[CPEO-MEF] Marion Engineer Depot and Scioto Ordnance Plant FUDS

["Mark F. Bohne" <hilltop@lrbcg.com>]

This is sent in response to the submission by Jodi Griffith concerning the Marion Engineer Depot and Scioto Ordnance Plant.

I met Don Millard, Co-Chairman of the MED-SOP Restoration Advisory Board in February 2002 at the Eastern FUDS Forum in Baltimore, Maryland sponsored by CPEO. His story was very compelling concerning the site issues. However, it is important to point out that many of the problems were not caused by inaction by the Army Corps, but by a lethargic Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

In the quest to involve state agencies in federal clean-up activities, the Army Corps needs to recognize unprofessional behavior by state bureaucrats and side-step any agreements with them to identify health and environmental risks. In Ohio, the EPA serves polluters and disregards the needs of local residents. The ACOE needs to take the leadership role and act as examples to state agencies in these matters.

Don Millard's own family (children who attended the school and then suffered cancers in their adult lives), was adversly affected by the contamination. Jeffrey Steers, then Assistant Director of the Northwest District Office of the Ohio EPA offered that, "[the school] was a living laboratory" when confronted by Don concerning the health risks.

The ACOE's efforts are confounded by tight budgets and state delays when dealing with Formally Used Defense Sites. Until our state and federal governments make the environment a priority instead of an election issue, we are condemned to hear similar or worse stories in the future.

Mark F. Bohne
Co-Chairman
Plum Brook Ordnance Works Restoration Advisory Board
Erie County, Ohio

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