FT. McCOY DEED RESTRICTIONS

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

The following press release from activists in Wisconsin highlights 
public concern over the reported use of deed restrictions as a 
substitute for remediation.

LS

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, WI 53561

Citizens for Responsible Fort McCoy Growth
Route 4, Box 290A
Sparta, WI 54656

For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:
Dick Smith, Citizens for Responsible Fort McCoy Growth, (608) 269-2694
Laura Olah, Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, (608) 643-3124
Robert J Egan, USEPA, (312) 886-6212
May 4, 1997

 PUBLIC HEARING ON
FORT MCCOY CLEANUP ANNOUNCED

SPARTA On May 1, in response to pollution at nearly a dozen sites at
Fort McCoy, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a
proposal that would also place deed restrictions on private property and
drinking water resources near Fort McCoy instead of requiring cleanup of
contaminated groundwater at the facility -- a proposal drawing sharp
criticism from the environmental community.

 "Instead of requiring cleanup, the EPA intends to restrict land and
groundwater use," said Laura Olah, Executive Director of Citizens for
Safe Water Around Badger, an environmental group tracking pollution from
the military. "There are no timelines for compliance. We have no way
of knowing if groundwater standards will ever be met."

As part of their application for a hazardous waste storage facility, the
EPA required Fort McCoy to conduct a facility-wide environmental
investigation beginning in 1991. The study identified 11 disposal
sites, known as solid waste management units (SWMU's) including six
closed landfills, two fire training burning pits, a former pesticide
disposal area, and two explosive ordnance disposal areas.

Over the years, contaminants from these sites have migrated through the
soils and have impacted groundwater. Groundwater flowing beneath
Landfill #7, located near Squaw Creek, a tributary of the LaCrosse
River, is contaminated with arsenic levels as high as 143 parts per
billion (ppb), surpassing the groundwater limit of 50 ppb. At Landfill
#8, located near the Fort's western boundary and just west of the
LaCrosse river, the Army reported lead levels at 1,250 ppb, far
exceeding Wisconsin's Enforcement Standard of 15 (ppb). In fact, at 9
out of 10 areas studied at Fort McCoy, the levels of lead found in
groundwater exceeded enforceable standards.

"Fencing off land and restricting groundwater usage is not cleanup,"
added Dick Smith of Citizens for Responsible Fort McCoy Growth, a
coalition of residents living near the Army base. If small businesses
and private citizens have to comply with our State's groundwater
standards, so should the U.S. Army."

The EPA's public hearing is scheduled for June 3, 1997 at 6:00 p.m. at
the Tomah High School Cafeteria. The public comment period is open now
and will extend until June 16, 1997.