what about residents of adjacent areas, like AU park -- do they get any official notification? Has anyone studied rates of disease there?

This is really frightening!

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/spring-valley-residents-still-harbor-health-concerns-despite-new-hopkins-study/2011/12/07/gIQA3uuDoO_story.html

So they said they’d follow up on the 2007 study. Did they ever?

“ A 2007 Hopkins study found a lower-than-average occurrence of cancer in the neighborhood. But compared with the demographically similar Chevy Chase community, Spring Valley had more cases of arsenic-related conditions that affect the kidney, lungs, skin and bladder.

Citing a general lack of understanding about the long-term effects of chemical weapons exposure, the report suggested conducting another study later.
“What we want to do is follow up on the health outcomes that were raised in the [2007] scoping study, in addition to the arsenic-related cancers that we looked at last time,” Hopkins researcher Mary Fox said.“

I don’t think they did the follow up study. And I doubt that they can take on that kind of study in the future now that they own Sibley. It would likely be a conflict of interest. What a mess!

This Public Notice is to inform the community of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) intent to conduct the 2023 Five-Year Review (FYR) for the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site (SVFUDS), located in the northwest section of Washington, D.C. Specifically, the FYR will evaluate the Munitions Response Sites (MRS) Burial Pits/Field Test Areas. The American University (AU) campus comprises a portion of the MRS along with the Dalecarlia Woods area located on the western edge of the SVFUDS, which is zoned for Federal or public use. It should be noted that the property located at 4825 Glenbrook Road, as well as the surface water and groundwater at that site, are not a part of this FYR.

The purpose of the FYR is to determine if the remedy selected in the Decision Document (DD) for the above listed MRS is, and will continue to be, protective of human health and the environment. The Army is required to evaluate the protectiveness of these remedies at least every five years in order to ensure selected remedies continue to meet acceptance standards for hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants remaining in the soil.

Work Previously Completed: The Remedial Investigation (RI) Report, prepared by USACE in 2015, determined that unacceptable risks posed by soil contamination and unacceptable explosive hazards posed by military munitions that may, upon recovery and evaluation by qualified personnel, be determined to be Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC), specifically unexploded ordnance (UXO) and discarded military munitions (DMM), potentially remain within the SVFUDS. Because of this potential risk, the DD, signed 15 June 2017, called for the Excavation and Off-site Disposal of contaminated soil to address unacceptable risk, which was completed in 2022. Additionally, to address the unacceptable MEC hazards, the selected remedy is Investigation and Removal of MEC and Institutional Control (IC) Implementation of 3Rs Explosives Safety Education. Soil is the only medium affected. The MEC removal work is on-going and the ICs remain in place.

Contact Information: Scheduled date of completion of this 2023 SVFUDS Burial Pits/Field Test Areas FYR anticipated to be 31 December 2023. If you have any questions or comments about the FYR, please contact the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2 Hopkins Plaza, Baltimore, MD 21201. USACE welcomes your comments and questions. The point of contact for further information is Project Manager Dan Noble, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District at (410) 962-6782 or Dan.G.Noble@usace.army.mil.

There is a meeting at AU tonight for those interested.

The October 2023 RAB meeting is set for Tuesday, October 10, at 7:00 p.m. at American University's Don Myers Building, 3501 Nebraska Ave, Washington, DC, 20016.

https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/

American University was crossed off DS's list of schools because of this. It's not like there aren't other colleges and universities in the US. And you can live in another neighborhood, OP.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/spring-valley-residents-still-harbor-health-concerns-despite-new-hopkins-study/2011/12/07/gIQA3uuDoO_story.html

So they said they’d follow up on the 2007 study. Did they ever?

“ A 2007 Hopkins study found a lower-than-average occurrence of cancer in the neighborhood. But compared with the demographically similar Chevy Chase community, Spring Valley had more cases of arsenic-related conditions that affect the kidney, lungs, skin and bladder.

