[CPEO-MEF] Meade cleanup targets skeet range

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Meade cleanup targets skeet range
By RON SNYDER, Staff Writer
Having cleaned up two-thirds of the 152 contaminated sites at Fort
George G. Meade, cleanup workers still have a long way to go before the
Army post is removed from the list of the country's most polluted
properties.

The big sites, such as the sanitary landfill and the Defense
Reutilization and Marketing Officer storage building, where construction
crews discovered 267 buried drums of waste oil and solvents, have
grabbed most of the headlines.

But cleanup crews also are focusing on lesser known sites, including the
post's old skeet shooting range, the surface of which is contaminated
after years of collecting lead bullets and remnants of clay pigeons.

Abandoned since the late 1980s, the skeet range has become a nuisance
for workers assessing the site. They are constantly dealing with people
cutting through the property, located on Route 175 adjacent to Sarah's
House, a transitional housing shelter.

"For the most part, people are good about leaving it alone," said Fort
Meade environmental engineer Jim Gebhardt. "But, with such a high
turnover rate at Sarah's House and all the schools nearby, word just
doesn't always get out to stay away."

Mr. Gebhardt said there are plans to erect a fence around the range's
entrance so trespassers don't interfere with the cleanup.

"When you look at the skeet range and compare it to other sites, there
is really very little contamination," said Paul Robert, chief of the
post's environmental management office. "The big problem with it is that
because it is located outside of the post's gates, it's not a controlled
site."

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/live/11_15-18/CWC

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