEbDMaqcfjSO5oGjXfSK-RvxQ1wbhUMZqPO3VOWvbWSGFav0RRRyQ6SHN0fcSPVSkPBM1XDH14maNjdWuQ7xs_2THIQ-Q/s809/SvFtTottenNpsBriefingReqParker(5-19-23).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="634" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaAdVkSFdgrye4AzJEIFj_a4mxHpaG8vL_5lcn8g4X_gAlpPRhyXielDQt51mMA9JMGrGSD9y-T_pufEvdar2Nbs3YtyW3suEbDMaqcfjSO5oGjXfSK-RvxQ1wbhUMZqPO3VOWvbWSGFav0RRRyQ6SHN0fcSPVSkPBM1XDH14maNjdWuQ7xs_2THIQ-Q/s320/SvFtTottenNpsBriefingReqParker(5-19-23).png" width="251" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://nextstopriggs.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/cm-parker-lettertonps_may2023-1.pdf" target="_blank">DC Councilmember requests June 14 briefing</a></span></span> <br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On May 10, 2023, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton sent another <a href="https://nextstopriggs.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023.05.09-follow-up-letter-to-npsusace-on-fort-totten-park-soil-investigation.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to NPS and USACE regarding soil testing ... Ward 5 <span style="color: #04ff00;">Councilmember</span> Zachary Parker also sent to NPS a <a href="https://nextstopriggs.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/cm-parker-lettertonps_may2023-1.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> regarding soil testing ... [Norton's] office sent another <a href="https://nextstopriggs.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023.6.1-congresswoman-norton-fort-totten-letter-to-nps-usace.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> on June 1. It appears there will be some type of investigation to determine what NPS lands were impacted by Metro’s green line construction and <span style="color: red;">where</span> soil from Spring Valley may have been delivered by Metro’s contractor. Congresswoman Norton’s office is still working with NPS, Metro, and District officials on the <span style="color: #04ff00;">scope</span> and timeline for getting all of this done. Her office is also working on a couple of different strategies for getting to the bottom of this issue. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://nextstopriggs.wordpress.com/2023/06/06/update-on-fort-totten-park-soil-testing-issue/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Next Stop ... Riggs Park</i></span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://nextstopriggs.wordpress.com/2023/06/06/update-on-fort-totten-park-soil-testing-issue/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">June 6, 2023</span></a></span><br /></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-63807483640658913442023-05-12T12:54:00.128-04:002023-06-09T12:42:44.766-04:00Army Seeks to ID Unknown Liquid in WWI Munition at Fort Totten<div style="text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The U.S. Army is still trying to identify an unknown liquid found inside one of two World War I-era weapons that were <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/part-of-dcs-fort-totten-park-closes-for-investigation-after-discovery-of-metal-canisters/" target="_blank">discovered</a> three weeks ago, in Ft. Totten Park, in Northeast D.C., and whether there’s a connection to the <span style="color: #04ff00;">chemical weapons</span> found during the decadeslong cleanup of a former chemical weapons site near the American University campus. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [USACE] spokeswoman Cynthia Mitchell told WTOP a 75 mm shell discovered in mound of soil by a National Park Service [NPS] employee was empty, after analysis at Marine Corps Base Quantico. However, <i>“the 6-inch <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livens_Projector" target="_blank">Livens projectile</a> has a liquid fill that will require further analysis,”</i> Mitchell said. A Livens Projector was a simple mortar-like <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/livens-gun-pit-yesterday-today.html" target="_blank">weapon</a> that could throw large drums filled with toxic or flammable chemicals. The weapons were used during World War I, specifically between 1916 through 1918. Livens projectors were <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2017/04/landscapers-find-livens-round-in-au.html" target="_blank">encountered</a> often during the Ward 3 <span style="color: #04ff00;">Spring Valley</span> cleanup, at the former American University Experiment Station [AUES] used by the U.S. government for research and testing of chemical agents, equipment and munitions — once <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/03/dc-house-over-mother-of-all-toxic-dumps-to-be-razed/" target="_blank">dubbed</a> the <i>“mother of all toxic dumps”</i> ... Mitchell said the Army is <i>“still analyzing its options for obtaining additional characterization data on the liquid fill within the Livens. That action is complicated by the <span style="color: #04ff00;">experimental</span> nature of the work <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">conducted</a> in the 1920s by American University.”</i> </span></span></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviepSEhivF7KXkmVeOmGIETCSoBVMLTOq2alFIJjGpACZzNoZm8yz5XwhWKGLx4wm7wb7UNnJv9uYfjZG7ClzdgXH153IUqQv1D4cF1IvehustEfPgY_p1glWoMeXjaky5L3GC2I1K-EkoMSmNwiHBINAOgfx2AjapZmNCGwKfO8HcmX1tK7pp3EaXQ/s978/SvLivensProjectorBatteryUk(1917).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="978" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviepSEhivF7KXkmVeOmGIETCSoBVMLTOq2alFIJjGpACZzNoZm8yz5XwhWKGLx4wm7wb7UNnJv9uYfjZG7ClzdgXH153IUqQv1D4cF1IvehustEfPgY_p1glWoMeXjaky5L3GC2I1K-EkoMSmNwiHBINAOgfx2AjapZmNCGwKfO8HcmX1tK7pp3EaXQ/w400-h229/SvLivensProjectorBatteryUk(1917).jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Livens_gas_projector_loading.jpg/1007px-Livens_gas_projector_loading.jpg" target="_blank">Soldiers load battery of Livens gas projectors (Wikimedia)</a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></span></span></span> <br /></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The temporary lack of clarity of whether the liquid poses a potential health or safety risk is pausing discussions of whether a <span style="color: #04ff00;">major</span> cleanup might be required in the park, located in a Ward 5 neighborhood, near the Ft. Totten Metro. However, USACE has taken preliminary steps to facilitate additional cleanup, by installing erosion control matting. <i>“This matting provides stabilization of the site, protecting the berms against erosion and rainfall.” “Fencing will also be installed this week and will remain in place during ongoing assessments which will help determine a path forward at Ft. Totten Park,”</i> according to a USACE statement ... The possible link to Ft. Totten may have occurred <span style="color: red;">years before</span> the start of the Spring Valley cleanup. Even before a contractor digging a utility trench in Spring Valley in 1993 <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/seventy-year-coverup-blown-on-jan-5.html" target="_blank">uncovered</a> a buried military ordnance, which prompted the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">USACE</span></span></span></span> investigation that revealed homes on Glenbrook Road were built atop chemical weapon <span style="color: #04ff00;">burial pits</span>, contaminated soil from Glenbrook Road was trucked to a landscaping project at Ft. Totten Metro station. Dan Noble, of USACE, and project manager for the ongoing Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site project <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank">told</a> WTOP in a 2022 interview.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>“What we know is that over at Ft. Totten, where the D.C. Metro project was underway, they had a need for soil, and on Glenbrook Road, where they were building the houses, they had excess soil,”</i> Noble said. “<i>We know that an arrangement was made to <span style="color: red;">transfer</span> some soil, from Glenbrook Road, over to Ft. Totten.”</i> In 1992, the heavy equipment operator spreading Glenbrook Road soil at the Ft. Totten Metro site felt sickened from the fumes of the soil, and NPS ordered it be <span style="color: #04ff00;">removed</span>, Noble <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank">told</a> the Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank"></a> [pgs. 13 - 14]</span></span>. The board holds regular meetings to advise community members on the cleanup ... D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and ANC commissioners Zachary Ammerman and Gordon-Andrew Fletcher have been <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/02/norton-pushes-more-testing-at-fort-totten-park-after-2020-discovery-of-unexploded-wwi-shell/" target="_blank">calling</a> on the NPS to more fully search the Ward 5 park, to investigate a possible <span style="color: #04ff00;">link</span> to the Spring Valley cleanup of chemical weapons. On Wednesday, Norton issued a follow-up letter to the NPS and USACE, <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachANC5A09/status/1656383959742271503" target="_blank">seeking</a> a thorough search throughout the park for other weapons, and soil and groundwater contamination. <i>“Given the fact that multiple munitions have been found over the years in different areas of Ft. Totten Park, I, once again, ask that you investigate ordnances and soil and groundwater contamination <span style="color: #04ff00;">throughout</span> the park,” </i>wrote Norton.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/05/army-seeks-to-id-unknown-liquid-in-wwi-munition-similar-to-chemical-weapon-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Neal Augenstein</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/05/army-seeks-to-id-unknown-liquid-in-wwi-munition-similar-to-chemical-weapon-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">WTOP News</span></i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/05/army-seeks-to-id-unknown-liquid-in-wwi-munition-similar-to-chemical-weapon-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">May 12, 2023</span></a><br /></div></span></span><p></p></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-63195953693357332672023-04-20T15:46:00.112-04:002023-04-21T01:29:44.479-04:00Two AUES Munitions Discovered on Western Edge of Civil War Fort<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>WTOP has learned two metal canisters <i>[sic]</i> <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/part-of-dcs-fort-totten-park-closes-for-investigation-after-discovery-of-metal-canisters/" target="_blank">discovered</a> Tuesday in Fort Totten Park, in Northeast D.C., were World War I-era weapons, with <span style="color: #cccccc;"><span>physical similarities</span></span> to chemical weapons found during a <span style="color: #04ff00;">decades-long</span> cleanup of a former chemical weapons site near the American University campus ... <i>“We expect preliminary/unofficial results on content this week, and final confirmation next week,”</i> [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) spokesperson Cynthia] Mitchell wrote in an email. This is not the first time a World War I-era weapon has been discovered in <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-totten.htm" target="_blank">Ft. Totten</a> — one of seven Northeast D.C. forts used by the Union Army to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/cwdw/index.htm" target="_blank">defend</a> the nation’s capital during the Civil War. In <span style="color: #04ff00;">2020</span>, the National Park Service [NPS] <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2023/01/ft-totten-anc-wants-more-testing-in.html" target="_blank">discovered</a> a World War I-era metal canister <i>[sic]</i> on the ground in a different area of Ft. Totten Park ... WTOP reported last year that the empty shell found in 2020 had been <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank">modified</a> for use as a <span style="color: red;">chemical weapon</span>. Mitchell said the canisters </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><i>[sic]</i> </span></span></span> discovered Tuesday were <span style="color: #04ff00;">very similar</span> to chemical weapons found in Ward 3’s Spring Valley cleanup at the former <i>American University Experiment Station</i> [AUES] used by the U.S. government for research and testing of chemical agents, equipment and munitions — once <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/03/dc-house-over-mother-of-all-toxic-dumps-to-be-razed/" target="_blank">dubbed</a> the <i>“mother of all toxic dumps.”</i> </span></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXsvtI1G4qRs4nXUDiP7JOKTB1kHfaaGhbxQfE7VYuy0iCVBiscqeFanYfzpSZ9huEzxxBC7jUkBQpg1N-Ludk5oR9Bw3QSjG4l-A7SMaj_eeXKpwfuduu63UXtcSLFQpzOKB-sNYKJhHEtfDD0UTEqAFtRJEfMKqXmoQluUbGhmBh3vnUnktfikfXw/s1169/SvFtTottenAuesMunitionsMap(4-19-23)a.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1169" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXsvtI1G4qRs4nXUDiP7JOKTB1kHfaaGhbxQfE7VYuy0iCVBiscqeFanYfzpSZ9huEzxxBC7jUkBQpg1N-Ludk5oR9Bw3QSjG4l-A7SMaj_eeXKpwfuduu63UXtcSLFQpzOKB-sNYKJhHEtfDD0UTEqAFtRJEfMKqXmoQluUbGhmBh3vnUnktfikfXw/w400-h240/SvFtTottenAuesMunitionsMap(4-19-23)a.png" width="400" /></a> <br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://goo.gl/maps/kDTadFwAAf5wBBXJ8" target="_blank">New AUES rounds were found on west side of Ft. Totten</a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>“Munition <span style="color: #04ff00;">one</span> is </i>‘Livens-like’<i> — it doesn’t fit the exact measurements of the Livens projectors we’ve encountered during the Spring Valley cleanup, but it is very similar,”</i> said Mitchell. A <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2017/04/landscapers-find-livens-round-in-au.html" target="_blank">Livens Projector</a> was a simple mortar-like weapon that could throw large drums filled with toxic or flammable chemicals ... <i>“Munition <span style="color: #04ff00;">two</span> is a 75 mm ordinance with a <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">hex plug</a> burster adapter, and is very typical of past finds at Spring Valley,”</i> said Mitchell. In a February 2022 interview, Spring Valley cleanup project manager Dan Noble <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/02/nps-colludes-in-covering-up-of-spring.html" target="_blank">told</a> WTOP the shell found in 2020 had been modified for use as a chemical weapon. <i>“When we looked at the X-rays, it was a 75-millimeter ordnance item that we encounter quite a bit at Spring Valley. It had a hex plug burster adapter screwed into the nose, ... [which] would convert what was developed as a conventional munition into a <span style="color: red;">chemical munition</span>,”</i> Noble <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank">said</a>. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and ANC commissioners Zachary Ammerman and Gordon-Andrew Fletcher have been <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/02/norton-pushes-more-testing-at-fort-totten-park-after-2020-discovery-of-unexploded-wwi-shell/" target="_blank">calling</a> on the NPS to <span style="color: #04ff00;">more fully</span> search the Ward 5 park, to investigate a possible link to the Spring Valley cleanup of chemical weapons.</span></span><br /><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/canisters-found-in-fort-totten-were-wwi-munitions-similar-to-chemical-weapons-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Neal Augenstein</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/canisters-found-in-fort-totten-were-wwi-munitions-similar-to-chemical-weapons-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>WTOP News</i></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/canisters-found-in-fort-totten-were-wwi-munitions-similar-to-chemical-weapons-in-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">April 20, 2023</span></span></a><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">People who live around Ft. Totten Park said they weren’t surprised when someone found more mystery items buried beneath the soil there Tuesday afternoon. The National Park Service [NPS] <a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/part-of-fort-totten-park-closed-for-public-safety-after-discovery-of-metal-canisters.htm" target="_blank">closed</a> part of the park after one of its employees found two metal canisters <i>[sic]</i> in a <span style="color: #04ff00;">mound of soil</span>. NPS subsequently urged locals to stay away from cordoned off part of the park east of Fort Totten Drive, south of Gallatin Street, & north of Brookland Avenue NE. Metro trains even bypassed the nearby Ft. Totten station, for more than an hour, as federal authorities conducted their investigation. NPS said the canisters </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><i>[sic]</i></span></span></span>, which appeared to be pushed into the park from the road, will be <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/fort-totten-park-closed-for-hours-after-park-service-finds-two-metal-canisters/3331842/" target="_blank">analyzed</a> by the U.S. Army at Marine Corps Base Quantico ...<br /><br />This latest discovery comes after NPS <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/fort-totten-park-closed-for-hours-after-park-service-finds-two-metal-canisters/3331842/" target="_blank">found</a> an empty, unfused World War I-era metal canister <i>[sic]</i> in Ft. Totten Park in July 2020. Its discovery prompted locals to <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnHenryWUSA/status/1648757669220474897" target="_blank">push</a> NPS to further examine the park for similar canisters <i>[sic]</i> and possible WWI-era munitions ... Local Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner <span style="color: #04ff00;">Zach Ammerman</span> contacted Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton about the issue. She, in turn, wrote a <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2023/02/norton-demands-answers-from-park.html" target="_blank">letter</a> to NPS Director Charles Sams to investigate ordnances and soil and groundwater contamination <span style="color: #04ff00;">throughout</span> Ft. Totten Park. She specifically noted she was disappointed NPS only looked at parts of the park around Fort Totten Trail after she requested a <i>“thorough investigation”</i> following a <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/08/park-service-misled-delegate-at-closed.html" target="_blank">meeting</a> in 2020 with the service, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. <i>“I believe it is <span style="color: red;">imperative</span> that NPS conduct an investigation throughout Ft. Totten Park,”</i> she said. <i>“This park is located in a residential neighborhood and is regularly used”</i> ...