Student Holds Forum on Toxins Buried Under American University

Michael Ginsberg, Kent Slowinski, Nan Wells, William Hirzy, Beth Resnick & Steven Hirsh

The discussion, titled The Toxins beneath American University aimed to inform the AU community and Spring Valley residents about the future of remediation efforts and potential health issues, according to Michael Ginsberg, a senior in the School of International Service ... "I held this panel at Wesley Seminary, not American University, because the administration would not permit it to take place on campus," [Ginsberg said] ... "AU is not truly interested in open dialogue on the issues at hand, but in preserving and maintaining its sanitized presentation of the facts."

"According to a 1921 article in The Courier, American University's trustees gave permission to the Army to bury $800,000 of chemical warfare agents, munitions and explosives on campus and released the federal government of all liability in exchange for 8 buildings that the Army built," [Kent Slowinski observed]. "This is one of the worst cases of environmental contamination in the District of Columbia. The responsible thing to do, according to the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, is to set up a disease registry for AU students, faculty and staff, as well as Spring Valley residents, workers and tenants." 
Christopher Cottrell
The Eagle
April 25, 2010


Ginsburg invited 28 potential speakers, including representatives of the university and the Army Corps of Engineers, but only five attended, none of them representing the Army or the school's administration ... As for the university, spokesperson Camille Lepre said the school administration did not jointly decide against participating. Rather, she said Ginsberg asked a number of university officials to attend and "each person made their own decision based on their own schedules."
Ian Thomas
Northwest Current
May 12, 2010 (pg. 3)

"Smoking" Arsenic Discovery Stops Excavations at Burial Pit 3

Workers found a larger jar with mustard, glassware that was smoking and fuming, scrap munitions and a shell containing a tear gas agent. In late March, the Army Corps uncovered the smoking chemical arsenic trichloride for the first time in the cleanup project. It can be used to develop the blistering agent lewisite, Noble said. Digging was halted shortly after while officials review their safety procedures. American University spokeswoman Camille Lepre said there were no plans to move or cancel any campus events scheduled at the [neighboring] president's house. 
Brett Zongker
Associated Press
April 16, 2010

On Glenbrook Road two houses sit side-by-side. To the left is the stately, stone home with eight white columns and fine landscaping where American University President Cornelius Kerwin hosts picnics with students; right next door is a brick house surrounded by a 10-foot chain link fence, topped by a single strand of barbed wire. Two structures encased in plastic tarps sit atop the most potentially lethal toxic waste site in any U.S. city ... Behind Sibley Hospital, the Army is disposing bombs in the EDS, a mobile unit that's designed to take the toxicity from the chemicals. The EDS is right next to Dalecarlia Reservoir, 50 yards away from a water treatment facility, and not far from an assisted living facility.
Harry Jaffe
Washington Examiner
April 18, 2010

Fuming bottle of Arsenic trichloride found at 

Pit 3 on Glenbrook Road (USACE Ppt, pg. 23)

Munitions Disposal begins April 15; DDOE Requires Safety Plan First

Preparations continued this month for the upcoming destruction of the 5 chemical munitions and 20 liquid-filled (non-chemical agent) items near the Spring Valley Project Field Offices on federal property ... The destruction of the chemical munitions is tentatively scheduled to start on April 15th and will take about 6 working days to complete, dependent on weather. Following neutralization of the chemical agent-filled munitions, the liquid-filled munition items will be processed. The EDS operation is expected to be complete in early May.
Spring Valley Monthly Project Update
March 2010

Emergency Destruction System inside containment structure

The D.C. Department of the Environment will require the city to craft a public safety plan before allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with the destruction of chemical munitions in Spring Valley ... Greg Nielson, the Army's group leader on the munitions destruction project, said the Army Corps had already taken safety steps "so we could take the public completely out of the picture. But if the District of Columbia wants to do more, hey, that's fine. If it makes the residents feel better, that's great."
Ian Thomas
Northwest Current
April 7, 2010 (pg. 1)

Corps Claims No Public Safety Plan Needed for WMD Disposal in DC

DC City Council Joint Public Hearing (3/29/10)

"The longest running play in America is here in Washington and it is named Shear Madness, which in my view is exactly what this decision is," said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Stu Ross. "Just pause and think for a moment about what would happen if someone got it wrong." Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Thomas Smith added, "As history has shown us, accidents happen. It would be nice to know there is a plan in place that is more detailed than somebody saying, 'Whoops.'"
NBC 4
Washington, DC
March 30, 2010

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not developed a public safety plan for responding should an accident occur during next month’s destruction of chemical munitions in Spring Valley ... Prior to allowing work to begin, technicians will monitor weather conditions to ensure that in the event of a release the chemical plume would not pose a threat by the time it could reach the residential neighborhood, which is 380 feet from the demolition site.

“As the plume moves away from the origin point, it becomes more and more dilute, and so when it reaches [that] distance it is so dilute that there’s no way it could cause a health threat anymore,” said Dan Noble, the Army Corps Spring Valley project manager.
Ian Thomas
Northwest Current
March 31, 2010 (pg. 1)

Artillery Shells Found on Ground alongside Dalecarlia Parkway

Two 90-year-old artillery shells were found in flagged area

Up until the snow storm in early February, preparations for the geophysical survey of the Dalecarlia Parkway/DC right-of-way area continued. The team continued removal of underbrush and bamboo as well as the clearance of any metallic surface debris. During the surface clearance, two munition debris items, both from 75 mm munition items were recovered. Neither posed any hazard to workers or the community.
Spring Valley Project Monthly Update
February 2010

Shells found on range fan yards west of Dalecarlia Parkway

Lend a Helping Hand to Re-brand "Operation Safe Removal"

Since 1993, the Army Corps of Engineers have marched under the banner Operation Safe Removal. Considering their arduous efforts, and how much removal they’ve done, the Army must be exhausted by now. Their operation name is exhausted, too — it just doesn’t seem to fit anymore. You can help refresh that tired Army operation by creating a new name, logo, or tag line. How? By entering the Environmental Health Group's re-brand "Operation Safe Removal" contest. See details at ...
Re-Brand Operation Safe Removal
April Fool Contest

Chemical Weapons To be Neutralized Next to Reservoir within Six Weeks

The RCWM (Recovered Chemical Warfare Materiel) is destroyed on site using the EDS. The EDS is a mobile treatment system designed to destroy RCWM. The EDS would be transported to the SVFUDS federal property and staged near the current storage facilities ... The EDS uses explosive cutting charges to open the munitions, followed by addition of neutralizing agents that neutralize the chemical agent. The explosive detonation and chemical neutralization process is conducted within a stainless steel containment vessel which contains the blast, vapors and fragments ... The liquid and solid wastes are containerized and shipped off-site to a permitted TSDF. 
Disposal of Recovered Chemical Warfare Materiel
Action Memorandum, Spring Valley FUDS
February 2010

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' recent decision to destroy chemical and conventional weapons behind Sibley Hospital some time in April, raises a number of unanswered questions ... Army officials inflated the cost of moving the munitions by including $200,000 to fly the munitions by helicopter to a military facility. All that's needed is the Tech Unit pickup truck and a police escort
Kent Slowinski
Northwest Current
March 24, 2010 (pg. 10)