Jun 7, 2024

"The area in the south and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial. It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."
Donald Rumsfeld

19 WW-I Munitions Unearthed Near AU's Former Public Safety Building

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed with WTOP that 19 full or partial World War I-era munitions were found Tuesday on the campus of American University in Northwest D.C. — which served as a chemical weapons testing and disposal site during the first World War.  All of the recovered munitions were 75 mm projectiles.  Two projectiles contained an undetermined fluid, which prompted USACE to summon the Army’s Fort Belvoir’s 55th Ordnance Company and D.C.’s Fire & Emergency Services to the scene.  The two suspicious munitions were safely assessed, packaged and transported to the nearest military installation — Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Harford County, Maryland — for additional assessment ... At Aberdeen Proving grounds, X-ray technology and a Portable Isotopic Neutron Spectroscopy System — or PINS — will enable investigators to identify the suspicious liquid non-intrusively, without having to open the projectile. 
 

The devices were found in a steep hillside on Rockwood Parkway NW, next to the former AU Public Safety Building, which was demolished in August 2017.  The area where the projectiles were found was in a fenced-off Army Corps worksite, near Fletcher Gate, on the southern edge of the campus.  Remediation crews have been excavating potentially-contaminated soil under and near the former public safety building.  The painstaking, safety-based work is a continuation of the decadeslong cleanup in the Spring Valley neighborhood ... In a statement to WTOP, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said, “I’m deeply concerned about the suspected munitions found on American University’s campus” ... “I have sounded the alarm when similar munitions have been found in D.C. since 1993, and I’ll continue to work with the relevant entities until I’m satisfied the threat has been contained,” she added.  In 2022, WTOP reported that a World War I-era unexploded shell discovered by the National Park Service during construction of a trail through Northeast D.C.’s Fort Totten may have been transported from the Spring Valley cleanup site, adjacent to AU.
Neal Augenstein
WTOP News
 June 7, 2024

Jan 18, 2024

Army Corps Launches Overdue Excavation of PSB Hillside at AU

Under contract with USACE, Weston Solutions, Inc. completed remediation under the former PSB [Public Safety Building] foundation on 21 January 2021 and backfill on 23 March 2021.  During foundation excavation, a layer of dark American University Experiment Station (AUES) debris was observed in the slope north, east and west of the PSB foundation.  USACE contracted with Weston to investigate the AUES debris extent.  Weston completed Rotosonic drilling & test pit investigations on 12 April 2021 to define the extent of the AUES debris layer on the PSB hillside with Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) support ... The Weston Team mobilized to the PSB site at AU during the Labor Day week of September 4, 2023.  The Team is currently conducting the remediation.
... The objective of the PSB hillside remediation is to assess, remove, and dispose of the munitions and AUES-related debris layer under the hillside, with an emphasis on sealed containers and soil contaminated with chemical warfare agents (CWAs), agent breakdown products or contaminants above the Spring Valley screening criteria or Hazard Index.  To reach the AUES debris layer under the hillside, Weston will install an active retaining wall system while excavating “clean overburden soil” down to the AUES debris layer ... WESTON and the USACE will be monitoring the site to ensure safety and minimize impacts to the college community and local residents: air monitoring by the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) for CWA at the site perimeter, in the excavation zone & headspace samples of soil & debris; and air monitoring for metals and organic vapor in the excavation zone and worker’s breathing zone.
USACE

Nov 16, 2023

NPS Executes U-Turn, Vows to Search Park for More Munitions

Good afternoon, Mr. Hengst.  In response to your questions, see the following:
 
Q: When will your agency intrusively investigate the mounds of soil where munitions debris was found on the west side of [Fort Totten] park last spring?  

A: This investigation is a high priority for NPS [National Park Service] and the Army.  However, we do not have a date yet, as we are still working to identify funding for the investigation.  The area has been closed and made safe until that work is undertaken.  

Q: Can that investigation include the rest of the original staging area north of the road where the Spring Valley landfill was dumped [pg. 2] in 1992?

A: The investigation is expected to focus on the area north of Farragut Street NE where WMATA conducted staging [pgs. 13 - 14] for the Metrorail Green Line construction.  It would also look at areas along the roadway that were disturbed when Holcim (formerly Aggregate Industries) bulldozed along the roadway in early 2023.  Further investigations beyond this immediate area will be determined upon the results of this work.

Q: Why doesn’t your agency return to the eastern section of the park for a closer look at land on either side of the narrow foot trail where the 75mm was unearthed in July 2020?

