Buried in a DC yard: WWI chemicals, weapons

Buried in a DC yard: WWI chemicals, weapons


(http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/stories/U/US_DC_MUNITIONS_DIG?SITE=DCSAS&S



ECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-04-16-07-22-30)

 
By BRETT ZONGKER

Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A year ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers thought

chances of finding any more chemical weapons in the front yard of a home

in the nation's capital were slim. So they removed an airtight

protective structure from the World War I munitions cleanup site. Then,

they uncovered a small arsenal.


The Corps discovered an open flask containing traces of the chemical

agent mustard, another blistering agent called lewisite and munition

shells with more digging near a one-time Army chemical warfare station

at American University.


More recently, protective structures were rebuilt and digging continued.

Workers found a larger jar with mustard, glassware that was smoking and

fuming, scrap munitions and a shell containing a tear gas agent.


The Army Corps has removed more than 500 pounds of glassware and scrap

metal and nearly 750 barrels of soil, some of it contaminated with

chemical agents, said spokeswoman Joyce Conant.


"It's a much larger disposal area than we predicted," project manager

Dan Noble told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The nature of debris

is so different, perhaps it's a different disposal area."


It's too soon to know, though, whether the Army Corps has uncovered a

fourth major disposal area in the pricey Spring Valley neighborhood near

American University, Nobel said.


During World War I, the Army used the university as an experiment

station to develop and test chemical weapons. Some munitions were fired

into a nearby wooded area during testing. When the Army station closed,

the leftover munitions and chemicals were buried behind the school in

what was then rural farmland.


The pits were discovered in 1993 as homes were built. This is the fourth

major excavation since.


All the new discoveries have area residents on edge the Army Corps has

underestimated the scope of contamination. Neighbors are thinking of

their drinking water, property values and where the next munition might

turn up.


"I think a lot of people believe that they need to re-examine their

assumptions," said Nan Wells, a neighborhood commissioner.


Wells said there should be an independent review of the project and the

Army Corps should increase its ground water testing in the area to make

sure buried chemicals don't reach a nearby reservoir serving Washington.

Ground water monitoring stations have been set up in recent years.


The home where the latest munitions were uncovered is federal property.

Next door is the university president's home, and the South Korean

ambassador lives on the other side.


In late March, the Army Corps uncovered the smoking chemical arsenic

trichloride for the first time in the cleanup project. It can be used to

develop the blistering agent lewisite, Noble said. Digging was halted

shortly after while officials review their safety procedures.


American University spokeswoman Camille Lepre said there were no plans

to move or cancel any campus events scheduled at the president's house.


On Friday, the Army Corps began destroying the first of about 25

munitions at a holding facility built in the area, a process that will

take several weeks. Officials stress the explosive destruction system,

as it's called, has a perfect safety record.


Still, some residents worry that something could go wrong.


"They've created a hazardous waste site in the neighborhood," Wells

said.


Col. David Anderson, commander of the Army Corps' Baltimore district,

said residents' safety is their top priority.


The Army Corps has left the neighborhood in the past, thinking the

cleanup was finished, and the agency now faces federal budget cuts. But

Washington's delegate in Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, said she has

been assured funding will be maintained until all munitions are removed.