</span></span> <br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_6avWrY6lOaNZ2k5M0K7iwMvoyInDRiwedx_JywVqbAsoldb38rr0FpwcxkX_OheHI0em9jLryAgp6v-2ffxpkONIi8exmn6oRFR3RiQWm35E0OKc9MJgoPPdGnRdEAFjcfumHhLUBl54e7x6o6pVHTcq3GCMnRsjdnsTULYKdINAZ7kDasO49IJ1g/s826/SvFtTottenAuesMunitionsWusa9(4-19-23).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="780" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_6avWrY6lOaNZ2k5M0K7iwMvoyInDRiwedx_JywVqbAsoldb38rr0FpwcxkX_OheHI0em9jLryAgp6v-2ffxpkONIi8exmn6oRFR3RiQWm35E0OKc9MJgoPPdGnRdEAFjcfumHhLUBl54e7x6o6pVHTcq3GCMnRsjdnsTULYKdINAZ7kDasO49IJ1g/s320/SvFtTottenAuesMunitionsWusa9(4-19-23).png" width="302" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/what-lies-below-ne-district-residents-want-more-entirety-of-fort-totten-park-examined-after-canister-found/65-15cb5b95-c8c1-4cd8-9b16-7b6f95e78829" target="_blank">Spring Valley WMDs were unearthed at Ft. Totten</a></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ammerman believes the discoveries in Fort Totten Park are tied to <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/world-war-i-chemical-dump-site-up-for-sale-after-decades-long-clean-up-effort/65-7b43974a-2be1-4a64-9416-e0e284becd16" target="_blank">weapons waste</a> material, once found in DC’s Spring Valley neighborhood in Upper Northwest D.C., in 1993. <i>“I think we just need to do testing of the entire [Ft. Totten Park] and quit <span style="color: #04ff00;">pretending</span> like there’s not an issue when there clearly is,”</i> he said. According to the US Corps of Army Engineers, Baltimore District [USACE], during World War I, the US government used the <i>American University Experiment Station</i> [<a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">AUES</a>], in Spring Valley, to research and test <span style="color: red;">chemical agents</span>, equipment, and munitions. A remediation project at that site, located along the 4800 block of Glenbrook Road, concluded in August 2021 with the ultimate discovery of more than <span style="color: #04ff00;">550</span> munition items. Officials said <span style="color: red;">23</span> of them had been filled with chemical agents.<br /><br />The NPS said the source of the empty canister </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><i>[sic]</i> </span></span></span> found in Ft. Totten Park has still not been determined. However, during a meeting in January 2021, Dan Noble, the USACE’s Spring Valley Project Manager, <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20January%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf" target="_blank">said</a> [pg. 7] it was possible the Ft. Totten canister </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><i>[sic]</i> </span></span></span>did <span style="color: #04ff00;">originate</span> in Upper Northwest: <i>“[D. Noble] explained that USACE inspected and obtained x-rays of the shell,”</i> a meeting transcript reads. <i>“The shell was found to be a 75mm with a hex plug. This type of munition was often found in Spring Valley”</i> ... Ammerman <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnHenryWUSA/status/1648757669220474897" target="_blank">said</a> he wished the issues at Ft. Totten were treated with the same urgency as they were in Spring Valley. <i> “Why can’t we get – I think I know why – just an iota of attention that was given to the other side of D.C. where the <span style="color: #04ff00;">richest people</span> in D.C. live, here?”</i> he said ... WUSA-9 reached out to NPS to see if it has any plans to examine the entirety of Ft. Totten Park for munitions, ordinances, or any other types of waste. It said it is working to determine the next steps to evaluate the area and no other additional information on the park is available at this time.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/what-lies-below-ne-district-residents-want-more-entirety-of-fort-totten-park-examined-after-canister-found/65-15cb5b95-c8c1-4cd8-9b16-7b6f95e78829" target="_blank">John Henry</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/what-lies-below-ne-district-residents-want-more-entirety-of-fort-totten-park-examined-after-canister-found/65-15cb5b95-c8c1-4cd8-9b16-7b6f95e78829" target="_blank"><i>WUSA-9</i></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/what-lies-below-ne-district-residents-want-more-entirety-of-fort-totten-park-examined-after-canister-found/65-15cb5b95-c8c1-4cd8-9b16-7b6f95e78829" target="_blank">April 19, 2023</a></span></span><br /></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-74429238510844858192023-04-15T12:30:00.000-04:002023-12-11T09:38:32.104-05:00Environmental Group Leads Toxic Tours of Former WW I Army Base<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wwymbjCWKIsZDVxR0cTSJZH8pB5mtibXRa4KARGyk7gfOXqC47oUVRmGvw_daUciPrFo6LPYdri6xFylzv3BlndGspFD_25QqikuufL0LM1YGpKSxzKkDt-ix7w_JumnOguHBJzfX5oo/s1600/SvTour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wwymbjCWKIsZDVxR0cTSJZH8pB5mtibXRa4KARGyk7gfOXqC47oUVRmGvw_daUciPrFo6LPYdri6xFylzv3BlndGspFD_25QqikuufL0LM1YGpKSxzKkDt-ix7w_JumnOguHBJzfX5oo/s1600/SvTour.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">AUES Spring Valley</span> tours provide context to <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">better </span>understand the issues surrounding the cleanup of this Formerly Used Defense Site. Tours focus on historical features of the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">American University Experiment Station</a>, the current Army Corps of Engineers cleanup operations and residents’ health problems. Tours are led by a former Restoration Advisory Board member and Spring Valley resident. Each tour takes approximately 1½ hours. Participants see <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/livens-gun-pit-yesterday-today.html" target="_blank">where testing occurred</a> during World War I and where chemical warfare materiel is being removed today. For more information contact <span style="color: #ffcc00;">ahengst@verizon.net</span>. </span>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-4973229998878285822023-04-11T14:22:00.002-04:002023-04-21T01:32:23.459-04:00NPS Stonewalls Congresswoman on "thorough" Testing at Fort Totten<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><span><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;">I finally deduced how the NPS <i>[National Park Service] </i>can continue to play dumb about the WW I-era munition discovered in eastern Ft. Totten Park in July 2020. The key is the Feb. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;">27 </span><a href="https://www.nps.gov/cwdw/learn/management/fort-totten-trail-construction.htm" style="font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;" target="_blank">update</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;"> [below] where they say:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;">“WMATA can<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: #ff2600;">best speak</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to the material that was placed and removed from the site.”</i><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;"> That’s because in 1992, when the Park Service ordered the contaminated fill material from Glenbrook Road to be removed from the original western Ft. Totten dump site, it was<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">WMATA</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;">contractors — not the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">NPS</span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: georgia; text-size-adjust: auto;">! — who actually hauled it to the narrow eastern arm of the park between Galloway & Gallatin streets. That’s why, in another section of their update, the Park Service says: </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><blockquote style="border: medium none; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><i>“The source of the munition</i> [discovered in 2020] <i>is unknown. Fort Totten was used by the Army only during the Civil War, and there is no record of military activity around Fort Totten that would explain why a WWI munition would be found at a site.”</i></span></div></blockquote><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; text-size-adjust: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;">I.e., if WMATA will just admit for the record that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #ff2600;">their contractors</span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>moved 60 cubic yards of toxic fill from<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">west to east</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;">Ft. Totten in 1992, then the Park Service can finally justify conducting the broader search for munitions debris and laboratory waste (that we all want) on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">both sides</span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of the original foot<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;">path. </span></span><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><div><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-small;">~ Allen Hengst</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">On Apr 10, 2023, at 2:19 PM, Truding, Bradley <<a href="mailto:bradley.truding@mail.house.gov">bradley.truding@mail.house.gov</a>> wrote:</span></div></div></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><i>NPS hasn’t yet responded. We check in with NPS periodically on the status of the response. It is <span style="color: #04ff00;">not uncommon</span> for NPS and other federal entities to take <span>many months</span> to respond to <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2023/02/norton-demands-answers-from-park.html" target="_blank">inquiries</a> from members of Congress.</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><i> </i> <br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I409lgSSDnpC-K0p9_-D4rODRcKlo6iy/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">~ Bradley Truding</a></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I409lgSSDnpC-K0p9_-D4rODRcKlo6iy/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank"> <i>Office of Congresswoman Norton</i></a></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I409lgSSDnpC-K0p9_-D4rODRcKlo6iy/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank"> April 10, 2023</a></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span> </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>On Apr 10, 2023, at 2:12 PM, ALLEN HENGST <ahengst@verizon.net> wrote:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span> <br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>It’s now been over two months since Congresswoman Norton sent a <a href="https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023.02.07-Letter-to-NPS-re-Fort-Totten-Park-Soil-Investigation.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to NPS Director Charles Sams about conducting a more <span style="color: #04ff00;"><i>“thorough”</i></span> investigation of Ft. Totten Park. As you may recall, she requested a response from them by February 28, 2023. Can you please let me know if the Park Service ever answered the Congresswoman? If so, can I please see a copy of the Director’s written response?</span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>Thank you,</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Allen <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfwmsXZr-Xp-E9xQkjF8r5USNec3az9O3eWw0Bm9CpPGQUaaC3coSDv28_GjFS5rOiSxc4JWk9zJJ0dRioEMFvEj37sJ3wcfGFAxtic6H940WldnQ_nQCi5nFsQWpzWQfUluM1iMr2Pn9JEccXFHWLZaKRq3LAM3k04nHMwGbFAEuCywpmDxr82cx4A/s932/SvNpsFtTottenDumbActNorton(4-11-23).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="730" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfwmsXZr-Xp-E9xQkjF8r5USNec3az9O3eWw0Bm9CpPGQUaaC3coSDv28_GjFS5rOiSxc4JWk9zJJ0dRioEMFvEj37sJ3wcfGFAxtic6H940WldnQ_nQCi5nFsQWpzWQfUluM1iMr2Pn9JEccXFHWLZaKRq3LAM3k04nHMwGbFAEuCywpmDxr82cx4A/w502-h640/SvNpsFtTottenDumbActNorton(4-11-23).png" width="502" /></a></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I409lgSSDnpC-K0p9_-D4rODRcKlo6iy/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Email to Norton's office (4/11/23)</a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the 1980s, the NPS authorized the <i>Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority</i> (WMATA) to use two areas of <i><a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-totten.htm" target="_blank">Fort Totten Park</a></i> for the construction of the <i>Ft. Totten Metro Station</i> and the Green Line. The area where the NPS is constructing the new Fort Totten <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">trail</a> (to the east of the <i>Ft. Totten Metrorail Station</i>, between Gallatin and Galloway Streets NE) was reportedly used for construction of the Green Line tunnel ... WMATA reports that no fill material from off-site was brought to the site. WMATA was also authorized to use a separate portion of Fort Totten Park to the <span style="color: #04ff00;">west</span> of the <i>Ft. Totten Metrorail Station</i> to stage construction equipment. A 0.75-acre portion of the park was cleared and compacted for the staging area ... <br /><br />In 1992, WMATA excavated the staging area and <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mS06W7whsI3RjSg7gTtOqtA2zYbrUegN/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">placed</a> 60 cubic yards of uncompacted fill material in the park. During the placement of the fill, workers complained of eye and <span style="color: #04ff00;">respiratory irritation</span>. The fill also contained large amounts of various [munitions] debris. The NPS required that WMATA <span style="color: red;">remove</span> the fill and replace it with clean fill [pg. 3]. In 2014, it was confirmed that the <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank">source</a> of the original fill was <span style="color: #04ff00;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">4825 [and 4835]</span> Glenbrook Road <span style="color: #cccccc;">NW</span></span> [pgs. 13 - 14] within the Spring Valley <i><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">Formerly Used Defense Site</a> ,</i> a property ... impacted by the release of hazardous substances. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/" target="_blank">remediating</a> the site. Following the removal of contaminated soil from the staging area in 1992, there were reports suggesting the potential that a portion of the contaminated fill remained on the wooded slope. In 2019, the NPS and WMATA performed additional soil testing to determine whether there was residual contamination ... WMATA can <span style="color: #04ff00;">best speak</span> to the material that was placed and removed from the site ... </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBNmo_2pmjIrnZ8R0CW1LLPv8_R5RBlx4mXIOfvNIWd3evP0phD-SaDl6ZtDWKWkYDhoKYi47lE11B7g83Fw8xhhuZqWF0ZOq7WdeTBVo-h-8JfdTLramAueiZFBOO0esGlky95YvlhQP9WigxyD5ZCSoZVLZSavNc4Mwxpp2aI9FM6Vr1rZZ-CLBDg/s581/SvFtTottenToxicWasteTimelineFootpath(Aug-2021).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="562" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBNmo_2pmjIrnZ8R0CW1LLPv8_R5RBlx4mXIOfvNIWd3evP0phD-SaDl6ZtDWKWkYDhoKYi47lE11B7g83Fw8xhhuZqWF0ZOq7WdeTBVo-h-8JfdTLramAueiZFBOO0esGlky95YvlhQP9WigxyD5ZCSoZVLZSavNc4Mwxpp2aI9FM6Vr1rZZ-CLBDg/s320/SvFtTottenToxicWasteTimelineFootpath(Aug-2021).png" width="310" /></a></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline" target="_blank">Excerpt from Ft. Totten <i>"Toxic Waste Timeline"</i></a></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2020, a contractor working for the NPS discovered a WWI-era empty metal canister [75mm artillery shell] on the <span style="color: red;">surface</span> of the ground while working on the Ft. Totten Trail. At the time, the NPS thought that the canister could be an <a href=" https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/part-of-fort-totten-park-closed-for-public-safety.htm" target="_blank">unexploded ordnance</a>, and the canister was immediately removed from the site and inspected by the Department of Defense (DOD). The information provided by DOD indicates the munition was an unfused, unused, empty canister [modified with a <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">hexagonal plug</a> to accommodate <span style="color: #04ff00;">poison gas</span>], and it was safely disposed of. The source of the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VAyz5kcf_Hb8HPJ-H3Ia_YPPT3xpDIfp?usp=sharing/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">munition</a> [pg. 5] is unknown <i>[sic]. </i>Ft. Totten was used by the Army only during the Civil War, and there is no record <i>[sic]</i> of military activity around Ft. Totten that would explain why a WW-I munition would be found at a site ...<br /><br />Work [on the trail] was paused again in early 2022, after the NPS uncovered a portion of <i>Metrorail</i> infrastructure during trail construction. The NPS then conducted a thorough review, consulted with engineers and engaged with WMATA and determined that we will need to <span style="color: #04ff00;">redesign</span> the trail with a new alignment. It is our intent to complete the trail design in 2023. </span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/cwdw/learn/management/fort-totten-trail-construction.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">National Park Service</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/cwdw/learn/management/fort-totten-trail-construction.htm" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Update on Ft. Totten</span></span></i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/cwdw/learn/management/fort-totten-trail-construction.htm" target="_blank">February 27, 2023</a><br /></span></span></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-89259883403649258292023-02-08T11:00:00.002-05:002023-04-20T16:58:46.184-04:00Norton Demands Answers from Park Service by End of February<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There’s a new push to investigate Fort Totten Park in D.C. for the possible link between the 2020 <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">discovery</a> of an empty World War I shell and the decadeslong Spring Valley cleanup of chemical weapons. Last year, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said she was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/03/norton-buys-into-nps-whitewash-of-ft.html" target="_blank">assured</a> no other evidence of weapons or safety concerns had been found. <i>“They assured they have done a very thorough search of the <span style="color: red;">entire area</span>,”</i> Norton told WTOP in March 2022. <i>“That’s all I have to go on, and I’m going to have to <span style="color: #04ff00;">hold them to it</span>.”</i> Now, Norton has asked the director of the National Park Service to dig deeper — literally, and figuratively. In a Feb. 7 <a href="https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023.02.07-Letter-to-NPS-re-Fort-Totten-Park-Soil-Investigation.