Army Concedes Recent Finds "Remarkably Similar" to Sgt. Maurer Pit

Bottle necks recovered on Glenbrook before February snow storm

The Army Corps of Engineers recovered five more broken glass bottlenecks at its 4825 Glenbrook Rd. investigation, bringing the total to eight bottlenecks found in the last month, according to the Corps’ Spring Valley project manager Dan Noble ... At the Feb. 16 Restoration Advisory Board meeting, Noble said the bottlenecks recovered looked “remarkably similar” to the bottles depicted in a 1918 photo with Army Sergeant C. W. Maurer standing amid approximately 30 glass jugs ... The Corps showed photos of the current investigation, which revealed a white substance in the soil where workers found the broken bottlenecks. “This is consistent with what you see in that photo,” Noble said. “We see the white powder in the photo, and we see white powder here in the ground."
Christopher Cottrell
The Eagle (February 25, 2010: pg 4)

AUES debris recovered on Glenbrook before February snow storm

Perchlorate at Kreeger Registers Over Three Times EPA Standard

Perchlorate is 50 ppb at PZ-4 in front of Kreeger (pg.8)

The Environmental Protection Agency has set the [interim advisory] safety standard for perchlorate levels in drinking water at 15 parts per billion ... Fourteen samples from four wells in the AU and Spring Valley area exceed the EPA perchlorate advisory level, including one sample from a well near the Kreeger Building with perchlorate levels of 146 ppb as of June 2007 — almost 10 times the EPA standard, according to the Corps. But when the Corps took a reading at that well last November, that number was down to 50.
Christopher Cottrell
The Eagle
February 22, 2010

"The Army’s most recent perchlorate sampling with lower numbers come from tests conducted in November under far different conditions then all previous sampling which had been done in the spring and summer. In their conclusions, the Army neglects to consider soil density and rainwater differences in seasons, and uses, for comparison to the November data, summer sampling more than two years old."
Jeffrey Hanley, Class of 2009 
The Eagle
February 22, 2010 (pg. 3)

Perchlorate exceeds federal advisory limit at Sibley (pg. 10)

"I participated with hydrologists from EPA, the Corps, USGS, DC and URS — the company that does the groundwater testing — and there was more than a little discussion about where that perchlorate is coming from. We've been trying to work on speculating and gathering information that we've gotten in order to go beyond speculation. It's a sore spot for us trying to figure it out. And also, as Todd pointed out, we've had this discussion of the number of cases in which we've worked on groundwater sites where you never definitively identify where the contamination is coming from. It's an ongoing problem."
Peter deFur, Ph.D., Technical Consultant 
Spring Valley RAB
February 16, 2010

Sgt. Maurer WMD Pit Discovered Next to Glenbrook Road House

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has unearthed three broken glass jugs in Spring Valley that might have come from the long-sought Sgt. Maurer burial pit, according to a D.C. Deparment of the Environment official. The pit is believed to hold more than 20 containers of mustard agent or other chemical weapons materiel. The jugs were found Monday near the house a 4825 Glenbrook Road, indicating that the pit might be beneath or near the home's foundation.
Ian Thomas
Northwest Current (January 27, 2010: pg. 1)

“We have always said that attempting to name a pit the 'Sgt. Maurer pit' is a difficult task,” [Army Corps spokesman Clem Gaines] added. “It could be Pit 1, 2 or 3, or it could be a pit that over the years has been demolished by all the development in the Glenbrook Road area” ... [District Department of the Environment specialist Dr. Richard] Albright conveyed his sympathies to AU, which volunteered its campus to be used as an experimental station for the Army’s Chemical Corps during World War I. “They tried to do the patriotic thing in 1917, and now I’m sure they’re still ruing that decision."
Christopher Cottrell
The Eagle (January 31, 2010: pg. 1)

