Spring Valley Partners Straying Off US Army Corps Reservation

Paul Chrowstowsi, Ph.D. QEP

P. Chrostowski mentioned that AU feels that in the event of an arsenic trichloride release within the ECS, substantial arsenic trichloride concentrations may remain airborne ... AU recommended specific air monitoring enhancements and an additional air monitoring system to address this concern.

Chrostowski described the AU administration’s position on future work conducted at the Pit 3 property. A comprehensive plan should be developed to address all possible AUES-related property findings, including removal of the house, ancillary excavation underneath the house footprint, and specific recommendations for the next high-probability investigation phase. Removal of the entire structure appears to be the only acceptable course of action, due to uncertainties about the amount of AUES-related items and contamination remaining on the property.

Veolia Environmental Services (Port Arthur)

EPA expressed the need for further discussion and analysis of waste disposal alternatives. Although AUES-related waste is currently shipped to a licensed facility in Port Arthur, Texas, the surrounding area is an environmental justice showcase community where residents and EPA have expressed concerns about waste disposal and overall pollution. Future planning should include a public meeting in Port Arthur with significant input from community members and stakeholders.

Dr. Peter deFur

Peter deFur inquired about EPA’s progress in obtaining information from the builder of the Pit 3 property. EPA explained that a letter was sent to pursue information on AUES-related discoveries during house construction. The builder’s lawyer responded in February 2010 and claimed business confidentiality based on attorney-client privileges ... DDOE replied that DC Councilmember Mary Cheh suggested issuing a subpoena.
Spring Valley Partnering Meeting Minutes
June 29, 2010 (pg, 5)

GAO Recommends Greater EPA Oversight of Military Cleanups

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging EPA and the Defense Department to overhaul the process for cleaning up military bases in order to improve the remediation progress, including the possible creation of a new record-keeping system and revisions to an executive order to boost EPA's oversight of cleanups. GAO in a report released Aug. 16 also reiterates a recommendation it made in 2009 that Congress consider amending section 120 of the Comprehensive, Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act to authorize EPA to administratively impose penalties to enforce cleanup requirements at federal facilities.
InsideEPA.com
August 16, 2010

U.S. Government Accountability Office

The extensive use of performance-based contracts at these installations has created pressure to operate within price caps and fixed deadlines. In some cases, these pressures may have contributed to installations not exploring the full range of cleanup remedies, or relying on non-construction remedies, such as allowing contaminated groundwater to attenuate over time rather than being cleaned up.
Cleanup Progress at Key Defense Installations
Government Accountability Office
July 15, 2010

Army Revisits Elementary School to Sample Soil Again for Arsenic

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month sampled soil from the campus of Horace Mann Elementary School to check for elevated levels of arsenic. Preliminary results show low concentrations of the poisonous chemical, according to Army officials ... The Corps had performed some soil sampling at the school in 2001, finding levels of arsenic far below those seen in nearby areas.

Composite screening for arsenic at Horace Mann
Elementary School (areas 1, 3 & 4 were tested in 2001)

Officials decided to perform the latest testing after several residents and parents questioned why the Corps had not sampled a larger swath of the campus across from American University, where the Army conducted a chemical weapons program during World War I ... Alma Gates [who represents Horace Mann on the Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board] added that she understood the concerns of those who questioned why the Army Corps had not performed a more complete soil investigation at the school.
Ian Thomas
Northwest Current
July 21, 2010: pg.1

Pit 3 Excavation on Hold as Corps Considers "Next Stage" of Cleanup

In June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received substantial comments on the Pit 3 Area's work plan for the 'high probability' test pit investigation. Upon review of the comments, we will begin a comprehensive assessment of how to complete work at the property ... We will inform the community of the assessment approach as soon as it is determined. All options for cleanup of the property will be reviewed as part of the process. During this process, which will take several months, some staging equipment will be removed from the Pit 3 Area property, fencing will be moved from the road to the sidewalk and minimal restoration will be conducted.
Spring Valley FUDS
Project Update (June 2010)

