[CPEO-MEF] PRESS RELEASE: Safe Alternative to Army Burning Sought

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

                              CSWAB   (Citizens for Safe Water Around
Badger)
                                                                        
                 E12629 Weigand’s Bay South - Merrimac, WI  53561
                                           
                          Phone (608) 643-3124 - Fax (608) 643-0005

                                                                        
                    Email: info@cswab.com - Website: www.cswab.com

January 13, 2003

 

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

 

For more information, contact:

Laura Olah, Executive Director (608) 643-3124

 

 Safe Alternative to Army Burning Sought 

 Neighbors Ask Baldwin for Help 

 

MERRIMAC – Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger is asking Congresswoman
Tammy Baldwin to help find a safe alternative
to open burning as many as 100 explosives-contaminated buildings at
Badger Army Ammunition Plant – a proposal that nearby
residents say will cause more pollution at the closing military base.

In a letter issued today, CSWAB said that funding should be
invested in the research and development of alternative
technologies that meet the military’s criteria but do not place human
health and the environment at risk.  The group proposes
that Badger be utilized as pilot site.  The proposal could create job
opportunities for workers displaced by base closure and
could also bring needed federal dollars into Wisconsin.  

Disposing of unwanted buildings at closing military facilities
is a challenge facing communities across the country and
is not unique to Badger.  Each year hundreds of buildings are burned by
the Department of Defense, placing human health and
the environment at unnecessary risk and exacerbating environmental
damage caused by past military activities, the group
said.                     

“Environmental cleanup at Badger is already a highly complex and
challenging problem,” said Laura Olah, Executive Director
of CSWAB.  “The last thing we need is more contamination”.

Plexus Scientific, a contractor working for the U.S. Army, reports that
during an open burn materials are “changed from a solid
form and are released to the atmosphere where they will certainly be
deposited over a large area resulting in contamination of
soil and surface water”.  This method poses potential risks to workers
and others posed by the inhalation of vapors and fugitive
particulates, Plexus states.  

Open burning will, Plexus adds, “cause the release of hazardous
materials such as asbestos, lead, zinc, and potentially harmful
combustion products from electrical materials, preservative coatings on
equipment, paints, plastics, and construction
materials into the atmosphere and potentially into soils, groundwater,
and surface water”.  

Finding an environmentally-friendly solution is consistent with the
recommendations of the Badger Reuse Committee, an
independent advisory group funded with Baldwin’s help.  Last year, the
committee of local and tribal governments, state and
federal agencies, and other interested groups approved a plan that
stipulates future activities should pose no risk to people or
the environment and should not pose the threat of additional
contamination of the Badger property.  Planned future uses for the
7,400-acre facility, located next to Devil’s Lake State Park and the
Baraboo Hills, include conservation, agriculture, education,
and recreation.

In order to give federal legislators time to find funding and other
support for the project, the group is also asking that the
proposed open burning be delayed.  According to the Army, the first burn
could occur as early as February or March.

To date, more than 30 groups have formally opposed open burning at
Badger including Citizens Natural Resources Association
of Wisconsin, Clean Water Action Council of Wisconsin, Concerned
Citizens of Newport, Midwest Environmental Advocates,
Peace Action Wisconsin, Madison Chapter of Physicians for Social
Responsibility, Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade,
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, and Wisconsin Public Interest
Research Group (WISPIRG).