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to park service head Charles Sams III, Norton requests the agency to <i>“investigate ordnances and soil and groundwater contamination <span style="color: #04ff00;">throughout</span> Fort Totten Park.”</i> <br /></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last year, Norton was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/08/park-service-misled-delegate-at-closed.html" target="_blank">briefed</a> by the Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [USACE] and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority [WMATA] about the scope of the NPS investigation. Three decades ago, in 1993, a contractor digging a utility trench in Spring Valley in Northwest <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/seventy-year-coverup-blown-on-jan-5.html" target="_blank">uncovered</a> buried military ordnance, which prompted the USACE investigation that revealed homes on Glenbrook Road were built on top of chemical weapon <span style="color: #04ff00;">burial pits</span>. The Spring Valley cleanup at the former <i><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">American University Experiment Station</a></i> — used by the U.S. government for research and testing of chemical agents, equipment and munitions — was once <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/03/dc-house-over-mother-of-all-toxic-dumps-to-be-razed/" target="_blank">dubbed</a> the <i>“mother of all toxic dumps."</i> In July 2020, the National Park Service <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/index.cfm/2020/7/25/Artillery-Shell-Exposed-By-Heavy-Rains-In-Park" target="_blank">discovered</a> an <span style="color: red;">empty shell</span> during construction of a paved trail through wooded parkland located east of Fort Totten station.</span></span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvUrt0vTXMvtqc_zYRSEd28g4OUdTGNPUthj3TeHQ2YUeTf0Z2Yk-QK-_cftFIyvQkuLtDk3CUFDSD4lKQnIV4_xPDG6gUjAdy3EWudTEy6UkE29rCPDf4ONF2c5aLX4gPd5P3eQY85sCxVo8GSD6X9KKXc-vl4_dhXRcjnPAHxw4Bi4hM2ETGe90Ig/s765/SvFtTottenNortonNpsLetter(2-7-23).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvUrt0vTXMvtqc_zYRSEd28g4OUdTGNPUthj3TeHQ2YUeTf0Z2Yk-QK-_cftFIyvQkuLtDk3CUFDSD4lKQnIV4_xPDG6gUjAdy3EWudTEy6UkE29rCPDf4ONF2c5aLX4gPd5P3eQY85sCxVo8GSD6X9KKXc-vl4_dhXRcjnPAHxw4Bi4hM2ETGe90Ig/s320/SvFtTottenNortonNpsLetter(2-7-23).png" width="301" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023.02.07-Letter-to-NPS-re-Fort-Totten-Park-Soil-Investigation.pdf" target="_blank">Norton pushes for wider investigation at Ft. Totten</a></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As WTOP reported, the empty 75 mm shell had been <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">modified</a> for use as a <span style="color: #04ff00;">chemical weapon</span> and was similar to the weapons discovered in Spring Valley, according to Dan Noble of USACE, project manager of the Spring Valley cleanup. The 2020 discovery of the shell <a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/part-of-fort-totten-park-closed-for-public-safety.htm" target="_blank">paused</a> construction of a trail that would let residents in the Michigan Park neighborhood walk to the Ft. Totten Metro, instead of using the informal trail through the woods that they’ve used in the past. <a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/information/about" target="_blank">ANC</a> commissioner Zachary Ammerman, representing Ft. Totten and North Michigan Park, has been pushing for more investigation. He has compiled a Ft. Totten <i><a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline" target="_blank">Toxic Waste Timeline</a>.</i> Ammerman said only a <span style="color: #04ff00;">small portion</span> of the park, near where the construction was underway, has been searched. </span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>“Only a tiny segment of it has actually been tested so far.” “They spent, I believe, around $300 million </i>[<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aqfN4xCFKgbQpFS3BFk2IOhfSJIexH5S/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">slide #10</a>] <i>and spent about 28 years cleaning up the Spring Valley site,”</i> Ammerman said. <i>“All I’m trying to get is a small amount of the attention that was given to Spring Valley, which is the <span style="color: #04ff00;">wealthiest</span> area of D.C.” </i> Neighboring ANC commissioner Gordon-Andrew Fletcher has also <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/fort-totten-anc-seeks-investigation-after-wwi-shells-possible-link-to-chemical-weapon-cleanup/" target="_blank">called</a> for future investigation ... <i>“Give the same attention to this area, which has had potentially toxic waste sitting in a neighborhood park for <span style="color: red;">30 years</span>,” </i>said Ammerman. <i>“I am committed to ensuring that residents across the District are safe from ordnance, chemical weapons and soil and groundwater contamination,”</i> Norton said, while requesting a response from the park service by the end of the month.</span></span><br /><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2023/02/norton-pushes-more-testing-at-fort-totten-park-after-2020-discovery-of-unexploded-wwi-shell/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Neal Augenstein<br /><i>WTOP News</i><br />February 8, 2023</span></span></a><br /></p>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-34006197650331973202023-01-16T10:55:00.052-05:002023-04-20T16:58:07.923-04:00Ft. Totten ANC Wants More Testing in Vicinity of Toxic Dump Sites<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>So far, only <span style="color: red;">limited areas</span> around the trail and the original WMATA staging area [at Ft. Totten] have undergone any sort of testing. There is very good reason to believe that the known toxic soil <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank">moved</a> [pgs. 13 - 14] from the WMATA staging area in 1992 was used in the landscape restoration project ... a few hundred yards to the east </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">—</span></span> that's why the [AUES] soil was brought to the Ft. Totten area to begin with ... The vast majority of the area of concern </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">—</span></span> where landscape restoration <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VAyz5kcf_Hb8HPJ-H3Ia_YPPT3xpDIfp/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">took place</a> [pg. 2] at the <span style="color: #04ff00;">exact</span> time and place a large portion of known toxic soil went missing, and in the <span style="color: #04ff00;">exact</span> location where a WWI-era chemical weapon was found 30 years later </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">—</span></span> remains completely untested ... </span></span></span><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span></span></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrveoZzWOEPhvxMyckOSaoEkHXCl5PDabU6QL_6amioTsoqK4mh-RsJqMKV5tNRttR5TSrqmchrPFXbxgSVM4alDBaH7ES_uMUYQ1W3uCVhVfC2cogX1N_QzJaX7gGLzpNqfI-D_3sYk1_HIJ88d7YiFYZ7z7mmkQlAU9ZTy1P4qdX2LgDXjAwneAg7A/s772/SvFtTottenToxicWasteTimelineSoilTests(2021).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="455" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrveoZzWOEPhvxMyckOSaoEkHXCl5PDabU6QL_6amioTsoqK4mh-RsJqMKV5tNRttR5TSrqmchrPFXbxgSVM4alDBaH7ES_uMUYQ1W3uCVhVfC2cogX1N_QzJaX7gGLzpNqfI-D_3sYk1_HIJ88d7YiFYZ7z7mmkQlAU9ZTy1P4qdX2LgDXjAwneAg7A/w189-h320/SvFtTottenToxicWasteTimelineSoilTests(2021).png" width="189" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Higher levels of chemicals</span></span></a><a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></a><a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">found along trail <i>(ANC 5A-09)</i></span></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Spring Valley is the richest part of DC, and is overwhelmingly <span style="color: #04ff00;">white</span>. Why, then, when that wealthy part of DC dumps its toxic waste in a majority black neighborhood park on the other side of town, do we have to <span style="color: red;">wait</span> thirty-plus years to get some simple tests conducted? We know with certainty that at least some of the exact same toxic soil that caused a thirty-year cleanup project in the wealthiest part of DC ended up here, in a middle class <span style="color: #04ff00;">black</span> neighborhood, why hasn't there been even a fraction of the effort on this side of DC? There is ample evidence to suggest that there may well be chemical weapons and/or dangerous levels of chemicals of concern in our <span style="color: red;">neighborhood park</span> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">—</span></span></span></span></span> more testing needs to be done. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline" target="_blank">Zachary Ammerman, ANC 5A-09<br /><i>Ft. Totten "Toxic Waste Timeline"</i><br />January 16, 2023</a></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-42458374575447793522022-08-06T08:15:00.000-04:002023-01-27T17:51:44.672-05:00Park Service Misled Delegate at Closed-Door Ft. Totten Briefing<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjflpLCQWH6FQZn9PvQaHKBKicsqiI2mZPvxHcERjCO2G91wJeoZE12fNUKRh7B82wYDF38Na-FhCyALgy11OLFdkFzo0bDUFh1UUpM-Fu7BQYmfryhrXJDW8lUF_6J4iDwb97i1oeSdqxPDS5N1zsVYb36bvYptdFG-lrDAS6nE6lv8XC5P6Qc95MJyw/s1030/SvUxo75mmFtTottenMetro(7-25-20).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1030" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjflpLCQWH6FQZn9PvQaHKBKicsqiI2mZPvxHcERjCO2G91wJeoZE12fNUKRh7B82wYDF38Na-FhCyALgy11OLFdkFzo0bDUFh1UUpM-Fu7BQYmfryhrXJDW8lUF_6J4iDwb97i1oeSdqxPDS5N1zsVYb36bvYptdFG-lrDAS6nE6lv8XC5P6Qc95MJyw/s320/SvUxo75mmFtTottenMetro(7-25-20).png" width="320" /></a></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/part-of-fort-totten-park-closed-for-public-safety.htm" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>WWI shell closed trail between Galloway & Gallatin streets</span></span></span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><u>Allen Hengst</u>: <i>The Spring Valley FUDS clean-up <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/" target="_blank">team</a> does not want to have anything to do with the contaminated soil which was <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank">moved</a> [pgs. 13 - 14] from Glenbrook Road to Fort Totten <span style="color: #04ff00;">30 years ago</span>. I understand that you washed your hands of that responsibility, but I am pursuing it now with Delegate Norton and ... had a long discussion with her staff last week about the Park Service’s [NPS] so-called investigation of a WWI-era 75mm <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/02/nps-colludes-in-covering-up-of-spring.html" target="_blank">exposed</a> at Fort Totten Station two years ago. That artillery shell with a <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">hex plug</a> was <span style="color: #04ff00;">dumped in 1992</span> after multiple tons of soil containing munitions debris and lab waste from the 4825/4835 Glenbrook Road construction site was <a href="http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/SpringValleydiseases.pdf" target="_blank">refused</a> [pg. B-7] at Lorton Landfill ... </i></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>[In 2021, NPS] searched the footpath, which is about 30 feet wide and 200 feet long. The soil that was moved from the western section of Fort Totten Park on the orders of the Park Service ... to the area where this footpath is </i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span><span style="font-size: x-small;">—</span></span> there is no way on God’s green earth that all of that could have been put in that <span style="color: red;">tiny area</span>. [The Park Service] needs to explore to the east and west ... [Norton] either misunderstood what the [NPS] said, or they have misled her. The entire area is not the footpath. She thinks that they searched the entire area, and they are probably thinking, </i>"well we did search the entire area and the entire area is <span style="color: #04ff00;">the footpath</span>."<i> Sorry, that is not good enough.</i></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/2022/Spring%20Valley%20July%202022%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">AUES-Spring Valley FUDS</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/2022/Spring%20Valley%20July%202022%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">RAB Meeting Minutes</span></i></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/2022/Spring%20Valley%20July%202022%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">July 12, 2022 (pg. 11)</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTK_08C9Y9P-aQ8IkJ0Djh9-JNIWil--_brXSe4JtE-4Fb8w9APZ1irbuyuOE1u7V9z9aKVqITUq1jrrUIjUUc3Osxs8M1lEH_ZWYo1XJvXFy84fOQZYhcELc5-6sFA-s4UYktvE9wvP2htox3kLyCWpUXmnbrJdk5AudYhHx3Z-gh6gUFjAUOyoTF2Q/s1067/SvAues75mmXrayHexPlug(1-21-21).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1067" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTK_08C9Y9P-aQ8IkJ0Djh9-JNIWil--_brXSe4JtE-4Fb8w9APZ1irbuyuOE1u7V9z9aKVqITUq1jrrUIjUUc3Osxs8M1lEH_ZWYo1XJvXFy84fOQZYhcELc5-6sFA-s4UYktvE9wvP2htox3kLyCWpUXmnbrJdk5AudYhHx3Z-gh6gUFjAUOyoTF2Q/s320/SvAues75mmXrayHexPlug(1-21-21).png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/January%202021%20RAB%20Presentation%20Rev%201.pdf?ver=Vi3cwuAFHDHvksjSz_ZTIw%3d%3d" target="_blank">X-ray of 75mm shell with hex plug at top (slide #26)</a></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dear Congresswoman Norton, <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span> </span><br /></span></span>... Please note that the ultimate destination of the 1992 toxic Spring Valley fill material was a narrow wooded strip of land east of the Metro station between Gallatin and Galloway Streets, NE, approximately “<i>2100 feet”</i> [sic] east of the original staging area (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VAyz5kcf_Hb8HPJ-H3Ia_YPPT3xpDIfp/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">August 2021 PA/SI Report</a>, Introduction, pg. 2). The controversy that obliges me to write today’s certified letter and my March 12, 2022, <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2022/03/norton-buys-into-nps-whitewash-of-ft.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> — entitled <i>“Norton Falls for NPS Whitewash of Fort Totten WWI-Era Munition"</i> — can be neatly summed up by the statement: it <span style="color: #04ff00;">all depends</span> on what you mean by <i>“the entire area.”</i> In his March news article WTOP Reporter Augenstein <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/03/norton-briefed-by-nps-army-corps-on-unexploded-wwi-shell-in-fort-totten/" target="_blank">quotes</a> you extensively, regarding your closed-door session with relevant officials involved in the NPS investigation at Ft. Totten, as stating:<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: white;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span> <br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>“We had a very in-depth meeting. There has been a thorough search of the entire area, and no additional ordnance or issues had been turned up — I hope I can rely on that, this time.” “They have assured me that they have done a very thorough search of the entire area.” ... “When they say the entire area, that’s what <span style="color: #04ff00;">I</span><span style="color: #04ff00;">’m going to hold them</span> to.” </i><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span> </span></span></span></span></span> <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Of course, as documented in the previously cited August 2021 PA/SI Report, last year's investigation for additional buried Spring Valley WW-I ordnance and COPCs was anything but <i>"thorough."</i> Even though the NPS knew, based on its 2019 SI Report that multiple tons of <i>"uncompacted fill material”</i> was <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mS06W7whsI3RjSg7gTtOqtA2zYbrUegN/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">dumped</a> in western Ft. Totten in 1992 <i>"as part of landscape restoration”</i> [Section 2.2, pg. 5] and then removed, the recovery of an AUES UXO in July 2020 on the narrow strip of park land in eastern Ft. Totten did not trigger the wider examination that such a discovery should have warranted. Instead, the agency chose to <span style="color: red;">coverup</span> the existence of additional buried munitions debris and laboratory waste, issuing a clean bill of health for this poisoned site. In short, I believe the Park Service simply examined the narrow quarter-acre footpath and <span style="color: #04ff00;">misrepresented</span> that <span>perfunctory</span> search to the Congresswoman as an investigation of <i>"the entire area."</i><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S3MyRZNLrzaByJrjdGKQ5NLrJPxvrHSB/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Allen Hengst</a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S3MyRZNLrzaByJrjdGKQ5NLrJPxvrHSB/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Letter to Congresswoman Norton</span></i></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S3MyRZNLrzaByJrjdGKQ5NLrJPxvrHSB/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">August 19, 2022</a></span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz5In-A4b7Lca7EVleG0l1gsrHleWvVGsIkXuVu0XkPb8IC5D2OLFV5W3Em6vtQ78AndNV7eN0WW-PoxWN7jIIkQw3Vdykh2FGQiVLbP07pRAp7vDxWcwRA8lEPuXVSVEcvxxRVIkDNkBCtaSywui3IxOPznn7rc2lkDpFHvHK2KpHub_lYfe02U1ZAA/s1084/SvFtTottenFootpathClosed(Mar:Aug-2021)bCrop.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="1084" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz5In-A4b7Lca7EVleG0l1gsrHleWvVGsIkXuVu0XkPb8IC5D2OLFV5W3Em6vtQ78AndNV7eN0WW-PoxWN7jIIkQw3Vdykh2FGQiVLbP07pRAp7vDxWcwRA8lEPuXVSVEcvxxRVIkDNkBCtaSywui3IxOPznn7rc2lkDpFHvHK2KpHub_lYfe02U1ZAA/w400-h124/SvFtTottenFootpathClosed(Mar:Aug-2021)bCrop.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeATV9JeD1A2NESB7" target="_blank">Ft. Totten footpath in March & August, 2021</a></span></span> <br /></div></div></span></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-5634026839728979662022-04-22T11:42:00.115-04:002022-07-11T17:15:20.151-04:00EPA Reaffirms 2020 Decision to Not Regulate Perchlorate in Water<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Biden administration on Thursday said it would uphold a Trump-era decision and not impose limits in drinking water of <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/08/06/06greenwire-new-findings-spur-epa-to-rethink-perchlorate-r-77227.