[CPEO-MEF] Weapons debris found at arsenal

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Weapons debris found at arsenal      
6 new sites may hold explosives, chemicals      
By Valerie Edmondson
Special to The Denver Post

Friday, June 28, 2002 - ADAMS COUNTY - An 18-month study at the Rocky 
Mountain Arsenal has uncovered six additional locations that may contain 
explosives or hazardous chemicals.

The surprise discovery at the arsenal two years ago of bomblets 
containing deadly sarin gas prompted the Environmental Protection Agency 
to initiate the new study of the entire 27-square-mile Superfund site 
near Commerce City.

The last of the bomblets was destroyed on June 15, 2001.

"The discovery of the bomblets called into question whether or not we 
were prepared to respond to something like this," said Laura Williams, a 
team leader in the re-evaluation. "We wanted to take a second look at 
what is there."

The arsenal is a former chemical-weapons and pesticide-manufacturing 
site that Congress set aside as a national wildlife refuge in 1992.

Visitor activities were suspended while the evaluation was conducted.

This second look at the property made use of sophisticated computer 
technology not available when the site was first reviewed in the 1980s. 
Aerial photographs and thousands of documents and field investigations 
all helped determine whether 2,600 anomalies, or unusual 
characteristics, were dangerous.

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E700585%257E,00.html

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