During a meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board last week, Army officials revealed that they are also considering moving on to the next stage of cleanup at 4825 Glenbrook Road, the site of a munitions burial pit. The Army shut down work at the site in March after diggers uncovered fuming glassware containing arsenic trichloride, an ingredient used to make the blistering agent lewisite ... “It’s somewhat of a judgment call,” Noble said. “The [investigation] has gone on for a long time, and it’s been fairly expensive" ... Among the decisions to be made is whether to tear down the house that currently occupies the Glenbrook Road property, which is owned by American University.
Ian Thomas
Northwest Current
July 21, 2010: pg.1

AU Will Build Dormitories on Contaminated South Campus Sites

Conspicuous by their absence are Rockwod, Financial Aid & the
Public Safety buildings, as well as the Child Development Center

American University is proposing to construct three undergraduate dormitories -- totaling 304,000 square feet -- at the location of the most contaminated areas on this campus, a 90-year-old Formerly Used Defense Site.

"An overarching theme of American University's developing 2011 Campus Plan is to bring more of our undergraduate students back to live on campus. The latest draft of the plan, which was unveiled in May at a monthly meeting with community representatives, focuses on building student housing to meet AU's current and projected needs for the next decade."
2011 Campus Plan Brings More Students Back On Campus
June 21, 2010

AUES looking southwest from roof of McKinley Building (1918)

University officials resisted the idea that they hadn't been listening to community members and thoroughly evaluating their requests, and said they sometimes directly took residents' advice on where to put a building. David Taylor, the university president's chief of staff, said that while not every resident agrees with the plan, building dorms at the site of the current public safety building is one of several decisions that were adopted from community input.
Northwest Current
June 16, 2010 (pg. 1)

CCC May Have Buried WMD's Under the C & O Canal in the 1930's

Steam shovel may have buried munitions under C&O Canal

The District of Columbia Department of Health, Environmental Health Administration received information from a resident of Spring Valley consisting of, among other things, a February 25, 1993, memorandum of a phone call from one Ian MacFee to the Mayor’s Office of Constituent Services alleging that the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) buried munitions in 14 pits at the AUES [American University Experiment Station]. The caller stated that he worked with the CCC in the 1930s under the command of a Lt. Wray Noel ... There were other intricate details in the telephone call that confirmed facts previously known to the District of Columbia staff (i.e., “French 75s and mustard gas” ) but which are known to only a small circle of experts.  These facts recited by the caller suggested a very knowledgeable witness.

North of Fletcher's Boathouse, shovel was lowered into
then-empty canal from bike path (former railroad line)

The District of Columbia was able to obtain FG-118-120.  This photograph dated April 30, 1937, and covers 22 months of Lt. Noel’s 24-month service period ... Indeed, as EPIC [Environmental Photographic Interpretation Center] predicted the photo contains an obvious linear feature approximately a half mile long parallel to the C&O Canal suggesting mechanically worked earth ... This area had railroad access and it would have been possible to bring a steam shovel into the area as MacFee indicated. It was also federal property and close to the AUES. Further, the area upon physical examination still shows clear evidence of earth that has been excavated by mechanical means, compatible with the aerial photograph representation ... The District also obtained another photograph showing the [steam] shovel in the canal, which had been drained. Could it be that the burials occurred in the canal while they were shoveling out flood debris and silt? ... Because EPIC has now analyzed the aerial photographs and found no pits near the canal,  it is likely that the burials were made in the canal proper while the crane was there for the purpose of rebuilding the towpath.

Richard D. Albright
The Continuing Search for Burial Sites
Cleanup of Chemical & Explosive Munitions (pgs. 158 - 168)

Search for WW I Munitions Resumes in Dalecarlia Woods

The geophysical survey field team prepares to return to work in the Dalecarlia Woods this month after a nearly two month break caused by a contractor worker injury … Dalecarlia Woods is a former World War I down range impact and possible munitions disposal area that includes about 62-acres … “Based on the former use of this area and what’s already been found on the surface, it would not be a big surprise to find a significant amount of munitions debris directly below the surface in this area,” said Lan Reeser [design team leader, USACE]. “We have procedures in place to safely address whatever munitions related finds we may encounter.”
The Corps’pondent
June 2010 (pg. 3)