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">perchlorate</a>, a contaminant that has been linked to <span style="color: #04ff00;">brain damage</span> in infants. The announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency shocked public health advocates who had denounced the Trump administration in 2020 for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/climate/trump-drinking-water-perchlorate.html?module=inline" target="_blank">opting</a> not to regulate perchlorate. The chemical is a component in rocket fuel, ammunition and <span style="color: #04ff00;">explosives</span> ... The Trump administration had found that perchlorate did not meet the criteria for regulation because it did not appear in drinking water <i>“with a frequency and at levels of public health concern.”</i> Activists at the time accused the E.P.A. of disregarding science. After President Biden took office, the agency launched a review of the decision and on Thursday endorsed it, saying it was <i>“supported by the best available peer-reviewed science.” </i> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The E.P.A. said it would take other action, like setting up new monitoring tools and doing more to <span style="color: #04ff00;">clean up</span> contaminated sites, <i>“to ensure that public health is protected from perchlorate in drinking water” </i>... Perchlorate can occur naturally, but high concentrations have been found in at least <span style="color: #04ff00;">26 states</span>, often <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2014/11/perchlorate-plumes-at-au-sibley-still.html" target="_blank">near</a> military installations ... Research has shown that by interfering with the thyroid gland’s iodine uptake, perchlorate can stunt the production of hormones essential to the development of fetuses, infants and children ... The <i>American Academy of Pediatrics, </i>which had told the agency that perchlorate can cause a significant <span style="color: red;">drop in the I.Q.</span> of newborns and urged the <i>“strongest possible”</i> <a href="https://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2019/01/" target="_blank">limits</a> on the contaminant, declined to comment on Thursday.</span><br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/climate/epa-perchlorate-drinking-water.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lisa Friedman</span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/climate/epa-perchlorate-drinking-water.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>New York Times</i> </span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/climate/epa-perchlorate-drinking-water.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">March 31, 2022</span></span></a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIP13ER18byxxF4NUkLEV9qey4KojJlVX_pFpdkoCfrRUsv0MQXWvSBlgQ_-beFgutWlnNDY-0R6MkJqWqlKwZFApD6x4WfkNKR4eDhZmVlAlour6bDJbNLoSG2TujXMzrz6DnzLjKjyZ6gjtim_hxl5FRP6KBaZaIW8YIfP7uuCfRdjlGok79jX_Iw/s593/SvPercManuMap(12-16-02).gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="593" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIP13ER18byxxF4NUkLEV9qey4KojJlVX_pFpdkoCfrRUsv0MQXWvSBlgQ_-beFgutWlnNDY-0R6MkJqWqlKwZFApD6x4WfkNKR4eDhZmVlAlour6bDJbNLoSG2TujXMzrz6DnzLjKjyZ6gjtim_hxl5FRP6KBaZaIW8YIfP7uuCfRdjlGok79jX_Iw/w320-h244/SvPercManuMap(12-16-02).gif" width="320" /></a></div></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/perchlorate_FY933A12152002205722.gif" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-family: times;">40 states manufacture or use perchlorate <i>(EPA)</i></span></span></span></a></span><br /></div><i>“The EPA’s failure to protect drinking water from widespread perchlorate contamination is unscientific, <span style="color: #04ff00;">unlawful</span>, and unconscionable,”</i> said <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/erik-d-olson" target="_blank">Erik D. Olson</a>, Senior Strategic Director for Health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). <i>“The Trump EPA gave perchlorate <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/05/defying-court-order-law-science-epa.html" target="_blank">a pass</a>; it was a bad decision then, and it’s a bad decision now. Tap water across America will remain contaminated by this toxic chemical, which threatens the brain development of babies in the womb, infants, and young children at <span style="color: #04ff00;">extremely low</span> levels.” </i> The Trump EPA relied on a deeply flawed analysis to select a <i>“safe”</i> perchlorate level that is 10 or more times higher than health-based limits set by state authorities who have evaluated the same data. EPA then compared levels of perchlorate in tap water to their unjustifiably high<i> “safe”</i> levels and said there are not <i>[sic]</i> a lot of systems exceeding safe levels, so there is no need for regulation of perchlorate. The agency relied primarily upon a two decade-old EPA snapshot of perchlorate levels in tap water and ignored other <span style="color: red;">more recent data</span> from USGS <i>[United States Geological Survey]</i> and others showing widespread perchlorate contamination ... <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMscFGYurdhq95xObidB6hXClxukdAfh70gu2B8RKifOdKmg-bcg-hVN1rZeQu5D5TKcC6dTr3PQui2nt4uqZqQZ-3R-h7p-HyQb1JRGGMFMMFXyClsO0O_Lrt0QTVFS00uDJikU1oEJXaBN9sAs04DTck3ULRXO0AroO28xiBM89hjyqEC4iOtinGAw/s1200/SvPercTreatCa(9-17-16)a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1200" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMscFGYurdhq95xObidB6hXClxukdAfh70gu2B8RKifOdKmg-bcg-hVN1rZeQu5D5TKcC6dTr3PQui2nt4uqZqQZ-3R-h7p-HyQb1JRGGMFMMFXyClsO0O_Lrt0QTVFS00uDJikU1oEJXaBN9sAs04DTck3ULRXO0AroO28xiBM89hjyqEC4iOtinGAw/w400-h263/SvPercTreatCa(9-17-16)a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.sbsun.com/2017/02/14/settlement-to-help-fund-microbe-treatment-of-perchlorate-in-rialto-colton-groundwater/" target="_blank"><span><span>San Bernardino perchlorate bio-remediation unit <i>(Perez)</i></span></span></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Defense Department (DOD) and its contractors are major users of perchlorate and there are innumerable DOD facilities where perchlorate pollution has been identified. DOD has <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2005/050110" target="_blank">opposed</a> strict controls on perchlorate, in an apparent attempt to <span style="color: #04ff00;">minimize</span> its cleanup costs. Since perchlorate is unregulated, there is no federally required monitoring of tap water or requirement to inform a community of contamination. In 2011, the EPA formally decided that perchlorate should be <a href="https://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2019/01/" target="_blank">regulated</a> because it is <span style="color: #04ff00;">toxic and widespread</span>, with the drinking water of as many as 16 million people contaminated by the chemical. When the Agency failed to develop a standard by the deadline, NRDC <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2016/160218" target="_blank">sued</a>, and then secured a court-approved consent decree <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2019/11/epa-nrdc-agree-to-six-month-delay-on.html" target="_blank">requiring</a> the EPA to issue a drinking water standard for perchlorate by 2019 ... NRDC agreed to extend the court-ordered deadline to 2020 when the Trump Administration asked for additional time. Ignoring the court order, the Trump EPA <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/erik-d-olson/epa-refuses-protect-children-perchlorate-contaminated-tap-water" target="_blank">announced</a> in 2020 that it was purporting to <span style="color: red;">rescind</span> the Obama finding that a standard should be set, contending that EPA’s 2008 health advisory for perchlorate in drinking water is far more protective of health than needed. <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqH_SXqu5vgQgfBPfsYq5TmUEfT4D9bS8-MsSESxxhXVEhXuj8uGfTFvNj1DmGLNBIWkIe64ewH_Cjxyk3cC59B9qBK29uUhsAoV_YlHgopNB_c6xv7XKT_UbF99GN8qWeZHsrrVWmK3AXbJ5UV7bY_d1CTJf4y3r1TE7cwxmf819jQ20yBRxLBJ5KXw/s1200/SvPercTreatCa(9-17-16)b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1200" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqH_SXqu5vgQgfBPfsYq5TmUEfT4D9bS8-MsSESxxhXVEhXuj8uGfTFvNj1DmGLNBIWkIe64ewH_Cjxyk3cC59B9qBK29uUhsAoV_YlHgopNB_c6xv7XKT_UbF99GN8qWeZHsrrVWmK3AXbJ5UV7bY_d1CTJf4y3r1TE7cwxmf819jQ20yBRxLBJ5KXw/w400-h255/SvPercTreatCa(9-17-16)b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.sbsun.com/2017/02/14/settlement-to-help-fund-microbe-treatment-of-perchlorate-in-rialto-colton-groundwater/" target="_blank"><span><span>Filter breaks apart perchlorate by using bacteria <i>(Perez)</i></span></span></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">NRDC <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/erik-d-olson/nrdc-sues-protect-kids-perchlorate-tap-water" target="_blank">sued</a> the Trump EPA for refusing to set a standard; that case was held in abeyance with NRDC’s agreement when the Biden Administration said it would review the Trump Administration decision on perchlorate ... <a href="https://www.mass.gov/guides/perchlorate-frequently-asked-questions#-massdep's-standard-for-perchlorate-" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> and <a href="https://www.cleanwateraction.org/features/perchlorate-californias-drinking-water" target="_blank">California</a> have set their own drinking water standards of <span style="color: #04ff00;">2 ppb</span> to <span style="color: #04ff00;">6 ppb</span>, respectively, because of inaction at the federal level. EPA now cites the reduction in levels of tap water contamination in those two states as a reason that no national standard is needed, refusing to address the widespread contamination in other states. EPA previously had found that as many as <span style="color: #04ff00;">16 million</span> Americans’ tap water contains perchlorate, though it has not required national monitoring since a one-time snapshot done two decades ago. The Obama EPA found in 2011 that a perchlorate drinking water standard was <a href="https://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2019/01/" target="_blank">needed</a> to protect health from the endocrine disrupting chemical, especially that of vulnerable fetuses and young children. This finding triggered a <span style="color: red;">legal duty</span> to regulate perchlorate. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2022/220331-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Margie Kelly</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2022/220331-1" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">NRDC</span></span></i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2022/220331-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">March 31, 2022</span></span></a><br /></div></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-48269543042947237072022-03-12T10:37:00.021-05:002022-04-12T11:40:32.008-04:00Norton Falls for NPS Whitewash of Fort Totten WW I-Era Munition<div style="text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Learning of a possible <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank">link</a> between an empty World War I shell, found in 2020 during construction of a trail through Fort Totten Park, and the decades-long Spring Valley cleanup of chemical weapons was concerning to D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton. Now, after calling for a <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/fort-totten-anc-seeks-investigation-after-wwi-shells-possible-link-to-chemical-weapon-cleanup/" target="_blank">meeting</a> with the heads of the National Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers, Norton told WTOP she has been assured that <span style="color: #04ff00;">no other evidence</span> of World War I weapons or safety concerns have been discovered. <i> “I could not believe that we were finding unexploded ordnance,” </i>said Norton. <i>“Not after what we went through, in 1993”</i> ... The <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/seventy-year-coverup-blown-on-jan-5.html" target="_blank">1993 discovery</a> [of a munitions burial pit on 52nd Court] prompted the Spring Valley cleanup in Northwest D.C. at the former <i>American University Experiment Station</i> (AUES) used by the U.S. government for research and testing of chemical agents, equipment and munitions — once <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/03/dc-house-over-mother-of-all-toxic-dumps-to-be-razed/" target="_blank">dubbed</a> the <i>“mother of all toxic dumps”</i> ... </span></span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As WTOP reported, the empty 75 mm shell found at Ft. Totten had been <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">modified</a> for use as a chemical weapon, and was similar to the weapons discovered in Spring Valley, according to Dan Noble of the Corps of Engineers, project manager of the Spring Valley cleanup. Norton said she was told the ordnance discovered at Ft. Totten had likely been there since 1992, when <span style="color: #04ff00;">contaminated soil</span> from Spring Valley was <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mS06W7whsI3RjSg7gTtOqtA2zYbrUegN/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">trucked</a> to a landscaping project at the Ft. Totten Metro station ... In 1992, the heavy equipment operator spreading Glenbrook Road soil at the Ft. Totten Metro site felt <span style="color: red;">sickened</span> from the fumes of the soil, and the U.S. Park Service ordered it be removed. <i>“We had a very in-depth <a href="https://norton.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/norton-statement-on-meeting-with-national-park-service-army-corps-of" target="_blank">meeting</a>,”</i> with park service and Army Corps officials, said Norton. <i>“There has been a thorough search of the entire area</i> [sic],<i> and no additional ordnance or issues had been turned up — I hope I can rely on that, this time.” “They have <span style="color: #04ff00;">assured me</span> that they have done a very thorough <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3JuENUO6NQjBZvnlF-GZCCe7inCa_R3/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">search</a> of the entire area,” </i>Norton added ... <i>“When they say the entire area, that’s what I’m going to hold them to,”</i> Norton said.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/03/norton-briefed-by-nps-army-corps-on-unexploded-wwi-shell-in-fort-totten/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Neal Augenstein</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/03/norton-briefed-by-nps-army-corps-on-unexploded-wwi-shell-in-fort-totten/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">WTOP News</span></span></a></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/03/norton-briefed-by-nps-army-corps-on-unexploded-wwi-shell-in-fort-totten/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">March 9, 2022</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaL8dLXmAi150TASg4Y1CPlcTChZobuL2dFWAKuRn8Cd9CEoe1d-nEwK8TA3saD35yj5IjJO_ai6B_iSdxzO3BnE_WqlDpT1bkCtMCXvkvfHa3eDiQpg1TURtp8nG1FE6tOOxMFNBxmeqVDd6eO_S654wXgKVft1sBzOtw3JEQG52xrzlFgvJpxn5Gnw/s952/SvNpsFtTottenAerialClosure(7-23-20).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="952" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaL8dLXmAi150TASg4Y1CPlcTChZobuL2dFWAKuRn8Cd9CEoe1d-nEwK8TA3saD35yj5IjJO_ai6B_iSdxzO3BnE_WqlDpT1bkCtMCXvkvfHa3eDiQpg1TURtp8nG1FE6tOOxMFNBxmeqVDd6eO_S654wXgKVft1sBzOtw3JEQG52xrzlFgvJpxn5Gnw/w400-h210/SvNpsFtTottenAerialClosure(7-23-20).png" width="400" /></a></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/images/Fort-Totten-closure.png" target="_blank">Area closed by UXO at Ft. Totten is highlighted<i> (NPS)</i></a></span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mS06W7whsI3RjSg7gTtOqtA2zYbrUegN/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">April 2019 SI Report</a>, the NPS said that <i>“approximately 60 yards of uncompacted fill material,”</i> containing Glenbrook Road soil contaminated with <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">AUES</a> munitions debris and laboratory waste, was dumped in the western section of Ft. Totten <i>"as part of landscape restoration”</i> in 1992 (Section 2.2, pg.5). Due to fumes that sickened the bulldozer operator who was spreading the fill material, the NPS subsequently ordered the toxic soil to be <span style="color: #04ff00;">removed</span>. As you know, the July 2020 75mm shell — recovered in a narrow wooded strip of land located east of the metro station between Gallatin and Galloway Streets, NE — had been adapted with a hexagonal plug to <span style="color: #04ff00;">accommodate</span> poison gas. Logic dictates that the 2020 discovery of this AUES munition, <i>“2100 feet"</i> east (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VAyz5kcf_Hb8HPJ-H3Ia_YPPT3xpDIfp/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">August 2021 PA/SI Report</a>, Introduction, pg. 2) of the 1992 dumping, originated from the Glenbrook Road construction sites and was, in fact, part of the multiple tons of relocated fill material. Even though the NPS — and now apparently <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/03/norton-briefed-by-nps-army-corps-on-unexploded-wwi-shell-in-fort-totten/ " target="_blank">Congresswoman Norton</a> — are <i>“reassured”</i> that the April 2021 survey was <i>“thorough,”</i> I’m frankly horrified by this blatant obfuscation. As if the original transfer of toxic waste from one of the wealthier residential areas of our nation’s capital to a working class, Northeast neighborhood wasn’t bad enough, the NPS’ current boneheaded <span style="color: red;">cover-up</span> just compounds the error.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3JuENUO6NQjBZvnlF-GZCCe7inCa_R3/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Allen Hengst</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3JuENUO6NQjBZvnlF-GZCCe7inCa_R3/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Email to Project Mgr. Noble</i></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3JuENUO6NQjBZvnlF-GZCCe7inCa_R3/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">March 9, 2022</span></a></span></span></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-75250067729841167762022-02-10T11:14:00.251-05:002022-02-21T07:25:14.662-05:00Park Service Colludes in Covering Up Spring Valley's Darkest Secret<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>A World War I-era unexploded shell <a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/part-of-fort-totten-park-closed-for-public-safety.htm" target="_blank">discovered</a> in July 2020 by the National Park Service during construction of a trail through Northeast D.C.’s <span style="color: #04ff00;">Fort Totten</span> could be a <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">prequel</a>
to the decades-long cleanup of a former World War I chemical weapons
site near American University’s campus. The type of weapon recovered
and the <span style="color: #04ff00;">history of where</span> it was
recovered have suggested a link between the discovery in Ward 5’s Ft.
