Sequester Delays Glenbrook Road High Probability Work Until Fall

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, has decided to modify the work schedule for high probability operations at 4825 Glenbrook Road ... The furlough will restrict the team to four 8-hour work days per week and overtime compensation will not be allowed, which restricts available work hours from our current schedule of 60 hours per week down to 32 hours per week ... Even the slightest potential that response capabilities might be degraded under furlough conditions led to the decision to delay high probability intrusive activities at the site.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Press Release
June 17, 2013

Recently, the Department of Defense published its furlough implementation guidance that directs the Military Departments to start furloughing their civilian work force.  The furlough period will begin the week of July 8 and continue for 11 weeks ... Given this guidance, COL J. Richard Jordan, III, Commander and District Engineer at the Baltimore District has made the decision to delay the start of the high probability work at 4825 Glenbrook Road during the proposed Department of Defense furlough period which is scheduled to end on September 21, 2013 ... Should the period of furloughs be shortened, we will quickly re-assess the schedule and begin work as soon as possible. 
Brenda Barber, Project Manager
Glenbrook Road Update
June 17, 2013

Suspect Test Tube Halts Intrusive Excavations at Cleanup Site

Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 21, the site crew encountered a suspect closed container item during our excavation behind the retaining wall in the backyard at 4825 Glenbrook Road ... The item is a test tube with approximately 1 inch of solids in the end. 

   Location of sealed ampule

It was encountered in the same vicinity as the auger hole where the 75mm munition debris item was discovered previously.  There were no air monitoring detections at any time during this incident.  Therefore, there was no risk to our workers or the community.  We implemented our safety protocols and secured the item.  We contacted the appropriate response agencies.  

CARA (Army response agency) transported the item to Edgewood on Wednesday, May 22.  CARA and ECBC (Army Lab) will analyze the contents of the item and report the results to USACE by Tuesday, May 28.  The project delivery team (PDT) will assess the situation once analysis results are provided.  At this time, no additional intrusive work will be performed at the site until we have an agreed upon path forward after the PDT review the analysis. 
Rebecca Yahiel, USACE
Glenbrook Road Neighborhood Update 
May 23, 2013

Augered Hole Uncovers Empty Cavity 75-Millimeter Munition

The Spring Valley munitions cleanup project recently uncovered an empty 75-millimeter shell and small pieces of glassware, which the Army Corps of Engineers found to be harmless, officials recently told the Restoration Advisory Board ... The contamination stems from American University's use as an Army testing station during World War I, when munitions and other materiel were left in the woods that became the Spring Valley community.  The Army will also soon install a protective tent over a portion of the Glenbrook property where officials expect to find a contaminated burial pit of chemical munitions — under the basement of a house that was demolished on the site.

Northwest Current

May 22, 2013 (pg. 4)
   

While the crews were auguring the holes for the soldier pile, a 75mm munitions debris item and some small pieces of glassware were found at 4825 Glenbrook Road ... An Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (Tech Escort) and the Municipal Police were contacted.  Tech Escort arrived on site and X-rayed the round.  The item was empty and does not contain explosives; this classifies the item as munitions debris. All tests for the presence of chemical agent were negative. The item is being stored at the Federal Property until it can be disposed of as scrap.

4825 Glenbrook Road

Weekly Update

May 10, 2013

 X-rayed 75mm artillery shell

Preparations Continue for Erection of "Engineering Control Structure"

The Corps of Engineers will use a large (60 feet by 82.5 feet) Engineering Control Structure (ECS) with a Chemical Agent Filtration System (CAFS) during the high probability work.  The ECS will fully enclose the excavation. The CAFS keeps the ECS under negative pressure by continuously pulling, filtering and cleaning all the air leaving the control structure ... The MCE [maximum credible event] for this activity is the evaporative release of one liter of arsenic trichloride over a one-hour period.

