[CPEO-MEF] MEDIA UPDATE: New Highway will Plow through Contaminated Army Site

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

September 28, 2008

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

For more information contact:
Laura Olah, CSWAB (608)643-3124


NEW HIGHWAY WILL PLOW THROUGH CONTAMINATED ARMY SITE

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger (CSWAB) is challenging a plan to allow
road construction through a highly contaminated area at Badger Army
Ammunition Plant.  The Army is seeking permission from the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to leave elevated levels of soil
contaminants in an area that will be "highly disturbed" by earthmoving
activities for realignment of U.S. Highway 78.  Any residual contamination
in and around the project area, Army officials said, will ultimately be the
responsibility of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Road construction planned for 2009 will plow through a now-dry settling pond
located along the southern boundary of Badger.  During active production
years, a series of four ponds received sanitary and industrial wastewater
and runoff from the nitroglycerine, rocket paste, and propellant storage
(magazine) areas.  As a result, soils are contaminated with high levels of
arsenic, mercury, explosives, and other military toxins.  

The Army said that the road alignment will go through the final pond, also
known as Settling Pond #4.  The pond is about 6 acres in size and
historically emptied into Lake Wisconsin at Gruber's Grove Bay after
crossing a small parcel of land owned by Wisconsin Power & Light.  

In its August 18 letter to the WDNR, the Army asks for approval of a plan to
only clean up localized "hot spots" of lead where concentrations exceed 250
parts per millions (ppm).  The Army has already started stabilizing and
removing these limited areas.  WDNR officials said, however, that the 250
ppm threshold only applies if lead is the only contaminant and the Army has
identified more than 20 soil contaminants at the site.  

The Army's plans specifically challenge soil cleanup goals previously
approved by both the WDNR and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Proposed changes include increasing the safe threshold for the carcinogenic
explosive 2,4-DNT in soils from 2.5 to 120 ppm.  Similar concessions are
sought for diphenylamine (from 3.5 to 1,500 ppm), tin (from 10 to 47,000
ppm), diethyl phthalate (from 20 to 49,000 ppm), and other contaminants.  

Sediment contamination in the adjacent Gruber's Grove Bay is also a concern
because the WDNR wants part of the bay dredged to create a wetland area.
Despite previous cleanup efforts by the Army, recent testing by the WDNR
found that mercury concentrations in sediments exceed the approved cleanup
goal.   The majority of samples (6 out 8) failed to meet the cleanup goal of
0.36 ppm.  The highest concentration found was 9.0 ppm, making it one of the
worst mercury-contaminated sites in the state. 
 
CSWAB has contacted the Federal Highway Administration, the Wisconsin
Department of Transportation, Wisconsin Power & Light, and local government
to help push for thorough site cleanup before road and utility work begins.
A decision from the WDNR is currently pending.  

END

--
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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