Totten and Ward 3’s Spring Valley cleanup at the former <i>American University Experiment Station</i> [<a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">AUES</a>] used by the U.S. government for research and testing of chemical agents, equipment and munitions — once <a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/03/dc-house-over-mother-of-all-toxic-dumps-to-be-razed/" target="_blank">dubbed</a> the <i>“mother of all toxic dumps.”</i> In response to WTOP’s reporting, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said she will be calling a <a href="https://twitter.com/augensteinwtop/status/1491431274074247169" target="_blank">joint meeting</a>
of the park service, the Army Corps of Engineers [USACE] and Metro to
discuss the issue of the chemical weapon and what should be done about
it ... A closer look at the empty shell found in <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-totten.htm" target="_blank">Ft. Totten</a>
— one of seven Northeast D.C. forts used by the Union Army to defend
the nation’s capital during the Civil War — revealed it had been
modified for use as a <span style="color: red;">chemical weapon</span>. <i>“When we looked at the X-rays, it was a 75-millimeter ordnance item that we encounter <span style="color: #04ff00;">quite a bit</span> at Spring Valley,”</i> said Dan Noble, of the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>USACE</span>, and project manager for the ongoing Spring Valley <a href="https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll11/id/4897" target="_blank">Formerly Used Defense Site</a> project. </span> <i><br /></i></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhc0BkAgvbWRt8wIoY6-QQjqDCW6EeDYL7cpBudG70CZRZdNdMBaSnMK6rvAFDhQ3D6uhwWbBoP1RUPjT1CW11sZYT3gQDOSwFbJEratgrJndiGgiijrw6TvFKkBa195ltf2ukVd1Y2QqmCqbH2r1MMg2ssbeFPgCcboFZ0B2SMNlFANaq5tFhGT0wODg=s1200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhc0BkAgvbWRt8wIoY6-QQjqDCW6EeDYL7cpBudG70CZRZdNdMBaSnMK6rvAFDhQ3D6uhwWbBoP1RUPjT1CW11sZYT3gQDOSwFbJEratgrJndiGgiijrw6TvFKkBa195ltf2ukVd1Y2QqmCqbH2r1MMg2ssbeFPgCcboFZ0B2SMNlFANaq5tFhGT0wODg=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/download-1.png" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;">Soldiers train at AUES in 1917 <i>(LOC)</i></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>“It had a <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">hex plug</a> burster adapter <span style="color: #04ff00;">screwed into the nose</span> of the projectile,” Noble told WTOP. <i>“It would convert what was developed as a conventional munition into a chemical munition” ... </i></span></span>Even before a contractor digging a utility trench in Spring Valley in 1993 <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/seventy-year-coverup-blown-on-jan-5.html" target="_blank">uncovered</a> a buried military ordnance, which prompted the </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>USACE</span></span>
investigation that revealed homes on Glenbrook Road were built atop
chemical weapon burial pits, contaminated soil from Glenbrook Rd. was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/09/park-service-asked-for-info-on-spring.html" target="_blank">trucked</a>
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 <span style="color: #04ff00;">sickened</span> from the fumes of the soil, and the U.S. Park Service [NPS] ordered it be removed, Noble <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank">told</a> [pg. 13] the Spring Valley <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/SV%20RAB%20Operating%20Procedures%20and%20Ground%20Rules.pdf" target="_blank">Restoration Advisory Board</a> ... Allen Hengst, who has been blogging about the issue for the last 15 years, said he thinks the contaminated soil was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/09/park-service-asked-for-info-on-spring.html" target="_blank">moved</a>
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 <span style="color: red;">perfunctory</span>, and limited to the immediate trail area in Ft. Totten. Hengst suggests a wider search would likely uncover more <span style="color: #04ff00;">chemical remnants</span> from the Spring Valley site. It’s not clear any more physical investigation will be done.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span>Neal Augenstein</span></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span>WTOP News</span></a></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span>February 9, 2022</span></a></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxM1Q3eMHJhxQtZPSoFD5T30Sd8qZJy-Ze4K-kZZ617ovkNOmmFBfjsXgPtA2fsavPZlTngZ4qj2Axh-G2eIH7uSmNrfq856Hf5XQasAlC5c3GPAvOoJymugl6xfr9wBFHUP_LV7-qpDGKVhE-9_FqecQEh0k6MCpB0NiTMq5QLBRBM-vVb5Rww9d-kw=s680" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="537" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxM1Q3eMHJhxQtZPSoFD5T30Sd8qZJy-Ze4K-kZZ617ovkNOmmFBfjsXgPtA2fsavPZlTngZ4qj2Axh-G2eIH7uSmNrfq856Hf5XQasAlC5c3GPAvOoJymugl6xfr9wBFHUP_LV7-qpDGKVhE-9_FqecQEh0k6MCpB0NiTMq5QLBRBM-vVb5Rww9d-kw=w316-h400" width="316" /></a></div></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://norton.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/norton-requests-meeting-to-discuss-unexploded-ordnance-found-on-fort" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;">Norton demands joint meeting with agencies</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #93c47d;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">ANC Seeks 'thorough' Investigation <br />Of Toxic 1992 Dumping at Ft. Totten</span></span></span></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span> <span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span>The possible link between an empty World War I shell, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/part-of-fort-totten-park-closed-for-public-safety.htm" target="_blank">discovered</a>
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 <i>“thorough investigation.”</i> <a href="http://gordonandrewfletcher.com/" target="_blank">Gordon-Andrew Fletcher</a>,
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 <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">wooded parkland</a>
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>“I do commend Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for calling for a meeting with <span style="color: #04ff00;">all necessary stakeholders</span>, because this is an environmental safety issue.”</i> </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3uF9CuAtC2AORbtH9xElwFMDDPQMCxGKOr1kl_wyU7yJBxrcFZB9T2kFRwyFYKq1q9y_gTpS54qYgB4HC6Kt9ZoTdF9x12NgxNrozanpoosf_ojaZCKGGckPsUj-hJtqrdo_u4sgSxBgxKMsb3iENZrvrQQvQZOynYxcLkCcNgvUtxQcLul-7o0e9NA=s1274" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1274" data-original-width="920" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3uF9CuAtC2AORbtH9xElwFMDDPQMCxGKOr1kl_wyU7yJBxrcFZB9T2kFRwyFYKq1q9y_gTpS54qYgB4HC6Kt9ZoTdF9x12NgxNrozanpoosf_ojaZCKGGckPsUj-hJtqrdo_u4sgSxBgxKMsb3iENZrvrQQvQZOynYxcLkCcNgvUtxQcLul-7o0e9NA=w289-h400" width="289" /></a></div></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="http://gordonandrewfletcher.com" target="_blank">ANC Commissioner Fletcher</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span>In response to WTOP’s <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/wwi-shell-found-in-fort-totten-was-chemical-weapon-prequel-to-massive-spring-valley-cleanup/" target="_blank">reporting</a> that the empty 75mm shell discovered by the NPS had been <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">modified</a> for use as a chemical weapon and that contaminated soil from the Spring Valley cleanup had been <span style="color: #04ff00;">trucked</span> to Ft. Totten in 1992, Norton said she would call for a <a href="https://twitter.com/augensteinwtop/status/1491431274074247169" target="_blank">joint meeting</a> of the NPS, the USACE, Metro and council members and ANC from Wards 5 and 3. <i>“I think we have to make sure we do a thorough search, a thorough investigation, to <span style="color: red;">make sure</span> that there’s nothing there, for years to come,”</i> said Fletcher, who is also a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/07/15/ward-5-council-gordon-andrew-fletcher/" target="_blank">candidate</a>
in the upcoming primary for Ward 5 council seat ... <i>“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,”</i> <a href="https://twitter.com/AugensteinWTOP/status/1491780721677152261" target="_blank">said</a> [NPS spokesperson Cynthia] Hernandez ... <i>“Ward 5 already has many environmental safety concerns due to air pollution and leaking underground storage tanks,”</i> said Fletcher, noting that residents in the Brentwood neighborhood have <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2021/10/brentwood-residents-sue-mayor-bowser-over-planned-bus-depot/" target="_blank"><span>filed suit</span></a>
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 <span style="color: #04ff00;">safety</span>. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/fort-totten-anc-seeks-investigation-after-wwi-shells-possible-link-to-chemical-weapon-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>Neal Augenstein </span></span></span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/fort-totten-anc-seeks-investigation-after-wwi-shells-possible-link-to-chemical-weapon-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>WTOP News</span></span></span></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2022/02/fort-totten-anc-seeks-investigation-after-wwi-shells-possible-link-to-chemical-weapon-cleanup/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">February 10, 2022</span></a></span> </span></span>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-33054508214592897682022-01-24T17:43:00.071-05:002022-02-21T07:43:31.382-05:00NPS Releases Two Reports in Response to Sept. FOIA Request<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you very much for providing a relatively complete answer to my September 2021 <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JcduybA0R5enf7dPpMDaqiYunuyL3M42/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">request</a> for more information concerning last April’s investigation of the World War I-era 75mm artillery shell that was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">exposed</a> following heavy rains in July 2020 ... FUDS cleanup program director Dan Noble <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20January%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=TRfzh3dvylthVx16BJn5aw%3d%3d" target="_blank">informed</a> the RAB on January 12, 2021, that USACE had <i>"inspected and obtained x-rays of the shell"</i> and that <i>"the shell was found to be a 75mm with a <span style="color: #04ff00;">hex plug</span>”</i> [Minutes, pg. 7]. According to DOEE specialist Richard Albright, during WW I the experiment stations at Lakehurst, NJ, Edgewood Arsenal, MD, and AUES adapted the Army’s standard high explosive 75mm field artillery round by adding a <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">hexagonal plug</a> to accommodate poison gas. Hence, there can be no doubt that the shell discovered at Ft. Totten in July 2020 came from the Glenbrook Road munitions burial pits in Spring Valley in northwest Washington, DC ... </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I cannot read the two voluminous reports you provided for several weeks but, after a cursory review of their contents, I’m absolutely astounded that — taken together — these documents <span style="color: #04ff00;">definitively solve</span> an enduring mystery that has bedeviled Spring Valley FUDS cleanup stakeholders for nearly thirty years. Namely, what ultimately happened to the soil contaminated with chemical warfare materials (CWM) and laboratory waste from the 4825 and 4835 Glenbrook Road construction sites that was dumped and subsequently removed from Ft. Totten National Park in 1992. In short, these two reports finally reveal that the ultimate destination of the toxic Spring Valley fill material was a<span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: red;">narrow wooded strip</span> of land located east of the Metro station between Gallatin and Galloway Streets, NE — approximately 2100 feet (or seven football fields) away from the original staging area <i>[<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VAyz5kcf_Hb8HPJ-H3Ia_YPPT3xpDIfp/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">2021 PA/SI Report</a>,</i> Introduction, pg. 2].</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNAvDIEoWI2u-Ej57CmYZwvvIR9_L5NlzfLmySHAht-d6mm1n8IY8xirjFD1bKE0azExsPf1wjh95G7WOgaXE-fMaQYv4rXZAfT_CkRsjhHa0B5rNCWnjf5ryyM6juFYvog6csDpALOfr_OtDl5uhzb2Un6fWJ3WCeiDkuGGztUkb8qcqkgm4eF87LMg=s1067" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1067" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNAvDIEoWI2u-Ej57CmYZwvvIR9_L5NlzfLmySHAht-d6mm1n8IY8xirjFD1bKE0azExsPf1wjh95G7WOgaXE-fMaQYv4rXZAfT_CkRsjhHa0B5rNCWnjf5ryyM6juFYvog6csDpALOfr_OtDl5uhzb2Un6fWJ3WCeiDkuGGztUkb8qcqkgm4eF87LMg=w320-h181" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/January%202021%20RAB%20Presentation%20Rev%201.pdf?ver=Vi3cwuAFHDHvksjSz_ZTIw%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;">X-ray of 75mm shell with hex plug at top (slide #26)</span></span></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Not only does the <i><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mS06W7whsI3RjSg7gTtOqtA2zYbrUegN/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">2019 SI Report</a></i> delineate the precise staging area at Ft. Totten where soil with contaminants of potential concern (COPCs) were originally spread by the bulldozer [see Figure 2 map, pg. 22], it states that <i>“approximately <span style="color: #04ff00;">60 yards </span>of uncompacted fill material”</i> was placed there "as part of landscape restoration” [Section 2.2, pg. 5] ... If the NPS already knew — from its <i>2019 SI Report</i> — that multiple tons <i>(“60 yards”)</i> of Glenbrook Road soil with COPCs was originally spread out west of the Ft. Totten Metro station in 1992, why — after discovery of an AUES UXO roughly 2,100 feet east of that location — was the April 2021 investigation <span style="color: red;">confined</span> to that very narrow footpath instead of a much larger area on either side? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The question of how much toxic Glenbrook Road fill material still remains at Ft. Totten cannot be answered until the NPS conducts a more thorough and transparent investigation. At the March 9, 2021, RAB meeting I <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20March%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=iClInqjiXYCrhcmd1B2VLA==009" target="_blank">asked</a> director Noble [Minutes, pg. 13] whether he thought the tons of contaminated soil that were moved from Spring Valley could have been <i>“contained in the one-quarter acre where the foot trail is [now located]?” </i>If the NPS <i>“only surveys the foot trail,”</i> I suggested, <i>"they’re going to <span style="color: #04ff00;">miss [contaminated] soil</span> to the east and west.”</i> Please excuse me for saying so but, in your agency’s zeal to obtain a clean bill of health at Ft. Totten, this now appears to be exactly what happened.<br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UX-ZQrDhwg8kPMuwQEiU_g4PopQPY66v/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Allen Hengst<br /><i>Email to NPS Chief Bartolomeo</i><br />January 24, 2022 (pg. 2)</a></span></span></span><br /></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-10336931839831714272021-12-21T08:25:00.026-05:002022-01-11T12:28:21.783-05:00WWI Chemical Weapons Cleanup Completed at 4825 Glenbrook Rd<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">After <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2020/03/decadeslong-wwi-munitions-cleanup-in-northwest-dc-nears-completion/" target="_blank">decades</a> of efforts, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [USACE] said Tuesday that cleanup at the site in Northwest D.C. along Glenbrook Road, where World War I chemical weapons were tested and disposed of, is complete ... The project in the Spring Valley neighborhood at 4825 Glenbrook Road NW — part of a larger area known as the American University Experiment Station, and once called the <i><a href="https://wtop.com/news/2012/03/dc-house-over-mother-of-all-toxic-dumps-to-be-razed/" target="_blank">“mother of all toxic dumps”</a></i> — <span style="color: #04ff00;">started in 1993</span>, when a contractor unearthed buried military ordnance on nearby <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/seventy-year-coverup-blown-on-jan-5.html" target="_blank">52nd Court NW</a>. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Digging and research indicated the likely presence of mustard gas and <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2008/10/vast-chemical-weapon-stockpiles-never.html" target="_blank">lewisite</a> — an arsenic-containing blister agent. The property was tested between 2007 and 2010, and the decision was made in 2012 to <span style="color: red;">remove the house</span> at the site. Starting in 2013, USACE began excavating under the house’s foundation. The work was done under a huge high-tech <a href="https://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2008/03/army-corps-wants-additional-investigation-of-pit-3" target="_blank">enclosure</a>, which prevented chemicals from escaping into the neighborhood. Over the years, there had been some setbacks. In 2017, <span style="color: #04ff00;">seven workers</span> were sickened and temporarily <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2017/09/digging-stopped-wwi-munitions-site-d-c-7-hospitalized/" target="_blank">hospitalized</a> during the cleanup.