[CPEO-MEF] Army, state differ on chemical levels

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Colorado
Army, state differ on chemical levels
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
December 10, 2002

The Army and the state health department are at odds over the amount of
a chemical left over from nerve gas manufacturing that may be allowed to
safely remain in groundwater.

An estimated 130,000 pounds of diisopropyl methylphosphonate - or DIMP -
was left in soils at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Adams County, where
the Army made sarin nerve gas and other chemical weapons.

Production stopped in 1982, but small amounts of DIMP remain in the
groundwater northwest of the arsenal, an area that is seeing heavy
population growth. DIMP can affect the liver and kidneys.

Under a 1993 standard, the Army must reduce DIMP concentrations to 8
parts per billion. But citing new research, the Army asked the state
Water Quality Control Commission on Monday to raise the standard to 400
parts per billion.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_1599478,00.html

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