[CPEO-MEF] Camp Bonneville Letter

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

[The following was letter was sent by Karen Kingston
<Karen4theCamp@cs.com>]

January 9, 2003

To: Sean Sheldrake, WA EPA
      Barry Rogowski, WA Department of Ecology
      Harry Craig, EPA
      Greg Johnson, WA Department of Ecology

RE: BRAC Camp Bonneville Military Reservation

Dear Sirs:

However much I appreciate the  excellent working relationship you each
provide I must, on behalf of the residents of the good State of
Washington, request the following:

Due to the Camp Bonneville Department of Defense Restoration Advisory
Board meeting last evening, January 8, 2003 at Camp Killpack, I
respectfully request further action by legal departments, available to
both you and I, looking into the Army violation for not having,
maintaining or making  available their Administrative Record, with
index, on behalf of their past and ongoing work at Camp Bonneville
Military Reservation; post BRAC 1996.

This matter was brought to my attention on December 10th, 2002.  I have
worked with Sean Sheldrake (WA EPA) and we resolved the question as to a
valid and prior Administrative Record by the US Army; they indeed do not
have one in place other than the "Information Repository" on file
without an index,  at several community locations in Washington State.
The "Information Repository" is a separate formality, one of several
mandated by the National Contingency Plan and therefore does not exclude
an Administrative Record and its maintenance.

At last nights meeting Eric Waehline, US Army BRAC Coordinator, stated
that the prior contamination removals and pending work at the Camp was
not under completed CERCLA, or at the very most, was a "debatable issue,
only".  I was under the impression that the Army has, in fact, conducted
work of a time critical removal action start and must follow CERCLA in
order to obtain permit exemptions for past and ongoing work.  Such
permits require an AR.   Please advise me, if I am in error.

In as much as I enjoy a debate, the BRAC closure and characterization of
contamination, buried munitions, and UXO, already known at Camp
Bonneville, should prudently follow legal requirements and standards and
not be allowed for an Army debate folly.

Standards, restrictions, regulations, and requirements have been set in
place to protect the citizens of our great State and America.  I request
this matter to be resolved by any legal options available, i.e., the
Washington State Attorney General.

Please copy, to me, any investigation and/or remediation of this matter
and the legal mechanism from which you arrived at any decisions
regarding this matter.  I appreciate a cross-referencing for the
requirement of an Administrative Record with SEPA (State Environmental
Policy Act), the Clean Water Act, and others.

I, as a member of the Restoration Advisory Board, feel this is my
citizen responsibility to enlist our oversight in this serious matter
via legal advice available to you.  I, in turn, will follow up with the
Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of Defense
representatives.  Please include this request in your agency
administrative record for Camp Bonneville.

I thank you, in advance, for your immediate attention.

Respectfully,
Karen Kingston
Camp Bonneville Restoration Advisory Board Co-Chair
22517 N.E. 88th street
Vancouver, WA 98682

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