</span></span> <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2021/11/wwi-chemical-weapons-cleanup-completed-at-northwest-dc-site/" target="_blank">Will Vitka & Neal Augenstein</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2021/11/wwi-chemical-weapons-cleanup-completed-at-northwest-dc-site/" target="_blank"><i>WTOP News</i></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2021/11/wwi-chemical-weapons-cleanup-completed-at-northwest-dc-site/" target="_blank">November 25, 2021</a> </span></span> <br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKcO4MKfNlE_dwLjXbbbjvlopCG5N2YIMcVl_U359LgHZKoAnLSIMEzKteDBOkwQB8AbugKpVK_TOV917-52Nn-1DsZfb1x3b3QMCzge9NpXocCKOdglDymzCBSKpqIiwCZc3wmJGYALlSO4eTg7FuXzV6Ryd03OGjzu79l4_N5CsSf7qMDfCXQluXJA=s936" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="936" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKcO4MKfNlE_dwLjXbbbjvlopCG5N2YIMcVl_U359LgHZKoAnLSIMEzKteDBOkwQB8AbugKpVK_TOV917-52Nn-1DsZfb1x3b3QMCzge9NpXocCKOdglDymzCBSKpqIiwCZc3wmJGYALlSO4eTg7FuXzV6Ryd03OGjzu79l4_N5CsSf7qMDfCXQluXJA=s320" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Final_November_2021_RAB_Presentation.pdf?ver=4jnRSVbvqt1cAZCuqbHHSA%3d%3d" target="_blank">4825 Glenbrook Road was demolished in 2012 (pg. 31)</a></span></span></span><br /></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><i>"During the war, there was no military research <span style="color: #04ff00;">more urgent or secret</span> than what took place in this corner of the District,”</i> USACE Col. Estee Pinchasin said. About 1,500 chemists, scientists and soldiers worked at what was known as the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">American University Experiment Station</a> to research chemical warfare in 1917 and 1918. When the war, ended many of those weapons and chemicals were buried in what is now one of the most expensive neighborhoods in D.C. ... The biggest deposit was at <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2017/05/angry-construction-workers-speak-at-may.html" target="_blank">4825 Glenbrook Road</a>. <i>“The team discovered seven different chemical agents, six other chemicals that had unique military applications,”</i> Pinchasin said. <i>“And Glenbrook Road was the only site in the United States where weaponized <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2013/01/photograph-of-aues-arsine-still.html" target="_blank">arsine</a> was encountered in <span style="color: #04ff00;">75 mm projectiles</span>.”</i> <br /></span></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>The entire site covers more than 600 acres of Spring Valley. “<i>This one quarter acre property had the most significant contamination and the largest burial pits we discovered in Spring Valley,”</i> said Brenda Barber, who has overseen the Glenbrook Road site for USACE for nine years. The home that once stood there was <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2012/12/walls-come-tumbling-down-over-poison.html" target="_blank">taken down</a>. Beneath it they found more than 2,000 pounds of laboratory debris, 53 glass containers still filled with chemical agents, <span style="color: #04ff00;">7,500 tons</span> of contaminated soil and more than <span style="color: red;">550 munitions</span> ... USACE expects the remaining work in the area to take about two to thr</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>ee more years.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: white;"> The remediation project has </span><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Final_November_2021_RAB_Presentation.pdf?ver=4jnRSVbvqt1cAZCuqbHHSA%3d%3d" target="_blank">cost</a><span style="color: white;"> about<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="color: white;"><strike style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">$300</strike><span style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>[$338] million so far [pg. 10].</span> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span> </span></span></span></span> <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/wwi-munitions-cleared-from-spring-valley-neighborhood/2891383/" target="_blank">Mark Segraves </a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/wwi-munitions-cleared-from-spring-valley-neighborhood/2891383/" target="_blank">NBC-4</a></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/wwi-munitions-cleared-from-spring-valley-neighborhood/2891383/" target="_blank">November 23, 2021</a></span></span> <br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLeLf1Ag-TIoC6OCP8jMAl141G9-mIc7sQAL52E-U1NbGEnnjO4cS3bO7mbyKBhJVuXyOiwhsucaZYXU3yITMJBEmM4zoaMpjHq4qFJ6lzD6XACKQ0sLESrgkzeNM8W7xYMnePnkoPbd9Rf7CaIT7dXHkOlHc0R2Nj-bYWsQte4VjYSMigarYShoKAxg=s936" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="936" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLeLf1Ag-TIoC6OCP8jMAl141G9-mIc7sQAL52E-U1NbGEnnjO4cS3bO7mbyKBhJVuXyOiwhsucaZYXU3yITMJBEmM4zoaMpjHq4qFJ6lzD6XACKQ0sLESrgkzeNM8W7xYMnePnkoPbd9Rf7CaIT7dXHkOlHc0R2Nj-bYWsQte4VjYSMigarYShoKAxg=s320" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Final_November_2021_RAB_Presentation.pdf?ver=4jnRSVbvqt1cAZCuqbHHSA%3d%3d" target="_blank">Cleanup cost over $338 million since 1993 (pg. 10)</a></span></span></span></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-51743621604271797372021-11-09T00:30:00.003-05:002022-04-05T18:19:36.920-04:00Army Will Chase AUES Debris into Hill Alongside PSB Next Year<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The findings of the test pit and rotosonic investigations indicate that additional excavation is warranted to remove the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">AUES</a> debris that was encountered in soil west, north, and east of the Public Safety Building footprint. The goal of the PSB slope investigation was to determine the extent of continuous AUES debris <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/09/munitions-lab-debris-extends-north.html" target="_blank">extending</a> from the PSB excavation sidewalls. An <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/04/aues-debris-under-hill-north-of-psb.html" target="_blank">area</a> of continuous AUES debris was indicated to the <span style="color: #04ff00;">west</span> (approximately 12 feet from the former PSB foundation), to the <span style="color: #04ff00;">east</span> (approximately 16 feet from the former PSB foundation), and to the <span style="color: #04ff00;">north</span> (approximately 15 feet from the former PSB foundation). This area also corresponds to soil benches 4 and 5, where AUES debris was encountered during the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2019/11/preparing-to-excavate-under-public.html" target="_blank">excavation</a> in 2019 ... [The proposed soil and AUES debris excavation area] would involve the excavation and removal of an estimated in-place volume of <span style="color: red;">720 cubic yards</span> of soil and AUES debris ... Prior to excavating a specific area, a UXO Tech III will sweep the planned excavation area with a magnetometer ... Any identified MEC items or intact AUES items will be handled in accordance with the <i><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Glenbrook_Rd._Demolition_and_Disposal_Plan.pdf" target="_blank">Low Probability Contingency Plan</a> </i>[pg. 15].</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/PSB_Test%20Pit.Rotosonic_Tech%20Memo_062321_Final-package.pdf" target="_blank">Weston Solutions, Inc. <br /><i>PSB Slope Investigation Report</i><br />June 23, 2021 (pgs. 10 & 11)</a></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfY7WhlcheVHzeU3pg5jhCezc16NUmk1KTOxfN-_W3ATc4jfDiw180U7NWAo5KGbiXasjnM57xxEESq4qZ7a9IHcknHlQGpQNioqw5__ee8SL2TK3HgSOYZK0yAE5mD0e_bnK6Ll_9cO4c/s936/SvRabPsbAuesDebrisLayer%25286-23-21%2529pg19.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="936" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfY7WhlcheVHzeU3pg5jhCezc16NUmk1KTOxfN-_W3ATc4jfDiw180U7NWAo5KGbiXasjnM57xxEESq4qZ7a9IHcknHlQGpQNioqw5__ee8SL2TK3HgSOYZK0yAE5mD0e_bnK6Ll_9cO4c/s320/SvRabPsbAuesDebrisLayer%25286-23-21%2529pg19.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/PSB_Test%20Pit.Rotosonic_Tech%20Memo_062321_Final-package.pdf" target="_blank">Debris found in soil west, north & east of footprint (pg.19)</a></span></span><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">USACE sent out a <i>"Request of Proposal"</i> dated July 21 2021 to complete excavation of AUES debris east, north and west of the former PSB foundation. Proposal was submitted on 8 September 2021. The proposed soil to be excavated is presented in the [slide below]; the area is based on the test pit and Rotosonic <a href="https://www.boartlongyear.com/insite/sonic-drilling-works/" target="_blank">soil borings</a> completed at the PSB site in April 2021. To safely conduct the soil slope excavation north of the former PSB foundation, a soil <span style="color: #04ff00;">retaining wall</span> is recommended ... The planned upslope excavation at RS-04 would be conducted using a <a href="https://www.ntsafety.com/product/slide-rail-shoring/" target="_blank">slide rail shoring</a> system.</span></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jl2-wtIMAR36Sut_T6i6b7VVhoNknqHTU3NfNFmt59cu7ylDsIgnLeudjm6aebd2L-7ZgMmYN9rneMXTLkO46LydKXDNzULtr-qexoGKtc2k44E6niyQ5qbATRLkCYrW5BamoeVr-2Vg/s855/SvRabPptPsbSlopeExcavationExtent%252811-9-21%2529pg22.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="855" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jl2-wtIMAR36Sut_T6i6b7VVhoNknqHTU3NfNFmt59cu7ylDsIgnLeudjm6aebd2L-7ZgMmYN9rneMXTLkO46LydKXDNzULtr-qexoGKtc2k44E6niyQ5qbATRLkCYrW5BamoeVr-2Vg/s320/SvRabPptPsbSlopeExcavationExtent%252811-9-21%2529pg22.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/Community-Participation/" target="_blank">PSB slope proposed excavation extent (pg. 22)</a></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Based on the investigation results, USACE determined the scope of work to excavate the extent of AUES debris identified. Once funding has been obtained and the work awarded, additional plans will be required before re-starting the soil remediation work. This will entail a delay of <span style="color: #04ff00;">many months</span> before the work is awarded and the required planning documents are prepared and approved. Slope Soil Removal not expected to begin until winter/spring 2022.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/Community-Participation/" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB<br /><i>PowerPoint Presentation</i><br />November 9, 2021 (pgs. 21 & 23)</a></span></span><br /></p></div></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-63358115969094106692021-09-13T08:31:00.099-04:002021-09-16T17:44:24.155-04:00Info Sought from Park Service on Spring Valley Dumping in 90's<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">At Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's March 25 virtual Town Hall meeting with the National Park Service, officials from your agency were asked about the Fort Circle/Fort Totten pedestrian trail, which has been closed since last summer after heavy rains <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/index.cfm/2020/7/25/Artillery-Shell-Exposed-By-Heavy-Rains-In-Park" target="_blank">exposed</a> a World War I-era 75mm artillery shell. In the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ikntPawh5AYTZgqklJg5duT3K5M-_KvN/view" target="_blank">response</a> (pgs. 4 - 5) we finally received from your agency on July 9, NPS stated that during trail construction <i>"a specialized contractor will test the soil for any evidence of <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/05/despite-unrecovered-munitions-rab.html" target="_blank">unexploded ordnance</a>."</i> I'm writing to you (hopefully) <span style="color: #04ff00;">following</span> that investigation to ascertain the precise extent of the testing and to ensure that all soil contaminated with munition debris and laboratory waste will be recovered from this heavily used Park Service land ... Consider this letter to be my formal request for any and all results, reports or other documentation produced by the National Park Service and/or its contractors regarding that investigation. I want to know what type and how much soil contamination was discovered, whether any munitions debris or laboratory waste was found and, most importantly, the <span style="color: #04ff00;">precise extent</span> of the area that was examined ... </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbsqgOZ52y82eixElX_SMaV90HE-AWtBvf4xbUXSgb6mPW6inXWFfw-479XuFZq2wTkgMvOx-yAAEoBhh3Xluq9Sge5ZXaKziTr7AE3UU8iZDqQDUN9crenkSgspKovMEiBl9Mxw0iarj/s1096/SvFtTottenFootpathClosed%2528Mar%253AAug-2021%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="1096" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbsqgOZ52y82eixElX_SMaV90HE-AWtBvf4xbUXSgb6mPW6inXWFfw-479XuFZq2wTkgMvOx-yAAEoBhh3Xluq9Sge5ZXaKziTr7AE3UU8iZDqQDUN9crenkSgspKovMEiBl9Mxw0iarj/s320/SvFtTottenFootpathClosed%2528Mar%253AAug-2021%2529.png" width="320" /></a> <br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeATV9JeD1A2NESB7" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Closed Ft.Totten footpath in March & August</span></a></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There can be no doubt that the shell discovered at Ft. Totten in July 2020 came from the Glenbrook Road munitions burial pit in Spring Valley, Washington, DC. The most recent <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">explanation</a> for how this transfer happened was documented on page 13 of the March 10, 2020, RAB meeting <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank">minutes</a> by Dan Noble: <i>"It is known that the [munitions] debris [from Glenbrook Road] was <span style="color: #04ff00;">sent to the Ft. Totten area</span> when the nearby Ft. Totten metro station was being built [in the 1990s]. Soil was needed at the new metro station to level out an equipment yard for the metro contractor. Some soil was sent to that area and the contractor began to spread the contaminated soil out.”</i> After speaking to an official from your agency who was present at Ft. Totten at the time of the dumping, Dr. Albright said that the NPS confirmed the contaminated soil was ultimately moved elsewhere ... <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvPnR-iHHSFN8fQhR9Xj9RDD_iv3yt-8mhFcqE9mQUQtgYljylKshBRiiz8kvGO5XAwxrNTfbgvkYZVfabLLozv1ph6FGX4k6oYg5Uam2nkHpKsDtUH1surMtnnJFNAloQk-bFGZ_5Pyy/s776/SvNpsFoiaFtTottenUxo%25289-13-21%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="524" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvPnR-iHHSFN8fQhR9Xj9RDD_iv3yt-8mhFcqE9mQUQtgYljylKshBRiiz8kvGO5XAwxrNTfbgvkYZVfabLLozv1ph6FGX4k6oYg5Uam2nkHpKsDtUH1surMtnnJFNAloQk-bFGZ_5Pyy/w270-h400/SvNpsFoiaFtTottenUxo%25289-13-21%2529.png" width="270" /></a> <br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JcduybA0R5enf7dPpMDaqiYunuyL3M42/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">FOIA request for NPS records & data</span></span></a><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">At the March 9, 2021, RAB meeting I <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20March%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=iClInqjiXYCrhcmd1B2VLA==" target="_blank">asked</a> [program director Dan] Noble (pg. 13) whether he thought the tons of contaminated soil that were moved from Spring Valley could have been <i>“contained in the <span style="color: #04ff00;">one-quarter acre</span> where the foot trail is [now located]?”</i> If the NPS <i>“only surveys the foot trail,”</i> I suggested, <i>"they’re going to miss [contaminated] soil to the east and west.”</i> Instead of responding to my understandable concern, the FUDS program director deferred to your agency ... As more than one RAB member opined at our <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20July%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=mY9hlCoOdw40XV8b2-TUQA%3d%3d" target="_blank">July meeting</a>, whether or not the Army Corps cleanup team considers this issue to be within the official scope of their responsibilities, environmental justice concerns are appropriately raised when one of the wealthier residential areas in our nation’s capital <span style="color: red;">secretly dumps</span> its toxic waste in a working class neighborhood east of Rock Creek Park.</span></span><br /></div><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JcduybA0R5enf7dPpMDaqiYunuyL3M42/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Allen Hengst<br /><i>FOIA Letter to NPS</i><br />September 13, 2021</span></span></a><br /><br /></p>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-27669362060856906512021-05-25T08:35:00.148-04:002021-07-18T14:52:25.319-04:00Despite Unrecovered Munitions, RAB Contemplates Dissolution<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGupBwxKRPOjKmE5wx_x6P9H72vz5GEpfsVeHLGz1adlDgqNTwBXlbyFR4t26Aewk5l0-PiQmfdKKR9NmWaYpyudtaLJ4hv6D2dutCznKO_BxAy7_XVd42_qsaoX3ZbnmjTIH6jtKRwVU7/s1432/SvRabPptPsb%25287-13-21%2529pg14.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGupBwxKRPOjKmE5wx_x6P9H72vz5GEpfsVeHLGz1adlDgqNTwBXlbyFR4t26Aewk5l0-PiQmfdKKR9NmWaYpyudtaLJ4hv6D2dutCznKO_BxAy7_XVd42_qsaoX3ZbnmjTIH6jtKRwVU7/s320/SvRabPptPsb%25287-13-21%2529pg14.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/04/aues-debris-under-hill-north-of-psb.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;">PSB cleanup will extend into 2022 (pg. 14)</span></a> </span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Most of the Spring Valley remedial actions are wrapping up [and] the project teams know what is required to complete the projects ... At the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2016/07/army-plan-punts-on-universitys-public.html" target="_blank">PSB</a> [Public Safety Building] there is still a significant final remedial <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/04/aues-debris-under-hill-north-of-psb.html" target="_blank">action</a> effort to <span style="color: #04ff00;">excavate into the hillside</span> to remove as much of the debris as possible. The PSB project may take more time to complete. At the last <a href="their work on the site. https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/Community-Participation/ " target="_blank">RAB</a> [Restoration Advisory Board] meeting, the RAB began to discuss the idea of how the RAB may wish to <span style="color: red;">close out their work</span> on the site. The RAB may choose to create a document of some kind or simply conduct a final meeting. If there is a desire to write a final report from the RAB, USACE can assist with drafting the documents. If the RAB would like to draft documents but keep the effort authorship by the RAB, USACE will understand. This will be the RAB’s decision <span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">on what to do at the end.</span><br /><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20May%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=1bPPLvxpX3du0hiJuKnAUg%3d%3d" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB<br /><i>Meeting Minutes</i><br />May 11, 2020 (pg. 11)</a> <br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20May%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=1bPPLvxpX3du0hiJuKnAUg%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><u>Allen Hengst</u>: <i>When will NPS restart work on the path through Fort Totten to the metro. I understand that work stopped when a <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">World War I ordnance</a> was found, and the soil had to be tested for contaminants.</i><br /><br /><u>National Park Service</u>: The NPS anticipates construction of the <i>Fort Circle/Fort Totten Pedestrian Trail,</i> located between Gallatin Street NE and Galloway Street NE, will resume this summer. Soil testing indicates the trail area is safe for people and animals. For the safety of the public, the area will continue to be closed off through the completion of the construction project. To further ensure safety, a <span style="color: #04ff00;"><span>specialized contractor</span></span> will test the soil for any evidence of unexploded ordnance during construction activities.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ikntPawh5AYTZgqklJg5duT3K5M-_KvN/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Q & A <br /><i>Norton-NPS Town Hall</i><br />March 25, 2021 (pgs. 4 - 5) </span></span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MdhqRl36Eb2NbLHfLFKnx62ilivXuWevy29Yi_8M5FgCoZ5ZuxuBjNDpIIlI1v1ufclBfrNsyCzYIFswOj1n1yc-93K4t-xJ_hTsmB4iZw0eWZLV1L_tGydugrUpxK6iE7UZnnRPg3fZ/s1030/SvUxo75mmFtTottenMetro%25287-25-20%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1030" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5MdhqRl36Eb2NbLHfLFKnx62ilivXuWevy29Yi_8M5FgCoZ5ZuxuBjNDpIIlI1v1ufclBfrNsyCzYIFswOj1n1yc-93K4t-xJ_hTsmB4iZw0eWZLV1L_tGydugrUpxK6iE7UZnnRPg3fZ/s320/SvUxo75mmFtTottenMetro%25287-25-20%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2021/01/rain-exposes-aues-type-munition-closing.html" target="_blank">WWI shell closed trail between Galloway & Gallatin streets</a></span></span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Project manager Dan Noble explained that he believes <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/sergeant-maurer-photograph.html" target="_blank">Sgt. Maurer’s pit</a> was within the footprint of the former house at <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2017/08/glenbrook-rd-cleanup-halted-after-7.html" target="_blank">4825 Glenbrook Road</a>,