                                                                       
-         END –

Letter to Baldwin follows:

 

CSWAB

                                                                        
                                 Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger

                                                                        
                 E12629 Weigand’s Bay South - Merrimac, WI  53561

                                                                        
                          Phone (608) 643-3124 - Fax (608) 643-0005

                                                                        
                    Email: info@cswab.com - Website: www.cswab.com

 

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin

Second District - Wisconsin

10 E Doty, Suite 405

Madison, WI 53703    

 

 

January 13, 2003

 

 

Dear Congresswoman Baldwin, 

         As you know, the final cleanup and restoration of the
environment at Badger Army Ammunition
Plant is, like hundreds of other military facilities across the country,
a highly complex and challenging proposal.  Manufacturing, handling, and
disposal of military wastes have
caused severe damage to our air, soil, surface waters, and groundwater
that in many cases cannot be
repaired.  Many acres at Badger will never again be productive, limited
by deed and use restrictions necessary to limit risks
posed by residual contamination.  In other areas, toxins leaching
through the soil column have poisoned the groundwater for decades to
come.  All this is the legacy we
leave future generations. While the past cannot be undone, we are
clearly obligated to ensure the
environment is not damaged further by decisions that are made today. 

As part of the decommissioning of the Badger facility, the Army is
responsible for safely disposing of
buildings that are contaminated with explosives.  It currently
maintains, however, that open burning
is its only viable alternative for “decontaminating” many of these
buildings.  While there is great
debate about this rationale, there is no question that this method will
release toxic emissions that will
contaminate soils, air, and nearby surface water.  A fact affirmed by
even the Army’s own consultants.

Plexus Scientific, a contractor working for the U.S. Army, reports that
during an open burn materials
are “changed from a solid form and are released to the atmosphere where
they will certainly be
deposited over a large area resulting in contamination of soil and
surface water”.  This method poses
potential risks to workers and others posed by the inhalation of vapors
and fugitive particulates,
Plexus states.  Risks extend to human and environmental receptors from
deposition of air borne
particulates; these deposited materials could affect both soil and
surface water bodies in the area
surrounding the burn site.  Open burning will, Plexus adds, “cause the
release of hazardous materials
such as asbestos, lead, zinc, and potentially harmful combustion
products from electrical materials,
preservative coatings on equipment, paints, plastics, and construction
materials into the atmosphere
and potentially into soils, groundwater, and surface water”.  

Disposing of unwanted buildings at closed military facilities
is a challenge facing communities across the country and is not unique
to Badger.  Each year hundreds of
buildings are burned by the Department of Defense, placing human health
and the environment at the
same risk and exacerbating the environmental damage caused by past
military activities.  

It behooves us, therefore, as a nation of communities just
like those on the Sauk Prairie, to invest in the research, development,
and implementation of alternative
technologies that will both meet the needs of the military and will
protect base workers, nearby
residents, and the environment.   

We are writing, therefore, to request your assistance in
securing the resources necessary to accomplish these goals.   As you
know, programs such as the Strategic
Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) provide funding
to help identify, develop,
and transition environmental technologies that relate directly to
defense mission accomplishment.  

In addition to addressing the critical environmental and human
health concerns we have described, this approach will also serve the
State by bringing
significant federal dollars to Wisconsin.  It will directly benefit the
local community by providing important
employment opportunities, including for those workers displaced by base
closure.

Moreover, seeking the highest quality cleanup at Badger is consistent
with the recommendations of the Badger Reuse Committee, an independent
advisory group representing the
needs of the community and government as they relate to the reuse of
Badger.  Cleanup and
future use, committee members unanimously agree, should pose no risk to
people or the environment and
should not contaminate nor pose the threat of additional contamination
of the Badger property.  

Therefore we further request your assistance in postponing the proposed
open burning of
contaminated buildings at Badger in order to afford the time necessary
to explore and secure funding
and resources necessary to research, develop, and implement
environmentally-sound alternatives to
open burning.

We look forward to your reply and securing a solution that will benefit
all of us that need and deserve a cleanup that does not further
jeopardize our environment and our future.  

                                                              
Sincerely,

                                                                

                                                               Laura
Olah, Executive Director

 

cc: Members BRC and BEBA committee

 

 

--

Laura Olah, Executive Director

Citizens for Save Water Around Badger

E12629 Weigands Bay S

Merrimac, WI 53561

phone: (608)643-3124

fax: (608)643-0005

email: info@cswab.com

website: http://www.cswab.com

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