[CPEO-MEF] Neighbors Ask Attorney General to Stop Open Burning: AnalysisShows Ai

[Laura Olah <info@cswab.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
May 8, 2003

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

For more information contact:
Laura Olah, CSWAB (608) 643-3124
Melissa Scanlan, Midwest Environmental Advocates (608) 251-5047
Charles J. Gantzer, Ph.D., Gantzer Environmental Software and
Services,
Inc. (612) 824-6662

Neighbors Ask Attorney General to Stop Open Burning:
Analysis Shows Air Emissions Will Exceed Safe Standards

Nearby residents today asked Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager to take
legal action to stop a plan to open burn approximately 100 buildings at
Badger Army Ammunition Plant.  On behalf of Citizens for Safe Water
Around Badger (CSWAB), attorneys with Midwest Environmental Advocates
have requested the action based on new findings that the calculations
used in the WDNR's approval are flawed.  A technical consultant hired by
the groups found that the proposed open burning of
explosives-contaminated buildings will exceed air quality standards.

The WDNR's air modeling approach contains a significant error," said
Charles J. Gantzer, Ph.D.  "The WDNR's approach assumed a heat content
of wood that is 16 times higher than the actual heat content of wood.
When the correct heat content is used, the estimated inhalable
particulate concentrations are 2.7 times above the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards."

This is the second time the WDNR's air emissions projections were in
error.  Gantzer analyzed a previous study and found the WDNR had
underestimated particulate emissions by a factor of 5.

"The proposed open burning will violate Wisconsin law which requires
open burning to be conducted in a pollution free manner," said Attorney
Melissa Scanlan. "The Attorney General can take action to abate or
prevent a nuisance from occurring, including a violation of state law."

"I live next to the plant and have three children," explained Laura
Olah, Executive Director of CSWAB.  "Families in our community have
already been exposed to pollution in their drinking water, mercury
contamination in the river, and toxic air emissions produced when Badger
was operating. We've had enough.  The Army must be required to comply
with the law just like everybody else."  According to the Wisconsin
Department of Health and Family Services, the small particles in wood
smoke can worsen heart conditions by preventing oxygen from reaching
tissues.  Breathing difficulties such as asthma may
increase in adults or children if they breathe too much smoke.  Other
health problems aggravated by burning include lung infections such as
acute pneumonia and bronchiolitis.  Allergies can also be worsened.

"During open burning materials are changed from a solid form and are
released to the atmosphere where they are deposited over a large area
resulting in contamination of soil and surface water," Olah said.
"Airborne vapors and dust generated during burning are not only a risk
to nearby residents, they are also a risk to workers, area farmers, and
other people that lease property inside Badger." Other organizations
that have formally opposed open burning at Badger include Citizens
Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin, Clean Water Action Council
of Wisconsin, Concerned Citizens of Newport, Families
and Friends for Social Responsibility, Glenview Prairie Preservation
Project, Interfaith Justice and Peace, Midwest Environmental Advocates,
Midwest Treaty Network, Peace Action Wisconsin, Madison Chapter of
Physicians for Social Responsibility, Rock Valley Fellowship of
Reconciliation, Wisconsin's Environmental Decade, Wisconsin Network for
Peace and Justice, Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG),
and the Wolf Watershed Educational Project.

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