[CPEO-MEF] Group decries method used in wildlife impact study at Badger plant

["Laura Olah" <cswab@merr.com>]

Group decries method used in wildlife impact study at Badger plant
By Tim Damos / News Republic
 
A U.S. Army contractor's assessment of one of the largest contaminated sites
at the decommissioned Badger Army Ammunition Plant found the area poses
little risk to wildlife.
 
But a consultant for the Badger Restoration Advisory Board, a group of local
stakeholders, says there are some problems with the way the data was
collected.
 
The assessment will provide the basis for decisions on the future cleanup of
the settling ponds, an area where water containing metals and other
contaminants was dumped and filtered when the plant was operational.
 
The Army's contractor, SpecPro, worked with the state Department of Natural
Resources to analyze the risk to wildlife on the 60-acre site.
 
Dr. Peter deFur, who was hired by the nonprofit group Citizens for Safe
Water Around Badger (www.cswab.org) to interpret the 600-page report for the
advisory board, says the analysis was flawed in several ways.
 
To read the whole story, go to http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/297410

POSTSCRIPT to Badger story:  2,4-DNT was detected in 6 out of 6 soil samples
ranging in concentration from 1.22 ug/kg to 4,030 ug/kg.  2,6-DNT was
detected in 5 out of 6 samples ranging from ?no detect? to 388 ug/kg.  Both
state and federal regulations require that reference areas are clean and
unaffected by hazardous substance releases.  The presence of DNT ? an
explosive compound used in the manufacture of munitions ? indicates that the
selected reference sites in the Army?s 2008 Ecological Risk Assessment do
not meet this minimal requirement.  Moreover, the Army tested for only 2 of
the 6 isomers (forms) of DNT found at Badger Army Ammunition Plant.  Several
studies indicate these other isomers may by 2 to 10 times more toxic than
2,4- and 2,6-DNT.  Laura Olah, CSWAB.


--
Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, WI  53561
(608)643-3124
Email: info@cswab.org
Website: www.cswab.org
 


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