75mm Round Found Under Front Entrance of Public Safety Building

Courtesy of USACE

The Army Corps of Engineers unearthed more munitions debris next to the Public Safety building during this winter break. On Jan. 4, workers found a single 75mm round buried four feet underneath a concrete slab that they had removed in front of the building’s lower entrance ... Kent Slowinski, a community activist and former Restoration Advisory Board member, said recent work conducted by the Army Corps indicates a likelihood that the debris field around the Public Safety building extends underneath the building, because debris from the AU Experimental Station has been found behind and in front of it ... David Taylor [President Neil Kerwin’s chief of staff] confirmed that the operation is “winding down,” but that debris collection is ongoing.
Christopher Cottrell
The Eagle
January 21, 2010

Army Chasing Perchlorate Groundwater Plume Across University Campus

New monitoring wells are upgradient of Kreeger Hall contamination

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continued its groundwater study in Spring Valley this fall, which included the installation of four new groundwater monitoring wells and the sampling of existing monitoring wells, as well as, surface water locations ... Of the four newly installed wells, three were placed on the American University property to help better understand the source of the perchlorate detections in the area, and to characterize the nature and extent of the perchlorate groundwater plume.
The Corps'pondent
December 2009 (pg. 3)

146 ppb perchlorate in groundwater 10 yds north of Kreeger Hall

These wells will assist with the investigation to locate the source and migration of a possible perchlorate plume located underneath the southeast portion of the AU campus. Current shallow well data indicates a potential plume of perchlorate migrating west and could discharge to East Creek ... To date, the highest perchlorate level detected in the groundwater study area is 146 ppb, which is located on the AU campus [next to Kreeger Hall] PZ 4. Several of the shallow groundwater wells have revealed elevated perchlorate levels scattered thoughout the southwestern part of the AU campus and Sibley Hospital. Three additional wells, located upgradient of the well with the highest perchlorate reading, PZ 4, are proposed to determine the extent and levels of perchlorate contamination.
Partnering Meeting Minutes
April 29 - 30, 2008 (pg. 3)

Objections Raised to Neutralizing WMDs Next to Sibley Hospital

Sibley Memorial Hospital

These munitions were recovered over the past two years using redundant safety measures including a blast containment structure, a siren, warning signs and instructions for nearby residents to shelter “in place.” None of these safety measures will be in effect during the munitions destruction. The safety arc during recovery was 740 feet, but the safety arc for the destruction has been reduced to 400 feet. We’re dealing with the same munitions, chemical warfare agents and explosives. Why the 340-foot difference?

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (2009)

The Corps moved both chemical and coventional munitions safely from American University through Spring Valley to the Interim Holding Facility north of Sibley Hospital. Each munition is safely packaged in a stainless steel Multiple Round Container, which is designed to withstand an accidental explosion. Now the Army claims it's unsafe to transport these same munitions to the the Naval Research Lab.
Environmental Health Group:
"Proposed Munitions Destruction Behind Sibley Hospital"

Army "Open House" Fields Questions on Proposed Munitions Destruction

Kent Slowinski, Nan Wells, Dan Noble, Lan Reeser & Michael Lent

The Army Corps of Engineers wants to dispose of bombs that could be considered weapons of mass destruction behind Sibley Memorial Hospital, on federal land close to the Dalecarlia Reservoir, which supplies drinking water to D.C. and parts of Northern Virginia ... In 1917 the Army ... blew up bombs in the fields and forests around the [American University] campus. For decades, as the fields were carved into streets with stately homes, the former use stayed a secret, and toxic chemicals stayed buried. In 1993, construction workers bulldozed up bombs. The corps has been digging up weapons pits and cleaning gardens for 16 years ...

Slowinski and ANC Commissioner Nan Wells ... want deeper investigations into the history and the land. They want a health study, which might lead to more chemicals. They are not sure they want the bombs blown up in the neighborhood. "Why not hold off on destruction until they see if they find more munitions?" Slowinski asks. "They can destroy it all -- at the Naval Research Lab."
Harry Jaffe
Washington Examiner
December 9, 2009