Washingtonian article about how Spring Valley is giving it's residents cancer

[Panda_Papa]

In response to 00:26, it seems from the article, the effects are quite concentrated on Glenbrook Rd, especially at the east end.

Regrettably, the article is quite unclear on this subject, naturally leading many people to wonder whether they are in danger.

[Anonymous]

The story has been going on for a long time. A few years ago it was on the NW local newspaper and now in the Washingtonian.
However, people do not want to talk about it.

When we were looking for a house a few years ago, our realtor took us to a nice house on Sedgwick Road. She never told us about any issues and we were in love with the house. Fortunately some friends told us about the potential problems of Spring Valley and we ended up buying in another place.

I think there has to be a lot more transparency about this whole situation.

[Anonymous]

Panda_Papa wrote:In response to 00:26, it seems from the article, the effects are quite concentrated on Glenbrook Rd, especially at the east end.

Regrettably, the article is quite unclear on this subject, naturally leading many people to wonder whether they are in danger.

Reading the article does not suggest that "the effects are quite concentrated" by any stretch. Can you imagine anyone buying a house in Spring Valley at this point???

[Anonymous]

Panda_Papa wrote:In response to 00:26, it seems from the article, the effects are quite concentrated on Glenbrook Rd, especially at the east end.

Regrettably, the article is quite unclear on this subject, naturally leading many people to wonder whether they are in danger.

Reading the article does not suggest that "the effects are quite concentrated" by any stretch. Can you imagine anyone buying a house in Spring Valley at this point???

[Anonymous]

Arsenic as a causative agent in human disease (page 61)

MOUSE MODELS OF HUMAN IN UTERO
AND ADULT EXPOSURES TO LOW-DOSE ARSENIC
Joshua W. Hamilton Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Bay Paul Center,
Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole MA
Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine,
Brown University, Providence RI
Project Leader, Dartmouth’s Superfund Research Program
on Toxic Metals, Hanover NH

Arsenic as a causative agent in human disease (page 61)
• Chronic human exposure to inorganic arsenic at subacute
doses has been linked to increased risk of:
• Cancers- esp. lung, skin and bladder but also liver,
kidney, and other malignancies
• Diabetes (type 2, non-insulin-dependent, “adultonset”)
• Vascular and cardiovascular disease
• Reproductive and developmental problems
• Neurological problems
• U.S. & South America - range is typically 1-100 ppb
• Asia - range is typically 10-1000 ppb


Arsenic as an endocrine disruptor (page 64)
What is an endocrine disruptor?
“Collectively, chemicals with the potential to interfere with
the function of endocrine systems are called endocrine
disrupting chemicals (EDCs). EDCs have been defined as
exogenous agents that interfere with the production,
release, transport, metabolism, binding, action, or
elimination of the natural hormones in the body responsible
for the maintenance of homeostasis and the regulation of
developmental processes.”
Strategic Research Plan for Endocrine Disruptors,
1998
Office of Research and Development
U.S. EPA


Summary of arsenic as an endocrine disruptor (page 69)
• Arsenic affects all five steroid hormone receptors:
• Estrogen Receptor
• Progesterone Receptor
• Androgen (Testosterone) Receptor
• Glucocorticoid (Cortisol) Receptor
• Mineralocorticoid (Aldosterone) Receptor
• Arsenic affects other nuclear hormone receptors:
• Retinoic Acid Receptor
• Thyroid Hormone Receptor
• PPAR Receptors
• Arsenic enhances hormone signaling at very low doses
• Arsenic suppresses hormone signaling at higher doses

Arsenic and lung disease (pg. 70)
• Arsenic exposure is associated with increased risk of:
• Lung Cancer
• Bronchiectasis
• COPD
• Emphysema
• Chronic Lung Infections
• Arsenic is unique in increasing lung disease risk via
ingestion rather than (or in addition to) inhalation
• Arsenic synergistically increases risk of lung disease
from other lung toxicants including tobacco smoke,
environmental air contaminants, bacterial and viral
infections

Arsenic and metabolic diseases (pg. 73)
• Arsenic exposure has been associated with:
• Changes in serum cholesterol and triglycerides
• Development of type 2 diabetes and other
metabolic disorders
• Lower than normal birth weights
• Decreases in body weight and growth during early
childhood
• Vascular and cardiovascular disease

[Anonymous]

I like how the PP resurrected a 4 month old thread by posting a random list of stuff about arsenic. Y'all are weirdo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a known cancer cluster. Very sad.