A: An investigation of the area east of the CSX/Metrorail tracks, between Gallatin and Galloway Streets NE, may be considered for a later time.  We have requested, and are receiving, information from WMATA about their construction activities in this area.  We are also working with the Army on a history of the Fort Totten sites and their uses over time.  Our intent is to better understand the work conducted by WMATA, and how construction materials may have been moved around between the sites east and west of the tracks, before we look more closely into an investigation of this area.

Brian Joyner, Acting Superintendent
 National Park Service
 November 16, 2023

Dear Deputy Superintendent; 

I’m writing to inquire on the status of the Park Service’s investigation of World War I-era chemical munitions and laboratory waste buried at Fort Totten National Park.  As you know, in addition to a 75mm shell exposed by heavy rains on a foot trail in the eastern arm of the park in July 2020, two additional artillery shells were discovered in mounds of soil along a road inside the western section last April.  News media in May reported that discussions of whether a major cleanup might be required in the park were paused due to questions about the contents of a Livens Projector found in one of those mounds.  Earlier this week at Tuesday’s public meeting of the Spring Valley FUDS Restoration Advisory Board (RAB), project manager Dan Noble said that — after detecting chlorine in the liquid fill of the century-old artillery shell — the Army Corps sent the Livens to Edgewood Arsenal for further analysis.  

Noble reported on a site visit he conducted to inspect the soil mounds before they were stabilized and showed before-and-after photos of the area, which have been posted on the Army's website (pgs. 29 - 33).  Noble also described his serendipitous discovery of two additional items as he walked past the mounds: a metal munition fragment and glass beaker lid that were “very similar” to material investigators typically encounter at the FUDS cleanup site in Spring Valley.  Regardless of Edgewood’s findings on the specific content of the Livens shell, it’s obvious that more munitions debris and laboratory waste remains buried at Ft. Totten following the 1992 dump of toxic landfill from excavations on Glenbrook Road in Spring Valley ...
Allen Hengst
 Email to NPS
 October 13, 2023 (pgs. 3 - 4)


WASHINGTON — An area of Fort Totten Park remains closed and fenced, and cement barriers and “no trespassing” signs will remain while the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Army further investigate the metal canisters, determined to be WW I-era munitions, found there in the spring.  Based on investigations to date, the NPS and the Army have determined it is possible Fort Totten Park contains additional munitions.  The two metal canisters, found April 18, were discovered in the park after unauthorized work conducted by an adjacent property owner pushed approximately 10 feet of soil onto NPS land.  One munition was a 75-mm projectile, approximately 3 inches in diameter and 11 inches long.  The other munition was a Livens projectile, approximately 6 inches in diameter and 19 inches long.  

The MARB was established in 1995 (US Army)

Initial assessment by Army experts indicated the 75-mm projectile did not pose a hazard and the Livens projectile contained an unknown liquid ... Both items were evaluated by the Army’s Materiel Assessment Review Board (MARB) ... Initial testing of the liquid in the Livens projectile was inconclusive, so it was taken to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Edgewood, Maryland, on Aug. 2, for additional testing.  The additional testing indicated that the Livens did not pose a hazard ... The NPS and Army are seeking funding to conduct a comprehensive investigation at Fort Totten Park.  More information regarding the use of the site during the construction of the Metrorail Greenline can be found here.
Autumn Cook
 National Park Service
 November 9, 2023

Sep 4, 2023

Appeals Court Panel Rules EPA Must Regulate Perchlorate

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, today unanimously ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision against regulating the toxic chemical perchlorate in drinking water was illegal.  The following is a reaction by Erik D. Olson, Senior Strategic Director for Health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):  “The court ruled that EPA must regulate perchlorate-contaminated drinking water because the agency had found that it poses a health risk to millions of Americans.  After more than a decade of delay and litigation, EPA now must issue a drinking water standard for this widespread and dangerous contaminant.   It’s about time." 
 
Judges [David B.] Sentelle and [David S.] Tatel issued a joint opinion striking down EPA’s decision not to regulate; Judge [Florence Y.] Pan issued a separate concurring opinion, rendering a unanimous ruling against the EPA.  Judges Sentelle and Tatel found that EPA lacked the authority to reverse the agency’s previous decision to regulate this toxic rocket fuel component.  Judge Pan agreed that EPA’s action must be struck down, but because EPA was “arbitrary and capricious” [pg. 30] in making its decision, not that the agency lacked the authority to do so.  She found that EPA’s refusal to regulate based on a finding that decreasing the average IQ of vulnerable children was not an adverse effect “did not meet the statutory standard.”  She also noted that EPA decision also “was based on a biased dataset” [pg. 17] on perchlorate occurrence in tap water “that was selectively updated.”         
   May 9, 2023
 
