1997 CPEO Military List Archive

From: "Theodore J. Henry" <thenry@umabnet.ab.umd.edu>
Date: 09 Jul 1997 08:36:11
Reply: cpeo-military
Subject: Re: DOD's ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD
 
(This is Ted's reply to the posting by a military cleanup staffer ...)

With such a belief in dialogue I will respond to this statement. I
agree that many environmental contamination actions conducted in the past
were not intentional. Although, in my limited time actively on the list,
I have not seen such implications (the belief it was intentional) for the
most part. What was said is quite true and I am glad to see differing
opinions offered. To the other end, there were some activities that were
so stupid, that one must question prior intentions. In the case of APG,
there is an area where so much mustard agent was dumped into the marsh
that the Army went into the marsh in the 1950s to try to clean it up
because it was considered a significant risk to the employees near by - in
the 1950s! Interestingly, when they tried to apply decontaminating
materials in the marsh, the marsh caught on fire and they got the workers
out by keeping a hose on them so they would not burn up. A story from
military documents.

 Anyway, I think the concern for disregard comes for current actions not
past dumping. Such as the Nike Site UXO removal which was part of the
proposed plan for more than 2 years, and then was changed to a removal
action where there is less oversight, a move deeply considered
inappropriate by the community. Or the 1994 mustard release which the RAB
has never received a clear presentation on with regard to changes made in
on-post procedures.

Lastly, with regard to the public scrutiny placed on the decision process
in DoD, it should be noted that this scrutiny is based on (1) past
community experience, and (2) legitimate concerns that DoD does not
receive the same level of oversight as non-federal entities. Are either
one of these invalid or not of substance? I think not.

Hopefully, better community involvement from the beginning will reduce
these things in time.

Ted Henry

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