[CPEO-MEF] Emissions from Badger Burning 5 Times Higher Than Disclosed

[info@cswab.com]

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

March 19, 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

 

 

Emissions from Badger Burning 5 Times Higher Than Disclosed



Air emissions from proposed open burning at Badger Army Ammunition Plant
may be at least 5 times higher than previously disclosed, prompting
nearby residents to demand that the DNR not approve burning as many as
100 explosives-contaminated buildings at the closing military base.

"Both Plexus Scientific, the contractor working for the U.S. Army at
Badger, and the DNR's modeling contained flaws that underestimated the
amount of particulate matter that will be emitted from open burning at
Badger," said Charles Gantzer, PhD. "In one case, the resulting maximum
property-line concentrations were at least 5 times higher than those
reported to the public."

 "It is extremely upsetting to learn that the families living next to
Badger are at much greater risk than either the DNR or the Army's
contractors told us," said Laura Olah, Executive Director of Citizens
for Safe Water Around Badger.  "What else have they missed?"

               Gantzer found that the air quality modeling results
presented to the public by the Army's consultant did not consider the
impact of background concentrations and that the DNR's modeling included
a calculation error that underestimated emissions by a factor of five.  

 "It is possible that a simple math error (probably buried in a
spreadsheet) resulted in the wrong emission rates being used in the DNR
modeling runs.  In particular, the revised modeling indicates potential
exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
particulate matter at the Badger property lines," Gantzer said.

 "These findings raise serious concerns about how open burning might
affect our children," Olah said.  "Throughout this process the DNR has
ignored risks to infants and children and has only assessed cancer risks
to adults.  Children breathe more air per pound of body weight than an
adult and as a result, they have a greater risk of significant health
effects from air pollution." 

"The proposed open burning at Badger will cause an exceedance of air
quality standards for particulate matter; this violates Wisconsin's law
that only allows open burning when it is conducted in a safe and
pollution free manner," according to Melissa Scanlan, Executive Director
of Midwest Environmental Advocates, a nonprofit environmental law center
working to protect the environment.  

"Pollution in and around Badger has already placed this community at
risk," Olah said. "The Army must be required to clean up its mess
without compromising the quality of our air and our environment."

Organizations that have formally opposed open burning include Citizens
Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin, Clean Water Action Council
of Wisconsin, Coalition for Peaceful Skies, 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 River Watershed Education
Project.

-END-

 

--

Laura Olah, Executive Director

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger

E12629 Weigands Bay S

Merrimac, WI 53561

phone: (608)643-3124

fax: (608)643-0005

email: info@cswab.com

website: http://www.cswab.com <http://www.cswab.com/> 

 

 

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