Citing a general lack of understanding about the long-term effects of chemical weapons exposure, the report suggested conducting another study later.
“What we want to do is follow up on the health outcomes that were raised in the [2007] scoping study, in addition to the arsenic-related cancers that we looked at last time,” Hopkins researcher Mary Fox said.“

“In January 1998, the Corps of Engineers responded with an enormous report attacking the city's assertions -- at times mocking them -- and rejecting the notion of a continuing problem. It was supported by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which said that the arsenic and other metals in Spring Valley did not represent a threat and concluded in a report that year "that the potential for these substances to contaminate soils at the American University has been appropriately addressed."

Campbell said he told Agency for Toxic Substances officials that they were reviewing flawed numbers but that "they didn't want to hear that."

…
But now we trust the same guys to have taken care of it? With ferns.

Wow wow wow, if you read one thing, thus WaPo article is very good.

“The EPA found arsenic in two locations on the AU campus in 1994 at levels where the agency recommends soil removal because of a potential cancer risk, EPA documents show. But the agency applied a higher threshold -- one that did not consider the cancer dangers associated with arsenic -- and reported that the contaminants were not a health risk.”

Great article including history of there’s nothing to see here, faulty testing methods, cover up decisions etc.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/07/09/evidence-of-dc-toxins-unheeded/234f77c2-a8d9-46ea-9c2c-79e2b51de51c/

There’s also this CDC fact sheet that lists lots of conditions but then finds no excess in “arsenic-linked ones”.

Arsenic seems like the path to cop out here. The leftover contaminants are a much broader set including some seriously cancerogenic and mortality causing heavy metals.


https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/springvalley/docs/SpringValleyNewsletter_0405.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole topic is so weird to me. I know several wealthy intelligent people who live in Spring Valley so I have to assume they did their research and it’s safe.

By researching what? The study I know about saying the area was ok from a health perspective was done by Hopkins. Now that Hopkins owns Sibley, is that study even relevant? There are way too many interested parties in this situation. I have to wonder what would have happened if a private company was responsible for the contamination…

Good point. Wasn’t that study done after the Current published the unofficial health survey with very concerning anecdotal evidence? Also lots of critics of JH study said if looked at a very narrow set of data and wring conditions. Both linked below.

http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/SpringValleydiseases.pdf

https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/HopkinsHealthStudy_2007.pdf

“After the use of chlorine gas at Ypres, the U.S. Army began studying chemical warfare. Initial research took place at the American University Experiment Station near Washington, District of Columbia (D.C.). Today this location is the Spring Valley Site and is being remediated under the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Program, part of the larger Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP).”

In contrast, the Edgewood Arsenal in MD hasn’t been redeveloped.

The other lewisite production (not testing) place in Ohio is an industrial complex.

Sadly, there’s been a ton of “sea disposal” including in pretty places like the Chesapeake and off Charleston.

Definitely can’t find anything like the Spring Valley. It’s unique.

“The First Army Chemical Warfare Units

Captain W. Lee Lewis established the Offense Research Section at the American University Experiment Station, Washington, DC. This section, known as *Organic Unit No. 3 of the Offense Research Section," had a 35-person staff. The unit developed new offensive chemical weapons, the best known of wnich is Lewisite. The toxin Ricin was also discovered by the unit. The unit closed Januery 1, 1919.

The Research Analytical Unit worked in the Martin Maloney Laboratory at Catholic University, Washington, DC. This unit had a
short operational existence, from June 13, 1918 to July 25, 1918 and researched methods for the analysis or new compounds and unusual mixtures or organic substances. The Defense Research Section occupied the
Martin Maloney Laboratory from June 17, 1918 to January 1, 1919. This unit, known as the Protective Clothing Unt, worked on clothing to protect soldiers from the vesicant action of gases”

Anonymous wrote:This whole topic is so weird to me. I know several wealthy intelligent people who live in Spring Valley so I have to assume they did their research and it’s safe.

By researching what? The study I know about saying the area was ok from a health perspective was done by Hopkins. Now that Hopkins owns Sibley, is that study even relevant? There are way too many interested parties in this situation. I have to wonder what would have happened if a private company was responsible for the contamination…

If I’m reading this right, Spring Valley may be the first and only place where people live on top of chemical weapons.

According to the military, they permanently closed and decommissioned the others. No one built a bunch of prime real estate on top and mocked everyone asking questions.

https://www.denix.osd.mil/rcwmprogram/history/