Post 9-11 Secrecy Hits Home in Aberdeen Maryland

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Post 9-11 Secrecy Hits Home in Aberdeen Maryland
The government is withholding information that residents need to protect
themselves from contaminated water.
February 2, 2004

To prevent pollution, people need adequate information.  With adequate
information, communities can better demand accountability from industry
and government.  The Aberdeen Proving Ground Superfund Citizens
Coalition (APGSCC), a community group from Aberdeen Maryland, relies on
information from the Department of Defense (DOD) to monitor
environmental contamination and remediation efforts at the U.S. Army's
Aberdeen Proving Grounds - one of the largest weapons proving grounds in
the country.  However, new secrecy at DOD is eroding the Aberdeen
citizens' right-to-know about toxic pollution and straining a
once-productive relationship between the government and citizens.

The military has used Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) for munitions and
chemical weapons testing since World War I.  As a result, the area is
heavily contaminated with chemical agents, unexploded ordinance,
superfund sites, disposal areas, and firing ranges.  Out of growing
concern for the surrounding community, the APGSCC came together in 1991
to oversee the DOD's cleanup efforts.

The APGSCC received a "Technical Assistance Grant" under the federal
Superfund law that enables the group to retain technical expertise and
advocate for the most protective clean-up options.  The Superfund law
has also compelled APG to establish a "Remediation Advisory Board" whose
mission is to work with the Aberdeen community.  The APG includes the
APGSCC in meetings and provides information that enables the citizens to
monitor progress of clean up activities.

However shortly after 9-11, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz
issued a memo instructing DOD employees to protect "sensitive but
unclassified information" that could be "compiled to reveal sensitive
conclusions."  These new DOD restrictions on information are now foiling
community participation.  Security concerns are colliding with citizen's
right-to-know about environmental contamination.

At issue are maps that show plumes of groundwater contaminated with
perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel used at APG for decades.
Perchlorate contaminates 11 drinking water wells, both on and off APG
property.  Maps that once documented the extent and location of
perchlorate contamination now lack roads, street names, and other
orienting information - even the footings of buildings that no longer
exist - making it impossible for citizens to deduce the location of the
perchlorate plumes.

Perchlorate moves rapidly through soil and groundwater, where it can
persist for decades.  Perchlorate can cause thyroid tumors and can
disrupt thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy, leading to mental
retardation, loss of hearing and speech, birth defects, and other
developmental problems in infants and children.

The APGSCC does not believe that shielding public information is the
best way to increase security at APG, and notes that the information
removed from the maps is publicly available through other sources.
Street maps of APG are widely available on-line through Mapquest, and
photos are available on-line through TerraServer.  In addition, anyone
with a driver's license can still enter the base, which includes a
public golf course.

According to APGSCC member Glenda Bowling, "Without the maps, we have
not been able to answer certain questions from concerned citizens at
community meetings.  One person asked me how close this water
contamination was to Maryland Boulevard, near where she lives, and I
could not answer her.  Before they took all of the orienting information
off of the maps, I was able to answer that question."  The APGSCC has
sued for disclosure in district court.

This article can be viewed online at:
http://www.crtk.org/detail.cfm?docID=702&cat=information%20reform

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