and the builder excavated into Sgt. Maurer’s pit. The remaining
contamination at the front of the former house represents debris that
was pulled forward, moved out of the way, and left behind ... It is
known that the debris was <span style="color: #04ff00;">sent to the Ft. Totten</span> area when the nearby
Ft. Totten <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Totten_station" target="_blank">metro station</a>
was being built. Soil was needed at the new metro station to level out
an equipment yard for the metro contractor. Some soil was sent to that
area and the contractor began to spread the contaminated soil out. The
area is <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-totten.htm" target="_blank">Park Service land</a>,
lent to the Metro Authority for the construction project. The Park
Service employee overseeing the land ordered that the contaminated soil
be taken away. Eventually, the contaminated soil <span style="color: #04ff00;">was taken away</span> and the
final destination of the soil is unknown. </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB<br /><i>Meeting Minutes</i><br />March 10, 2020 (pg. 13 - 14)</a></span></span><br /></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-23322961138719599292021-04-28T12:17:00.063-04:002021-11-08T21:33:28.177-05:00AUES Debris Under Hill Next to PSB Won't Be Removed until 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> USACE Baltimore provided a brief update on the former Public Safety Building (PSB) ... A <i>"contract modification"</i> is in process to award the investigation work for the American University Experiment Station (<a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">AUES</a>)
debris observed extending into the <span style="color: #04ff00;">northern hillside</span> ... [Project
manager] Dan Noble explained that there is a restoration agreement
between AU and USACE, but the agreement focused on the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2016/07/army-plan-punts-on-universitys-public.html" target="_blank">footprint</a> of the
former PSB, since it was believed that the debris was confined to the
footprint boundary ... Now that the same type of debris is observed <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/09/munitions-lab-debris-extends-north.html" target="_blank">extending</a>
into the hillside, the first step is to determine <span style="color: #04ff00;">how far</span> the debris
extends. There is a concern that if the debris extends too far into the
hillside, excavations to remove the debris would come too close to a
major utility corridor ... Additionally,
current erosion controls would need to be beefed up to prevent the
hillside from collapsing.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20January%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=TRfzh3dvylthVx16BJn5aw%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Spring Valley </span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20January%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=TRfzh3dvylthVx16BJn5aw%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>RAB Meeting Minutes</i><br /></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20January%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=TRfzh3dvylthVx16BJn5aw%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">January 12, 2021 (pgs. 4 - 5)</span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoW2BjXZAIY7YiCyLLhqR_o2oi6QWgyJXGH8kyajei9hUe_GQA4Q0BYnPKFvcqVlFQpk5dEpROFuNn1wqpgvqq5VCyxPVB5hlykWePHAh7xNhXQm7LQ-MgbVju1r4Y9PRNSo0Bd6S0vLp/s1080/SvPsbPartnerRotosonicAngledBorings%25284-28-21%2529pg27.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoW2BjXZAIY7YiCyLLhqR_o2oi6QWgyJXGH8kyajei9hUe_GQA4Q0BYnPKFvcqVlFQpk5dEpROFuNn1wqpgvqq5VCyxPVB5hlykWePHAh7xNhXQm7LQ-MgbVju1r4Y9PRNSo0Bd6S0vLp/s320/SvPsbPartnerRotosonicAngledBorings%25284-28-21%2529pg27.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/2021/Spring%20Valley%20Partners%20Presentation%20April%202021_Website%20Upload.pdf?ver=tzbvoK82DtgUkIp28fzdXg%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times;">Rig collecting soil cores for AUES screening (pg. 27)</span></a><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">[USACE] conducted <a href="https://www.boartlongyear.com/insite/sonic-drilling-works/" target="_blank">Rotosonic drilling</a> and test pit investigation[s] to determine extent of AUES debris north, east and west of the PSB <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/03/cache-of-lab-waste-md-found-under.html" target="_blank">foundation slab</a>. Completed seven test pit excavations and soil screening east, west and northeast of the former PSB foundation. Completed six angled Rotosonic borings north of the former PSB foundation and 4-inch diameter soil core screening for AUES debris ... Once funding has been obtained and the work awarded, additional plans will be required before re-starting the soil remediation work. This will entail a demobilization and delay of many months before the work is awarded and the required planning documents are prepared and approved. Slope soil removal <span style="color: #04ff00;">not expected to begin</span> until late 2021. <br /><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/2021/Spring%20Valley%20Partners%20Presentation%20April%202021_Website%20Upload.pdf?ver=tzbvoK82DtgUkIp28fzdXg%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Spring Valley FUDS</span></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/2021/Spring%20Valley%20Partners%20Presentation%20April%202021_Website%20Upload.pdf?ver=tzbvoK82DtgUkIp28fzdXg%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span><span>Partnering Meeting</span></span></i></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/2021/Spring%20Valley%20Partners%20Presentation%20April%202021_Website%20Upload.pdf?ver=tzbvoK82DtgUkIp28fzdXg%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">April 28, 2021 (pgs. 22 & 33)</span></a> <br /></span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pnt1UVKvr9whyphenhyphenWYwWbkW95dbypstCq_TE1zbF3HMVkmlwxDs8mdDxOFso7oV2jZ86ZI6nCQknGwpykgeP82VUhIna-HCzqX6BNFlrX0ieNpcrTqjuFxVWEqSs_hCpqcn62JcoPuB4OIB/s1080/SvRabPartnerRotosonicAngledBorings%25283-11-21%2529pg27.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pnt1UVKvr9whyphenhyphenWYwWbkW95dbypstCq_TE1zbF3HMVkmlwxDs8mdDxOFso7oV2jZ86ZI6nCQknGwpykgeP82VUhIna-HCzqX6BNFlrX0ieNpcrTqjuFxVWEqSs_hCpqcn62JcoPuB4OIB/s320/SvRabPartnerRotosonicAngledBorings%25283-11-21%2529pg27.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March%202021%20RAB%20Presentation.pdf?ver=lpCAtyjQSliI3VU1Z9eaow%3d%3d" target="_blank">Construction of Rotosonic drilling pad (pg. 27)</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In preparation for the investigation of debris going into the northern hillside, a drilling pad and access ramp was constructed at the top of the slope of the PSB excavation area. The pad will stage the drill to be used for soil coring activities as a part of the investigation ... Additional boring work is expected to be conducted in the spring/summer time frame. Once the additional investigation is complete, the team will have a better understanding of <span style="color: #04ff00;">how much debris</span> extends into hillside beyond the PSB footprint. </span><br /><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20March%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=iClInqjiXYCrhcmd1B2VLA%3d%3d" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB <br /><i>Meeting Minutes</i><br />March 9, 2021 (pgs. 11 - 12)</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQiv2DKRMCcLI778NN0rxLHvWnE7jFolbtoajvFLFwxcYs4ClPPeLgzTypFIq5LNH34dd-HbVQOmXUPqEVfNerZrFYMl2IgI3ArT8TK8xgpEV3divk7H2Jx_ymHGZQgi0jBEawMG37kUb/s1080/SvPsbPartnerRotosonicAngledBorings%25284-28-21%2529pg26.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQiv2DKRMCcLI778NN0rxLHvWnE7jFolbtoajvFLFwxcYs4ClPPeLgzTypFIq5LNH34dd-HbVQOmXUPqEVfNerZrFYMl2IgI3ArT8TK8xgpEV3divk7H2Jx_ymHGZQgi0jBEawMG37kUb/s320/SvPsbPartnerRotosonicAngledBorings%25284-28-21%2529pg26.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/2021/Spring%20Valley%20Partners%20Presentation%20April%202021_Website%20Upload.pdf?ver=tzbvoK82DtgUkIp28fzdXg%3d%3d" target="_blank">Proposed & completed angled drill borings (pg. 26) </a></span><br /></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">USACE awarded <a href="https://www.boartlongyear.com/insite/sonic-drilling-works/" target="_blank">Rotosonic drilling</a> and test pit investigation <i>"Scope of Work"</i> on 3 February 2021 to determine the extent of AUES debris north, east & west of the PSB foundation slab. Completed seven test pit excavations and soil screening east, west and northeast of the former PSB foundation ... [Will] conduct Rotosonic drilling of six angled boreholes, collect continuous 4-inch diameter soil cores and evaluate soil cores for AUES debris layers. [Will] prepare a <span style="color: #04ff00;"><i>PSB Slope Investigation</i></span> report ... Based on the investigation results USACE will determine the scope of work to excavate the extent of AUES debris identified ... Additional plans will be required before re-starting the soil remediation work – this will most likely entail a demobilization and <span style="color: #04ff00;">delay of several months</span>. <br /><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/siteimages/SpringValley/Spring%20Valley%20Partners%20Presentation%20February%202021-Website.pdf?ver=ihTEvbPtP_4rXNrdzbP2lQ%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Spring Valley FUDS<br /><i>Partnering Meeting</i><br />February 19, 2021 (pgs. 35, 40 & 42)</span></a><br /></span></span></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-57390674340237110312021-01-20T09:52:00.072-05:002022-02-09T07:27:35.444-05:00Rain Exposes AUES-Type Munition, Closing Part of National Park<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><u>Allen Hengst</u>: On July 25th it was <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/index.cfm/2020/7/25/Artillery-Shell-Exposed-By-Heavy-Rains-In-Park" target="_blank">reported</a> in an UXO newsletter that a 75 mm <i>“World War I-era”</i> artillery shell was exposed by heavy rains at <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/YJ5hZaQyettGBqYQ8" target="_blank">Fort Totten Park</a> [in northeast Washington, DC]. Can someone on the Spring Valley FUDS team please ascertain whether that recovered shell originated at </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">[American University Experiment Station]</span></span> </i><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">AUES</a>?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22FtX0vgrEIY2-bFj_N_0HFKCv7KudX8EvZ4WybJrFcPl4m4AKAfAxdEjpBHt1NX4a4yRAWSPY1tWGe97eXvPc67BCefxhODIIenLLPt0W2gy1zAx0RRxh984HYvBy0sCK5BVFVk-OCY5/s1030/SvUxo75mmFtTottenMetro%25287-25-20%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1030" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22FtX0vgrEIY2-bFj_N_0HFKCv7KudX8EvZ4WybJrFcPl4m4AKAfAxdEjpBHt1NX4a4yRAWSPY1tWGe97eXvPc67BCefxhODIIenLLPt0W2gy1zAx0RRxh984HYvBy0sCK5BVFVk-OCY5/w400-h310/SvUxo75mmFtTottenMetro%25287-25-20%2529.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span><span><span><span>WWI shell closed trail between Galloway & Gallatin streets</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><u>Dan Noble</u> [project manager] explained that USACE was recently in communication with the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/rocr/learn/news/part-of-fort-totten-park-closed-for-public-safety.htm" target="_blank">National Park Service</a> on that issue. NPS is preparing to <span style="color: #04ff00;">survey the area for any <span style="color: red;">additional munitions</span></span>. USACE is serving as a technical consultant for NPS on the project. NPS has hired a contractor and may have begun survey activities this week. The project plan is to complete the survey before allowing all of Ft. Totten Park to re-open. The survey will include an investigation for additional munitions and sampling the soil for contamination ... USACE inspected and obtained x-rays of the shell. The shell was found to be a <a href="http://uxoinfo.com/uxoinfo-adpreview/client/index.cfm/2014/1/21/WWI-Experimental-75mm-High-Explosive-Shells-Adapted-For-Poison-Gas" target="_blank">75mm with a hex plug</a>. This type of munition was <span style="color: #04ff00;">often found</span> in Spring Valley ... </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><u>Hengst</u>: If it turns out to be a Spring Valley AUES munition, that is outside the Formerly Used Defense Site (<a href="https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll11/id/4897" target="_blank">FUDS</a>) boundary, will you be responsible for the clean-up and cost?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><u>Noble</u> explained that, at this time, NPS is taking the lead on the project and is responsible for the cost. Ft. Totten is also a separate FUDS site, so if a larger problem at the site is detected, USACE and NPS will be in communication to determine the lead on the work, how that work should proceed, and the responsibility for the cost. So, the answer is, <i>"<span style="color: #04ff00;">perhaps</span>."</i> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20January%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=TRfzh3dvylthVx16BJn5aw%3d%3d" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring%20Valley%20January%202021%20RAB%20Conference%20Call%20Minutes.pdf?ver=TRfzh3dvylthVx16BJn5aw%3d%3d" target="_blank"><i>Meeting Minutes</i> <br />January 12, 2021 (pg. 7)</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFAEmAPRzRpVVZxIWYcOhpTbp4s3a8ZZANfakKonQgsCX86wttAYtZWitotsQLUDCcSw1s7kcR8Z_9kZ78FEbK2gJfixNvKVVZLTnfb3-k0aBk6MtUPly86WztVIbiKzCRerHD50KoR6k/s568/SvWwi75mmFtTotten%25287-25-20%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFAEmAPRzRpVVZxIWYcOhpTbp4s3a8ZZANfakKonQgsCX86wttAYtZWitotsQLUDCcSw1s7kcR8Z_9kZ78FEbK2gJfixNvKVVZLTnfb3-k0aBk6MtUPly86WztVIbiKzCRerHD50KoR6k/s320/SvWwi75mmFtTotten%25287-25-20%2529.png" width="320" /></a></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/index.cfm/2020/7/25/Artillery-Shell-Exposed-By-Heavy-Rains-In-Park" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>UXOInfo.com</i> news report from last July</span></span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <br /></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D. Noble explained that he believes <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2007/10/sergeant-maurer-photograph.html" target="_blank">Sgt. Maurer’s pit</a> was within the footprint of the former house at <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2017/08/glenbrook-rd-cleanup-halted-after-7.html" target="_blank">4825 Glenbrook Road</a>, and the builder excavated into Sgt. Maurer’s pit. The remaining contamination at the front of the former house represents debris that was <span style="color: #04ff00;">pulled forward</span>, moved out of the way, and left behind. Noble believes that the debris was not found where the soldiers buried the debris in Sgt. Maurer’s pit, but where the builder left the debris in the front yard in the early 1990s ... Noble explained that USACE Baltimore is not investigating the final location of the removed debris from the 1990s. Both USACE Baltimore and DOEE [previously] investigated ... </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It is known that the debris was sent to the <span style="color: #04ff00;">Ft. Totten area</span> when the nearby Ft. Totten <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Totten_station" target="_blank">metro station</a> was being built. Soil was needed at the new metro station to level out an equipment yard for the metro contractor. Some soil was sent to that area and the contractor began to spread the contaminated soil out. The area is <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/fort-totten.htm" target="_blank">Park Service land</a>, lent to the Metro Authority for the construction project. The Park Service employee overseeing the land ordered that the contaminated soil be taken away. Eventually, the contaminated soil was taken away and the <span style="color: #04ff00;">final destination</span> of the soil is unknown. <br /></span></span></div><div><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Spring Valley RAB</span></span></span></a></div><div><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Meeting Minutes</span></span></span></i></a></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/March_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB_Meeting_Package.pdf?ver=2020-04-29-135207-533" target="_blank">March 10, 2020 (pg. 13 - 14)</a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTTIXd5B3z-H3C7Dsk_bXlvy-xHREXcj3oOl5PsZuAjJaLPs7s-f5lbJKCca8_oP2Xmu0lDZaGityj7J5_4CGazv7kJmQ4dmr41gy1G90vwbm0P_CV5XoNolywqdS29DdmcXNeWNQLhZyK/s1440/SvFtTottenFootpathClosed%25283-6-21%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTTIXd5B3z-H3C7Dsk_bXlvy-xHREXcj3oOl5PsZuAjJaLPs7s-f5lbJKCca8_oP2Xmu0lDZaGityj7J5_4CGazv7kJmQ4dmr41gy1G90vwbm0P_CV5XoNolywqdS29DdmcXNeWNQLhZyK/s320/SvFtTottenFootpathClosed%25283-6-21%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><span><span>Fort Totten foot trail closed by NPS</span></span></span></span></span> <br /></div><div><p></p></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-85146682192314100262020-12-07T07:48:00.013-05:002021-01-12T00:00:59.364-05:004 of 92 Spring Valley Homeowners Still Resist Cleanup Investigation<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The <i><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2018/03/91-properties-will-be-screened-for.html" target="_blank">Remedial Action</a></i> progress map for the 92 residential properties and 13 Federal/City lots [on slide #12 of the presentation] shows: 1) properties with no color and highlighted with blue borders indicate residential properties and city lots that have been completed; 2) properties shown in green indicate properties that have active contact and are undergoing the RA clean-up process; 3) properties shown in blue indicate properties where efforts are being made to engage the properties but have not yet reached a firm commitment. To date, four properties <span style="color: #04ff00;">remain unclear</span> whether access will be given ...