CITIZENS OPPOSE RMA ROD

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>]

From: Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@igc.org>

I received the following via fax, from members of the Rocky Mountain 
Arsenal RAB & SSAB

Aimee Houghton

 *********

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Contact: Rick Warner
 Voice/Fax: 303-722-7981

CITIZENS OPPOSE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL RECORD OF DECISION

On June 11, 1996, the country's largest Superfund Record of Decision 
will be signed at a by-invitation-only ceremony to be held at the Rocky 
Mountain Arsenal. The Arsenal, established by the U.S. Army in 1942 to 
manufacture chemical weapons, contains highly contaminated soils and 
groundwater. In the 1950's Shell Oil Company leased Arsenal land from 
the Army to produce the currently U.S. banned pesticides, dieldrin, 
aldrin, and endrin. Rocky Mountain Arsenal is located ten miles NE of 
downtown Denver.

Citizen representatives on both the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) 
and the Site Specific Advisory Board (SSAB) have repeatedly voiced 
concerns to the U.S. Army, EPA, Colorado Department of Health, and 
Shell Oil Company regarding the potential risk of contaminants to 
visitors, workers, and wildlife at the Arsenal. RAB and SSAB members 
were led to believe by Shell, the U.S. Army, the EPA, and the Colorado 
Department of Health that community input on cleanup decisions were 
valued, and necessary if a sound cleanup were to take place at the 
Arsenal. Instead, we believe our participation was used as a public 
relations tool.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal Record of Decision essentially locks 
citizens out of the CERCLA-Superfund process, and closes the door on 
the use of alternative technologies for cleanup at the Rocky Mountain 
Arsenal. Instead, citizens may look forward to much of the Arsenal's 
waste being landfilled or capped in place for 1,000 years, untreated, 
with high potential for groundwater contamination in the future.

Worse yet, the U.S. Army has not addressed the problem of unexploded 
ordnance (UXO) in several areas of RMA, such as the Complex Trenches 
and Basin A. Basin A, used by the Army as a landfill from 1942-1952 
contains mustard ton containers, M-125 nerve GB bomblets and other 
chemical warfare material, according to the Non-Stockpile Chemical 
Material Program's "Survey and Analysis Report" (November 1993). Basin 
A will be capped in place, and NOT EXCAVATED under the Record of 
Decision signed June 11th.

We cannot endorse a cleanup at Rocky Mountain Arsenal that is less than 
protective of human health and environment, and denies future 
generations the right to live in a toxic-free Colorado.

Visit our homepage on the World Wide Web at:
 http://www.earthnet.net/~andreja/rma.html
for more information.

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