Defense Environment Alert
August 12, 2003

ARMY SETTLES WITH EPA REGION IX OVER JOHNSTON ISLAND AGENT RELEASE

The Army has reached a $273,625 settlement with EPA over the December 2000 release of nerve agent and its mishandling at the Army's chemical demilitarization facility on Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean, according to EPA Region IX

Under the settlement, the Army corrected the conditions that created the violations and will spend $182,500 on restoring, native plants on the Johnston Atoll wildlife refuge, Region IX says in an Aug. 4 news release. The Army will also pay a $91,125 fine, it says.

The violations relate to the Army's mishandling of VX nerve agent found during a monthly sampling of incinerator ash at the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System facility on the island. In handling the agent -- which is extremely deadly -- EPA found that workers lacked proper protective gear, failed to comply with emergency procedures, stored hazardous waste in a non-permitted area, and didn't timely notify EPA of the release, EPA says.

The re-vegetation will provide valuable nesting habitat for seabirds breeding at the atoll, the refuge manager says in the release.

"The project will help restore fragile bird habitat and mitigate the negative environmental effects of decades of past military activity on this remote Pacific island," says Amy Zimpfer, acting director for the EPA Pacific Southwest Region's Waste Management Division, in the release.