If there were no engineering controls in place, the Temporary Emergency Exposure Limit distance for this MCE would be 194 feet, which impacts eight residents and Watkins Hall on American University (AU).  If warranted, due to the highly improbable failure of the ECS and CAFS at the same time there is a release, the Corps of Engineers will implement another precautionary measure for both the workers and neighbors within 194 feet: a Shelter-in-Place alert and notification system.
The Corps'pondent

Vol. 14, No. 1

April 2013 (pg. 1)

  Spring Valley FUDS Timeline

Start of Glenbrook High Probability Digging Postponed until Summer

 

Work has begun at the university-owned site (4825 Glenbrook Road) for what is hoped will be the final phase of the effort to find and safely remove any remaining World War I debris from that property ... In May, the work will shift into a new phase and a containment structure will be built over the excavation site; air filtration and monitoring equipment installed; and additional safety instruction will be provided for areas of the university within a defined zone adjacent to the site.  This would include the Watkins and Kreeger buildings, the Jacobs athletics field, and the President’s House.  When the specific work timeline is known, those working in the affected areas will be informed of safety measures and protocols, which will be posted on the AU website dedicated to the project.

Neil Kerwin, President 

American University

April 3, 2013

 Crew excavates last test pit at 4825 Glenbrook

This week crews continued the installation process for the trench to support utility relocation at the site. Utility relocation will take approximately two more weeks ... As an added layer of safety, air monitoring was used during all excavations ... During the week of April 8, crews will relocate and re-establish the sewer line.  The water line will be relocated and re-established the week of April 15.  

We anticipate starting the high probability excavation work this summer ... Recently we have had weather delays and issues related to the relocation of the site utilities ... Due to the deeper location of the utilities more expansive trenches are required, which increases the complexity of the work ... Crews will work some limited Fridays and Saturdays from now until June to make up for the schedule delays to minimize an impact to the completion of the project.

4825 Glenbrook Road
Weekly Update
April 5, 2013

EPA Admits It Cannot Enforce Provisions of Executive Order

EPA recognizes the entirely understandable concern that your clients and their parents have regarding USACE's cleanup work so close to their home.  However, for reasons detailed below, EPA does not believe that the actions you have requested are appropriate or necessary at this time ... EPA's CERCLA guidance for assessing risks and conducting cleanups, which governs USACE's work at the Spring Valley site, recognizes that children (as well as health-compromised adults) may be more sensitive to environmental exposures than the general public.  However, while Executive Order 13045 imposes certain obligations upon federal agencies, including EPA and USACE, it does not confer an authority on EPA to enforce its provisions against other federal agencies.
 

... The USACE has also instituted an additional layer of protection for nearby residents which assumes the extremely unlikely event that a MCE [maximum credible event] has occurred and that the containment system has catastrophically failed such that the air blowers are unable to capture the contamination, resulting in the release of chemical to air outside the structure.  Based on this hypothetical scenario, the USACE calculated a perimeter within which a voluntary shelter-in-place program would be established ... In this unlikely event, the community members with the potentially affected area would be notified through pre-arranged methods and instructed to shelter in place.
Kathyrn A. Hodgkiss

Hazardous Site Cleanup Division (EPA Region III)

March 28, 2013

 

Shelter-In-Place Zones (pg. A-1)

Congresswoman Norton Says Corps May Be Violating Executive Order

The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released Norton’s letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin in support of a petition urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to temporarily relocate a family in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. because they have young children, ages one and five, living directly across the street from a property where the Army Corps has demolished a home and is beginning to excavate for potentially hazardous substances.  Excavation is necessary because of a 2011 Army Corps remediation investigation report that indicated that chemical weapons-related debris are likely buried under the house at 4825 Glenbrook Road. 

In her letter, Norton expressed her disappointment in the Army Corps’ rejection of the family’s request, and subsequent appeal, for relocation during the excavation, and in the Army Corps’ explanation that it could not differentiate between very young children and adults living in the affected area.  “For the reasons stated in the petition, I found this conclusion to be uninformed and inconsistent with widely available scientific data,” wrote Norton ... Norton also wrote that the Army Corps may be in violation of an executive order that requires all federal agencies to “make it a high priority to identify and assess environmental health risks and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children.”

Eleanor Holmes Norton

DC Congresswoman

March 8, 2013