Spring Valley is large. Is the entire neighborhood affected or just certain streets? I tried to find a map online but could not find one that showed where the chemicals were buried and have been found. Is it true about the cancer rates? I think it is such a pretty neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a known cancer cluster. Very sad.

Spring Valley is large. Is the entire neighborhood affected or just certain streets? I tried to find a map online but could not find one that showed where the chemicals were buried and have been found. Is it true about the cancer rates? I think it is such a pretty neighborhood.

The answers are, pretty much, no. Johns Hopkins has done several semi-exhaustive studies and found no higher rates of incidence or mortality in Spring Valley (versus the control neighborhood of Chevy Chase). The studies have their limitations, but the overall level of health in Spring Valley is better than the US and DC and exactly comparable to Chevy Chase.

The munitions are believed to be located beneath the house next to the South Korean Embassy on Glenbrook Rd. The neighboring houses -- the Embassy and the AU President's house -- likely have munitions too.

There has been very extensive testing for arsenic on every single property (save, two, I believe). Arsenic has been found in neighboring neighborhoods, such as Tindall St. in AU Park and Wesley Heights. It is remediated and removed.

Here are some links so you don't have to take my word for it.

Here is the link to the most recent Johns Hopkins study (from 2013): http://www.jhsph.edu/offices-and-services/practice-and-training/projects/community-health-survey.html

Here is the general site for the Army Corps of Engineers: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/SpringValley.aspx
They have torn down the house next to the SK Embassy.

Groundwater monitoring map for Spring Valley is here: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Arsenic_perchlorate_allLocations_201310_enlarged.pdf
The yellow areas are all concentrated around the same point. As I mentioned above, arsenic has been removed in other neighborhoods, too, including Tindall St. recently. The testing is not as extensive elsewhere, however.

Arsenic remediation map is here: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Overview%20Map_Arsenic%20Remediation-Public.pdf
The map is centered on Spring Valley, but even still you will see two dozen homes in AU Park were remediated. The claim used to be that Tindall, Springdale, etc. had arsenic because soil came from other parts of town. The claim doesn't hold up once you see that much older areas of AU Park also exhibited arsenic. Other neighborhoods tell a similar story. Other neighborhoods are likely not as thoroughly tested. With Spring Valley, you can be fairly certain about what you are getting.

Frankly, I don't have any concern over groundwater, arsenic or munitions. I have read anything and everything on the subject. This is my opinion, of course. You should consult the above links, and others, and reach your own conclusions. I'm confident, however, that if you actually read the documents (free of the histrionics so typical here) you will reach a similar conclusion.

[Anonymous]

PP here (obviously):

I'll add the munitions map: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Overview%20Map%20Geophys%20-%20Public.pdf
The brown areas are locations of munitions. (Green means nothing found.) The brown areas are clustered almost exclusively around the property on Glenbrook next to the SK Embassy, Sibley Hospital, and the disconnected part of Sedgewick St.

[Anonymous]

This plus the fact that the area is depressing in the first place - a ghost town of big houses - makes me wonder who buys there and why. SV is arguably the worst value for money in DC.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 17:57. With all of the efforts to clean up the neighborhood I'd feel better about living there than AU Park.

Here's a partial list of people who have lived there along with some additional links to clean up efforts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Valley,_Washington,_D.C.

Finally, there have been so many threads on Spring Valley, why bring up an old article from 2013? Obviously it's the same poster from the last thread who was saying "dead people live there." He/she obviously has some beef with someone who lives in the neighborhood or wishes to live there and cannot. Enough already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a known cancer cluster. Very sad.

Spring Valley is large. Is the entire neighborhood affected or just certain streets? I tried to find a map online but could not find one that showed where the chemicals were buried and have been found. Is it true about the cancer rates? I think it is such a pretty neighborhood.

The answers are, pretty much, no. Johns Hopkins has done several semi-exhaustive studies and found no higher rates of incidence or mortality in Spring Valley (versus the control neighborhood of Chevy Chase). The studies have their limitations, but the overall level of health in Spring Valley is better than the US and DC and exactly comparable to Chevy Chase.

The munitions are believed to be located beneath the house next to the South Korean Embassy on Glenbrook Rd. The neighboring houses -- the Embassy and the AU President's house -- likely have munitions too.

There has been very extensive testing for arsenic on every single property (save, two, I believe). Arsenic has been found in neighboring neighborhoods, such as Tindall St. in AU Park and Wesley Heights. It is remediated and removed.

Here are some links so you don't have to take my word for it.

Here is the link to the most recent Johns Hopkins study (from 2013): http://www.jhsph.edu/offices-and-services/practice-and-training/projects/community-health-survey.html

Here is the general site for the Army Corps of Engineers: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/SpringValley.aspx
They have torn down the house next to the SK Embassy.