NRDC Argued EPA Failure to Regulate Perchlorate Was Unlawful
In arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, today lawyers for NRDC told a three-judge panel that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision against regulating the toxic chemical perchlorate in drinking water was illegal.  The following is a reaction by Erik D. Olson, Senior Strategic Director for Health at NRDC:  “Today the court heard why EPA’s refusal to set a drinking water standard for the widespread toxic chemical perchlorate is unlawful and unsupported by science.  Doctors and health experts have long called for EPA to protect the public, especially fetuses, infants, and young children, from this brain-damaging toxic chemical.  We are hopeful that the court will rule that EPA erred and must move ahead with a perchlorate standard.”  
 
Last March, the EPA announced it would not revisit a decision to not regulate perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel associated with brain damage in fetuses and infants, leaving millions of people unknowingly exposed to the chemical through their tap water.  The determination affirmed a Trump EPA decision to not regulate perchlorate in drinking water.  Perchlorate, widely used in rocket fuel and munitions ... is the first unregulated drinking water contaminant for which EPA has proposed a standard in more than 25 years under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996.  The Defense Department (DOD) and its contractors are major users of perchlorate and there are innumerable DOD facilities where perchlorate pollution has been found. 
 
DOD has opposed strict controls on perchlorate, in an apparent attempt to minimize its cleanup costs.   Since perchlorate is unregulated, there is no federally required monitoring of tap water or requirement to inform a community of contamination.  In 2011, the EPA formally decided that perchlorate should be regulated because it is toxic and widespread, with the drinking water of as many as 16 million people contaminated by the chemical.  When the Agency failed to develop a standard by the deadline, NRDC sued, and then secured a court-approved consent decree requiring the EPA to issue a drinking water standard for perchlorate by 2019. 
~ Margie Kelly
   NRDC
   January 27, 2023

Jun 6, 2023

Elected Officials Grapple with Agency Inertia Over Poisoned Park

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is working with the National Park Service [NPS] and the US Army Corps of Engineers [USACE] to determine the scope of further soil testing in Fort Totten Park.  Recall back in 2017, NPS officials informed the ANC [Advisory Neighborhood Commission] and elected officials in the city that a Metro contractor brought in soil from a toxic World War I munitions testing site in Spring Valley to rehabilitate NPS parkland on the west side of Ft. Totten Park.  That parkland had been used as a staging area for construction of Metro’s green line in the 1990s.  NPS stated that the contaminated soil had been removed from the park and that soil testing in that area did not show any cause for concern.  In July 2020, an unexploded ordnance was found on the east side of the park where a pedestrian trail was planned between Gallatin & Galloway streets.
Residents expressed concern that NPS likely did not know the extent of where soil from Spring Valley was taken in the park.  Emails and concerns went unaddressed and residents simply received assurances that everything was okay.  In April 2023 two canisters [sic] were found on the west side of the park.  USACE is still testing those canisters [sic] and the area on the west side of the park remains closed.  The more recent discoveries of munitions in the park led Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, at the urging of residents and ANC Commissioner Zachary Ammerman (5A09), to start periodically requesting soil testing throughout the park.  Commissioner Ammerman has created a timeline of events at https://www.anc5a09.com/trackers/fort-circle-park-toxic-waste-timeline.  On April 26, ANC 5A passed a resolution supporting further testing in the park.  
On May 10, 2023, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton sent another letter to NPS and USACE regarding soil testing ...  Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker also sent to NPS a letter regarding soil testing ... [Norton's] office sent another letter on June 1.  It appears there will be some type of investigation to determine what NPS lands were impacted by Metro’s green line construction and where soil from Spring Valley may have been delivered by Metro’s contractor.  Congresswoman Norton’s office is still working with NPS, Metro, and District officials on the scope and timeline for getting all of this done.  Her office is also working on a couple of different strategies for getting to the bottom of this issue.  

May 23, 2023

Environmental Group Leads Toxic Tours of Former WW I Army Base

AUES Spring Valley tours provide context to better understand the issues surrounding the cleanup of this Formerly Used Defense Site. Tours focus on historical features of the American University Experiment Station, the current Army Corps of Engineers cleanup operations and residents’ health problems. Tours are led by a former Restoration Advisory Board member and Spring Valley resident. Each tour takes approximately 1½ hours.  Participants see where testing occurred during World War I and where chemical warfare materiel is being removed today. For more information contact ahengst@verizon.net.
 
Hit CountersFree Hit Counter