Hopkins Proposes Tracking Program

Spring Valley Public Health Scoping Study (May 2007)

Members of the Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board received a proposal last week from the Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health that provides additional details about its plans for a follow-up health study ... The study's specific goals include continued communication with Spring Valley residents about the health hazards discussed in the original Johns Hopkins scoping study -- including cancers, neurological and blood disorders and skin conditions -- and developing mechanisms for ongoing monitoring of the effects of chemical weapons exposure.
Christopher Cottrell
The Eagle ~ March 19, 2008

April Vote Set on Health Study

A Spring Valley health study proposed by Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh is not getting the kind of resounding support some expected as a matter of course in a neighborhood used as a World War I chemical munitions dump. Beset by ambivalence and outright opposition to the $750,000 budget request, the citizen-comprised Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board last week scheduled a vote in April on whether to take a position on the need for such a study, which would be conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The Northwest Current (March 19, 2008: pg. 1)

Weapon Stockpile Still Missing

"Almost 800 barrels of soil have been sampled and removed. We did not find what we anticipated: stacked rounds of a couple hundred buried munitions like those recovered in 2002 from the section of Pit 3 on the adjacent property ..."
Spring Valley Project Update
(February 2008)

Numerous "Anomalies" Detected

Ed Hughes, program manager of the Army Corps' Baltimore district, said his team received an indication from geophysical and chemical testing that it needed to extend its search further alongside the road, as well as in the direction of campus. Hughes said geophysical testing, which includes combing the premises with a metal detector, revealed numerous other "anomalies" within the university-owned property that had yet to be unearthed and examined. This led the Corps to believe they have a lot of work ahead of them, he said.
Christopher Cottrell
The Eagle ~ February 14, 2008

Digging Resumes at Munitions Pit 3

After the MARB results determined that the munition of concern is an explosively configured 75 mm chemical projectile with an arsine fill, the Corps submitted a Chemical Safety Submission amendment to the Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board. The Board approved the amendment on January 18. The amendment requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to place an air filtration unit on the Interim Holding Facility ...
USACE News Release
Spring Valley FUDS
January 3, 2008

Interim Holding Facility (IHF)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is storing World War I chemical weapons excavated from the nearby Spring Valley community inside this tent-like structure with the long air filtration unit. Contaminated soil is stored inside the blue barrels. This land is just north of Sibley Hospital and on the east side of Dalecarlia Reservoir. Dalecarlia Parkway is visible 310 feet away through the trees in back.

Aerial View of Property Around Interim Holding Facility

U.S. government property surrounding Dalecarlia Reservoir where the Army Corps of Engineers is keeping chemical weapons that are unearthed from munitions "Pit 3" in the Spring Valley neighborhood one mile east of the four-lane parkway.
Google Maps