Groundwater monitoring map for Spring Valley is here: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Arsenic_perchlorate_allLocations_201310_enlarged.pdf
The yellow areas are all concentrated around the same point. As I mentioned above, arsenic has been removed in other neighborhoods, too, including Tindall St. recently. The testing is not as extensive elsewhere, however.

Arsenic remediation map is here: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Overview%20Map_Arsenic%20Remediation-Public.pdf
The map is centered on Spring Valley, but even still you will see two dozen homes in AU Park were remediated. The claim used to be that Tindall, Springdale, etc. had arsenic because soil came from other parts of town. The claim doesn't hold up once you see that much older areas of AU Park also exhibited arsenic. Other neighborhoods tell a similar story. Other neighborhoods are likely not as thoroughly tested. With Spring Valley, you can be fairly certain about what you are getting.

Frankly, I don't have any concern over groundwater, arsenic or munitions. I have read anything and everything on the subject. This is my opinion, of course. You should consult the above links, and others, and reach your own conclusions. I'm confident, however, that if you actually read the documents (free of the histrionics so typical here) you will reach a similar conclusion.

Beat me to posting.... I don't get why people are sooooo up in arms about this. All of the data very clearly suggests a significant concentration of issues in very specific quadrants. The rate of arsenic and other heavy metals in other areas is comparable...No study found any increased link of cancer, etc. I get why someone living in the area might want to defend the snot out of their decision to do so, but I don't understand why people who don't live there give a shit, and especially don't get why they would want to spread negative misinformation.

AU park is safe. Chevy chase is safe. DuPont is safe. Palisades is safe. Most of spring valley, absent a few very specific locations, is safe.

[Anonymous]

To answer why people get distressed by this.

You may have forgotten how transient a city DC is. For newbies, Spring Valley looks like a nice neighborhood and the property prices don't indicate that it's built over a munitions dump. So as each wave discovers this, it's a fresh shock. For outsiders, it stinks of a cover-up and seems like very "inside the beltway" shenanigans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a known cancer cluster. Very sad.

Spring Valley is large. Is the entire neighborhood affected or just certain streets? I tried to find a map online but could not find one that showed where the chemicals were buried and have been found. Is it true about the cancer rates? I think it is such a pretty neighborhood.

The answers are, pretty much, no. Johns Hopkins has done several semi-exhaustive studies and found no higher rates of incidence or mortality in Spring Valley (versus the control neighborhood of Chevy Chase). The studies have their limitations, but the overall level of health in Spring Valley is better than the US and DC and exactly comparable to Chevy Chase.

The munitions are believed to be located beneath the house next to the South Korean Embassy on Glenbrook Rd. The neighboring houses -- the Embassy and the AU President's house -- likely have munitions too.

There has been very extensive testing for arsenic on every single property (save, two, I believe). Arsenic has been found in neighboring neighborhoods, such as Tindall St. in AU Park and Wesley Heights. It is remediated and removed.

Here are some links so you don't have to take my word for it.

Here is the link to the most recent Johns Hopkins study (from 2013): http://www.jhsph.edu/offices-and-services/practice-and-training/projects/community-health-survey.html

Here is the general site for the Army Corps of Engineers: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/SpringValley.aspx
They have torn down the house next to the SK Embassy.

Groundwater monitoring map for Spring Valley is here: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Arsenic_perchlorate_allLocations_201310_enlarged.pdf
The yellow areas are all concentrated around the same point. As I mentioned above, arsenic has been removed in other neighborhoods, too, including Tindall St. recently. The testing is not as extensive elsewhere, however.

Arsenic remediation map is here: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Overview%20Map_Arsenic%20Remediation-Public.pdf
The map is centered on Spring Valley, but even still you will see two dozen homes in AU Park were remediated. The claim used to be that Tindall, Springdale, etc. had arsenic because soil came from other parts of town. The claim doesn't hold up once you see that much older areas of AU Park also exhibited arsenic. Other neighborhoods tell a similar story. Other neighborhoods are likely not as thoroughly tested. With Spring Valley, you can be fairly certain about what you are getting.

Frankly, I don't have any concern over groundwater, arsenic or munitions. I have read anything and everything on the subject. This is my opinion, of course. You should consult the above links, and others, and reach your own conclusions. I'm confident, however, that if you actually read the documents (free of the histrionics so typical here) you will reach a similar conclusion.

I tried the links but none of them are working. Are there other maps that show exactly where the arsenic etc… is located?

[Anonymous]

All links worked for me.