EPA SHUTS CAPE COD RANGES

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

Here are two versions of the latest news from Cape Cod. The first was 
sent by activist Joel Feigenbaum. The second I wrote before receiving 
Joel's message.

Lenny Siegel

On April 10, EPA Region 1 issued a unilateral order under the Safe Drinking
Water Act and RCRA suspending all Army Guard training activities at the
Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) that could release contaminants to
the air soil and water.

Although the Army Guard had finally agreed to suspend firing of explosive
munitions, the new EPA order suspends all firing, citing the presence in
artillery propellant of dinitrolouene, a probable carcinogen. EPA also
suspended the use of pyrotechnics such as Grenade Hand Smoke HC AN-M8 which
contains hexachloroethane, a possible human carcinogen.

The order also requires the Guard to: Remove all lead from all of the MMR's
small arms firing ranges; to search for unexploded ordnance (UXO) and remove
it wherever possible given safety considerations. EPA asserted that UXO,
"if left in the ground, can corrode and leak harmful ingredients of
exposives, such as TNT and RDX, into the soil and ground water."

EPA stated, "Today we shift the burden of proof from those whose health may
be threatened to those whose activities are potentially harmful... 
Based on what we already know, there is a real cause for public health 
concern in terms of contamination of the Cape's sole source of drinking 
water and elevated cancer levels."

EPA's action follows years of analysis by community members of high cancer
rates in the area. Lung cancer in surrounding female residents has been
elevated significantly since 1969. In 1987-92, female incidence rates were
44 percent above age-adjusted state averages. Rates are highest in census
tracts abutting the MMR.

RANGES SHUT DOWN ON CAPE COD

Last week, in an unprecedented move, the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency effectively ordered the shutdown of artillery and small arms 
firing ranges at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, on Upper Cape 
Cod. The Reservation is used by National Guard Troops and law 
enforcement officers from throughout the northeast.
(This report is the latest in a series of articles published by the 
Cape Cod Times. The entire text of the articles is available on the 
Internet at <www.capecodonline.com>.)

The Cape Cod Times reports, "John DeVillars, New England regional 
administrator of the EPA, said he took the action to protect public 
health. He said he was concerned about the presence of dinitrotoluene 
or DNT in the ground water under the artillery range. DNT, a component 
of artillery propellant, is a probable carcinogen." EPA is also 
concerned about lead from small arms ranges, and it has "ordered the 
military to remove all lead and unexploded ordnance from the small-arms 
and artillery firing ranges." 

The action follows years of studies and community organizing around 
both air and water pollution from Guard and former Air Force activities 
at the facility.

EPA, reports the Times, drew upon "imminent hazard" authorities. EPA's 
munitions rule is unlikely to come into play, but the full legal 
significance - that is, to what degree a precedent has been set - will 
not be clear for some time. The Defense Department's Range Rule, when 
it is finally promulgated, will not apply, since it is being designed 
only to cover closed ranges.

Still, the shutdown makes real the military's greatest fear of 
environmental regulation of munitions activities. Anti-pollution laws 
are now being used to interfere with the military's core operations: 
training. (Other environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species 
Act, have been used in the same way.)

It also shows that munitions pose a toxic hazard, not just an explosive 
risk. While protecting people from sudden death and injury rightfully 
remains a higher priority, the military and environmental regulators 
have to come to grips with toxic contamination at munitions impact 
areas. (At other bases, such as ammunition plants, toxic explosives 
have already been found in quantities and locations serious enought to 
place several of those facilities on the Superfund National Priorities 
List.) I believe that there have been few reports of such contamination 
because rarely has anyone looked.

To its credit, the Defense Department is already seeking ways of avoid 
such contamination. Most notably, it is pursuing a "green bullet" 
program, to take the lead out of small arms rounds. 

Lenny Siegel