6. CHEMICALS: Lawmakers grill Army Corps over WWI-era weapons cleanup (06/11/2009)

Phil Taylor, E&E reporter

U.S. EPA is unable to tell residents of a Washington, D.C., neighborhood that they are safe from contamination of a World War I-era chemical weapons site.

Restoration of the 661-acre Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site, which now includes 1,200 private residences, several foreign embassies and parts of American University, has had several twists and turns since the Army Corps of Engineers began its work in 1995. But the question of Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to witnesses at a House subcommittee hearing was simple:

"Are the residents and those who work in Spring Valley safe?"

After a short pause, William Early, acting regional administrator for EPA Region 3, said he was concerned with groundwater and soil contamination, not to mention other threats like the potential for undiscovered buried explosives. "That's something we are continuing to address, in terms of ..."

"So you can't say yes?" Chaffetz interrupted.

"We're moving to make them safe," Early said.

The answer wasn't good enough for the members of the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia Subcommittee. Members demanded better evidence from the Army Corps that no more explosives or toxic chemicals were threatening the health of Spring Valley residents before leaving the cleanup.

The U.S. Army used Spring Valley for research and testing of chemical agents, equipment and munitions during and immediately after the war. A utility worker discovered a buried ordinance in 1993, prompting the establishment of a multi-agency effort led by the Army Corps with the assistance of EPA and the D.C. departments of Health and Environment.

The Army Corps said it plans to wrap up its fieldwork by 2010 by finishing removal of arsenic-tainted soil and conducting several groundwater tests to determine whether perchlorate contamination could threaten D.C.'s drinking water. It will also conduct on-site destruction and treatment of Army munitions and chemical agents unearthed during the course of the cleanup, said Col. Peter Mueller, commander of the corps' Baltimore District.

The corps' fieldwork will be followed by a remedial investigation report and feasibility study that will be made available for public comment. "We will let the facts and the data guide future work," Mueller said, not a timeline. "We remain committed to our purpose -- for as long as it takes -- to get the job done."

But members of the subcommittee complained that a detailed report justifying the corps' two-year exit plan had not been made available to them or the general public.

The corps' judgment was thrown into question in 1995, when it declared the Spring Valley site needed no further cleanup work. Later investigations revealed burial pits containing hundreds of military munitions, including mustard gas agents and elevated levels of arsenic.

"Neither Congress nor the community has seen the corps' two-year exit plan or other evidence," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), adding that since the Army left the weapons at the site, it is the responsibility of the federal government to confirm the area is safe.

Norton blamed the Army Corps for a lack of transparency that she said is responsible for many of the residents' distrust of the project. "Why not share [the plan]? In fact, put it online. What's the secret here?"

The members also criticized the corps for refusing to make public a list of the weapons, chemicals and other items it had uncovered at the site. George Hawkins, director of D.C. Department of Environment, said he had been denied access to the list for refusing to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Norton asked the panel for reasons why WWI-era weapons at the site needed to remain classified and demanded a list be provided to the members of the subcommittee. "We're not dealing with weapons that are being used today," Norton said. "Maybe the Army would be embarrassed that these weapons were being used, but I don't understand the national security concern."

Addison Davis, the assistant secretary for Army environment, safety and occupational health, said he would provide that list to members and that he would look into whether they could be made public.