[CPEO-MEF] Press Release: Public Meeting Called A Sham

[info@cswab.com]

For Immediate Release
October 2, 2002

For more information contact:
Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
(608) 643-3124


PUBLIC MEETING CALLED A SHAM

WISCONSIN -- A recent WDNR public meeting is the culmination of a
four-year plan that included everyone but the public, says Citizens for
Safe Water Around Badger.

As a part of a search of public WDNR files in Madison, CSWAB found
detailed records of a ?plan of action? that would test the public?s
response to a less-than-total cleanup at the Deterrent Burning Grounds ?
a major hazardous waste disposal site at Badger Army Ammunition Plant.

Two separate accounts detail a July 9, 1998 private meeting that
included representatives of the WDNR, USEPA, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, Olin Corporation, Stone and Webster Environmental
Services, and the Wisconsin Division of Health.

?In the public?s view, any partial excavation proposed will be compared
to the total excavation requirements currently in the permit,? EPA
officials cautioned the group.  ?The Army has already been told to
remove it all?.  WDNR officials voiced the same concern about ?the
public response?.

Army contractors acknowledged that the Army is ?getting a break? by not
being required to implement the approved cleanup at the Deterrent
Burning Ground, WDNR records said.

Representatives of Stone and Webster, a consulting firm working for the
Army, suggested that they ?submit the Feasibility Study and see how the
public responds?.

According to meeting records, Army officials then asked the WDNR about
its intentions.  ?Is the WDNR looking at approving a partial excavation
proposal as a final remedy or an interim remedy?? they asked.  ?At this
point, we?re looking at it as a final remedy,? WDNR officials assured.

At the end of the meeting, state agencies and Badger Army Ammunition
Plant officials ?agreed to this plan of action?.

Two weeks ago, on September 16, a meeting was held at Badger Army
Ammunition Plant inviting public comment on partial excavation at the
Deterrent Burning Grounds ? a proposal that will leave more than 33,000
cubic yards of explosives-contaminated soil below the surface.

?We now know the public meeting was a sham ? a contrived scheme to test
the public?s resolve,? said Laura Olah, Executive Director of CSWAB.
?Instead of good science, closed-door politics is driving a
decision-making process that will affect the health and well being of
our community for years to come.?

?The WDNR is asking for a public response,? Olah said.  ?Well, now they?
ve got one.?

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--
Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, WI  53561
phone (608)643-3124
fax (608)643-0005 alt fax (608)643-2682
Email: info@cswab.com
Website: http://www.cswab.com

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