</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYEysPDAZ1Y51qai_C1iI3zDNztVskKQiCNPK3_YlOT7_xYOcaXcJV1OPxu9xak5gZQG4uSXX21mrsrSQKF69Hh3dSBXXVZP3FFxVZVifCb3YwgC7-zO60W-mfSlcf81_XAsu9vFtAlUM/s864/SvRabPptStatus92properties%25289-16-20%2529pg12.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="864" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYEysPDAZ1Y51qai_C1iI3zDNztVskKQiCNPK3_YlOT7_xYOcaXcJV1OPxu9xak5gZQG4uSXX21mrsrSQKF69Hh3dSBXXVZP3FFxVZVifCb3YwgC7-zO60W-mfSlcf81_XAsu9vFtAlUM/s320/SvRabPptStatus92properties%25289-16-20%2529pg12.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/November_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB%20Presentation.pdf?ver=MoVcG_FZy-7HPvoDldtU9Q%3d%3d" target="_blank">Cleanup at 4 properties <i>"remains unclear"</i> (pg. 12)</a></span> <br /></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">[Project manager] Dan Noble explained that since the properties are private properties, the only option that USACE has is to explain to the homeowners that the remedial effort is worthwhile. From USACE’s perspective, the goal is to remediate the four areas associated with the former <i><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank">American University Experiment Station</a></i> (AUES) testing activities ... In any one of the remaining areas where a property owner has declined, the coverage might <span style="color: #04ff00;">still be sufficient</span> for the <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/Partners/" target="_blank">Partners</a> to determine that the issues in those areas have been addressed ... Noble explained that if a property owner declines remediation activities on their property, that property owner <span style="color: #04ff00;"><span>will not receive</span></span> a property-specific assurance letter. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/Spring%20Valley%20November%202020%20RAB%20Virtual%20Meeting%20Minutes_edit.pdf?ver=VA2x1SWSiQM1UCrTdTSaFg%3d%3d" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB<br /><i>Meeting Minutes</i><br />November 10, 2020 (pg. 4 - 5)</a></span></span><br /></p>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-21245133638622145502020-11-10T14:21:00.052-05:002021-05-15T22:03:33.074-04:00Explosive Stokes Mortar Round Unearthed on Quebec Street<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During intrusive investigations on September 16, the team encountered an intact 3-inch Stokes mortar round on Quebec Street within <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9rzkLhUIJv1RkloS1Yxd0hVeEU/view" target="_blank">Area of Interest</a> (AOI) 13. The Army Corps’ ordnance and explosives safety specialist and an <i>Explosive Ordnance Disposal</i> (EOD) unit from Joint Base Andrews responded to the site. The item was x-rayed in place, examined, and safely transported offsite by the EOD unit for disposal. The item was destroyed on the range the same day. Based on observations of the explosion during disposal, the EOD unit reported that the 3” Stokes mortar contained <span style="color: red;"><span>2½ pounds of high explosive</span></span> (HE) filler. Due to the HE filler, the item was determined to be a munitions and explosives of concern (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/mec_ha_methodology_interim.pdf" target="_blank">MEC</a>) item ... Noble explained that the item was located one foot down ... This property was part of the previous <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ECWC3k26rza0u8cDJ0YS7TZT-HL2dYkR/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">remedial investigation</a> in 2006 ... </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhippWC_Q2x8SmeJDvCUDBs1R8rIgEI1Sig9FWcY5jECpRELj3g-peOXSmP76lONfsp2yWLU41Qbu6YYGq8iKsYUe3fjrwGHGGRCzf1PT-Q_b8tOa541x2OFQYkQpkomfvhEGNNRUDiv_il/s864/SvRabPptStokesMortar%25289-16-20%2529pg14.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="864" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhippWC_Q2x8SmeJDvCUDBs1R8rIgEI1Sig9FWcY5jECpRELj3g-peOXSmP76lONfsp2yWLU41Qbu6YYGq8iKsYUe3fjrwGHGGRCzf1PT-Q_b8tOa541x2OFQYkQpkomfvhEGNNRUDiv_il/w320-h179/SvRabPptStokesMortar%25289-16-20%2529pg14.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/November_2020_Spring_Valley_RAB%20Presentation.pdf?ver=MoVcG_FZy-7HPvoDldtU9Q%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;">3-inch Stokes mortar found on Quebec Street (pg. 14)</span></span></a><br /></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">During the previous remedial investigation, the teams were not removing vegetation for anomaly investigation, only investigating open areas. The Stokes mortar was located in the footprint of a large mature rhododendron. During the current remedial action, the homeowner allowed the removal of the rhododendron to scan the ground underneath that had not been previously investigated ... In this case, the Stokes mortar contained a high explosive fill, so there was <span style="color: #04ff00;">detonation potential</span> associated with the item ... Based on where the item was found, in <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ECWC3k26rza0u8cDJ0YS7TZT-HL2dYkR/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">AOI 13</a> bordering the AU campus and the former experiment station, it is likely that the Stokes mortar was not fired. The item was not found in an impact area. The item may have been a munition brought in to be worked on and <span style="color: #04ff00;">discarded</span> in the area for some reason. The item was most likely a discarded military munition, rather than <a href="https://www.epa.gov/fedfac/military-munitionsunexploded-ordnance" target="_blank">UXO</a> [unexploded ordnance].<br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/Spring%20Valley%20November%202020%20RAB%20Virtual%20Meeting%20Minutes_edit.pdf?ver=VA2x1SWSiQM1UCrTdTSaFg%3d%3d" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB<br /><i>Meeting Minutes</i> <br />November 10, 2020 (pg. 6 - 7)</a></span></span></span></p>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-64562667447948191342020-09-21T12:24:00.115-04:002021-01-12T00:05:35.229-05:00Munitions & Lab Debris Extend North Beyond PSB Footprint<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After resuming field work at American University’s former <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/03/cache-of-lab-waste-md-found-under.html" target="_blank">Public Safety Building</a> in July, the team began digging test pits at the site in order to determine the final excavation boundaries, as well as to conduct confirmation soil sampling ... The team continues to encounter lab grade glassware debris and have <span style="color: #04ff00;">followed it</span> <span style="color: red;">into</span> <span style="color: #04ff00;">the northern hillside</span> edge of the former PSB footprint. Through further investigation the debris appears to extend outside of the northwestern footprint and near the existing sump. The team has prepared work plans and is evaluating the removal of the debris trail into the hillside. The uncovered material in the test pit sidewall was screened for munition debris and AU items. The batch glass and metal debris cleared headspace analysis and was shipped for confirmation analysis. The concrete sump structure was broken down into smaller pieces loaded into a roll-off container, and transported to the <span style="color: #04ff00;">staging area</span> at the <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2010/04/munitions-disposal-begins-april-15-ddoe.html" target="_blank">federal compound</a> pending off-site disposal. </span></span><br /><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/Final_Spring_Valley_Partners_Presentation_August_2020-Website.pdf?ver=0ALMI8CHIf4pTh0NWe830Q%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/September_2020_SV_RAB_Presentation.pdf?ver=2PNOKiP17zJA8X2k965uTQ%3d%3d" target="_blank">Spring Valley RAB</a> <br /><i><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/September_2020_SV_RAB_Presentation.pdf?ver=2PNOKiP17zJA8X2k965uTQ%3d%3d" target="_blank">Meeting Slides</a></i><br /><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/September_2020_SV_RAB_Presentation.pdf?ver=2PNOKiP17zJA8X2k965uTQ%3d%3d" target="_blank">September 15, 2020 (pgs. 15 - 16)</a></span></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1GfQZLSr4IKPcb6wRUMgDceC8AvTt9GFYyhOVWQi_cv32GOyGhQVxjb6X0emQn2UmtIEafo3tHAuihbGrpeUEo5wB-dtQFtJVQsR3eo1fvZgntCbyB4472PxFE6b9QshOs5GMjOqMyTF/s1169/SvPsbExcavationPlan%25289-8-20%2529pg20.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1GfQZLSr4IKPcb6wRUMgDceC8AvTt9GFYyhOVWQi_cv32GOyGhQVxjb6X0emQn2UmtIEafo3tHAuihbGrpeUEo5wB-dtQFtJVQsR3eo1fvZgntCbyB4472PxFE6b9QshOs5GMjOqMyTF/s320/SvPsbExcavationPlan%25289-8-20%2529pg20.png" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/September_2020_SV_RAB_Presentation.pdf?ver=2PNOKiP17zJA8X2k965uTQ%3d%3d" target="_blank">Debris chased 8 ft. north of PSB slab (pg. 20)</a></span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Conducted test pitting horizontally into the north sidewall of PSB excavation (grid D-3) to determine the extent of the dark soil layer with </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2011/02/student-newspaper-launches.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">American University Experiment Station</span></span></a> debris identified at approximately 2 to 3.5 feet below the slab. Advanced <span style="color: #04ff00;">8 feet north</span> of former PSB slab – </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">AUES</span></span></span></span></span></span> debris was still evident, but Team had to stop due to <span style="color: #04ff00;">slope stability</span> concerns ... The bulk of the dark brown soil with abundant AUES glass debris and munition debris has been excavated and <a href="http://wmdindc.blogspot.com/2020/01/despite-bottles-psb-dig-remains-low.html" target="_blank">removed</a> from below the slab, however, the AUES debris field encountered at 1 - 4 feet below the slab extends north beyond the slab into the soil slope – an as yet <span style="color: #04ff00;">undetermined distance</span> ... The AUES debris layer contained dark brown soil, abundant unsealed lab glassware bottles, pipettes & tubes, plus munitions debris from 75-mm projectiles and 4” Stokes mortar rounds.</span></span><br /><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/Final_Spring_Valley_Partners_Presentation_August_2020-Website.pdf?ver=0ALMI8CHIf4pTh0NWe830Q%3d%3d" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/Final_Spring_Valley_Partners_Presentation_August_2020-Website.pdf?ver=0ALMI8CHIf4pTh0NWe830Q%3d%3d" target="_blank">Spring Valley FUDS</a><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/Final_Spring_Valley_Partners_Presentation_August_2020-Website.pdf?ver=0ALMI8CHIf4pTh0NWe830Q%3d%3d" target="_blank"><br /><i>Partnering Meeting</i><br />August 2020 (pgs. 22 - 33)</a></span></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxv9-SBeuPjiSRydPAsj9E4DebYwRgi03tqjRmCL40zq2zWMy_avXS8FRCwIhicuo5IHrz_cONAylKzTOnbL0XfwZeCl3foAx4H1PEPHG9t1xFiFTduel-pwn409Na1YF9IquSJwWsF2q/s1146/SvPsbAuesDebis%2528Aug-2020%2529pg27.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxv9-SBeuPjiSRydPAsj9E4DebYwRgi03tqjRmCL40zq2zWMy_avXS8FRCwIhicuo5IHrz_cONAylKzTOnbL0XfwZeCl3foAx4H1PEPHG9t1xFiFTduel-pwn409Na1YF9IquSJwWsF2q/s320/SvPsbAuesDebis%2528Aug-2020%2529pg27.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Partner_Meetings/Final_Spring_Valley_Partners_Presentation_August_2020-Website.pdf?ver=0ALMI8CHIf4pTh0NWe830Q%3d%3d" target="_blank">AUES lab & munition debris encountered (pg. 32)</a></span></span></span></div>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3285275542382629359.post-24647744263659398482020-07-20T12:34:00.000-04:002020-09-07T21:23:01.832-04:00Some Homeowners Now Reluctant to Allow Intrusive Investigations<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Site-Wide geophysical surveys and intrusive anomaly investigations at the <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Final_SW_PP_Fact_Sheet-Potential_Munitions_Hazards.pdf" target="_blank">private residences</a> has continued without delays from COVID-19 prevention measure ... To date, 60 out of the <a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/RA_Map_022018.pdf?ver=2018-02-23-121320-217" target="_blank">92 total homes</a> have been intrusively investigated. The team is noticing more <span style="color: lime;">logistical difficulties</span> with obtaining the approval of landscape plans by the property owners to allow geophysical surveys to begin. There may be a small group of properties at the end of the project that will be very difficult, if at all possible, to obtain approval to complete remedial activity [RA] ... The remaining groups of properties include more reluctant homeowners that are either selling their homes, are new home owners, or are reluctant to begin the intrusive investigation at this time ... USACE Baltimore explained that the team is <span style="color: lime;">meeting resistance</span> because, until now, the teams have been working with the groups of homeowners that were eager to complete the remedial action as soon as possible. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenIbi2mca1xuy7WOUn_zEvuBSz7Fw2iWNV1PTaLCj9WVZJuhHyDhIWGBk5saeiTdEFGTENr4fCsacA7ZmjwkUKqGvNl8rvkBXI6jhCgd7vDGhymU2eLpZc4nV1WDCxxaUqC0ARFYgRuy5/s1600/SvPartnerPpt%2528June-2020%2529pg25.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1223" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenIbi2mca1xuy7WOUn_zEvuBSz7Fw2iWNV1PTaLCj9WVZJuhHyDhIWGBk5saeiTdEFGTENr4fCsacA7ZmjwkUKqGvNl8rvkBXI6jhCgd7vDGhymU2eLpZc4nV1WDCxxaUqC0ARFYgRuy5/s320/SvPartnerPpt%2528June-2020%2529pg25.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Spring_Valley_Partners_Presentation_June_2020.pdf?ver=2020-07-17-103756-853" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Status of intrusive residential investigations (pg. 15)</span></a></span> </div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Those homeowners were prioritized into the first groups of properties that were intrusively investigated. Now that those groups of properties have been completed, USACE Baltimore is reaching out to the homeowners that did not volunteer ... Some of the remaining homeowners are <span style="color: red;">not convinced</span><span style="color: lime;"><i> </i></span>that there is a risk or believe that the intrusive investigation may increase any existing small risk ... At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 5 - 6 homeowners were willing to allow the work but due to concerns about COVID-19, they do not want extra people on their property ... The <i>Outreach Team</i> is developing different ways to explain the effort to homeowners during the pandemic. Several homeowners who we have completed RA work with have <span style="color: lime;">volunteered to speak</span> about their experience participating in the project to reluctant homeowners. USACE Baltimore expects to complete remedial activity at 70 properties with few issues, but the possibility of completing remedial activity at the last 22 is unclear at this time. </span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Spring_Valley_July_2020_Partnering_Conference_Call_Minutes.pdf?ver=2020-09-04-145146-437" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Spring Valley FUDS</span></span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Spring_Valley_July_2020_Partnering_Conference_Call_Minutes.pdf?ver=2020-09-04-145146-437" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Partnering Meeting Minutes</span></span></i></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Spring_Valley_July_2020_Partnering_Conference_Call_Minutes.pdf?ver=2020-09-04-145146-437" target="_blank">July 16, 2020 (pg. 3 - 4)</a> </span></span>Allen Hengsthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09528014750219367029noreply@blogger.com0