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Norton Urges EPA Action for Family with Young Children Living Near Chemical Munitions Excavation Site

March 8, 2013

Washington, D.C. – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released Norton's letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin in support of a petition urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to temporarily relocate a family in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. because they have young children, ages one and five, living directly across the street from a property where the Army Corps has demolished a home and is beginning to excavate for potentially hazardous substances. Excavation is necessary because of a 2011 Army Corps remediation investigation report that indicated that chemical weapons-related debris are likely buried under the house at 4825 Glenbrook Road.

In her letter, Norton expressed her disappointment in the Army Corps' rejection of the family's request, and subsequent appeal, for relocation during the excavation, and in the Army Corps' explanation that it could not differentiate between very young children and adults living in the affected area.

"For the reasons stated in the petition, I found this conclusion to be uninformed and inconsistent with widely available scientific data," wrote Norton. "As the Environmental Protection Agency notes in several reports, children may be more vulnerable to various toxins and pollutants due to their ongoing growth processes, including brain development. Unfortunately, the Army Corps refuses to acknowledge these elevated risks for children."

Norton also wrote that the Army Corps may be in violation of an executive order that requires all federal agencies to "make it a high priority to identify and assess environmental health risks and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children."

In addition to writing in support of the petition, Norton asked the EPA to investigate whether children should be considered differently from adults at an excavation site, and if so, the appropriate action to be taken during the remainder of the excavation process at 4825 Glenbrook Road.

The Army used Spring Valley in Northwest D.C. as the major U.S. chemical weapons testing and development site during World War I. Norton has been working with the Army Corps since 1993 to clean up the site, where numerous toxins, including arsenic, lewisite, and mustard gas, have been found. Unlike most other Formerly Used Defense Sites, Spring Valley is the home of a major university, American University, which has more than 12,000 students, and is located in a densely populated residential area.

The full text of Norton's letter follows.

March 7, 2013

Dear Regional Administrator Garvin:

I write in support of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Section 7003 petition submitted on behalf of Luisa Z. (22 months old) and Lucas Z. (five years old), who live across the street from 4825 Glenbrook Road NW in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Since 2000, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) has removed over 500 munitions, 400 pounds of laboratory glassware and over 100 tons of soil contaminated with arsenic and other hazardous substances from 4825 Glenbrook Road and the immediate area, a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS). Nevertheless, although there is a very real possibility that hazardous substances remain from 4825 Glenbrook Road, the Army Corps has rejected the Dieterich family's request for relocation during the Army Corps' excavation at 4825 Glenbrook Road. The family appealed the decision, and I was very disappointed to learn that the Army Corps rejected the appeal.

After I urged the Army Corps to relocate the family due to the ages of the young children, the Army Corps informed me that there is nothing that would allow the Army Corps to differentiate between very young children and adults living in the affected area. For the reasons stated in the petition, I found this conclusion to be uninformed and inconsistent with widely available scientific data. As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes in several reports, children may be more vulnerable to various toxins and pollutants due to their ongoing growth processes, including brain development. Unfortunately, the Army Corps refuses to acknowledge these elevated risks for children.

Moreover, as I noted in my letter to the Army Corps, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13045 on April 21, 1997, which requires all federal agencies to "make it a high priority to identify and assess environmental health risks and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children … and shall ensure that its policies, programs, activities, and standards address disproportionate risks to children that result from environmental health risks or safety risks." From a plain reading of this executive order, it seems to me that the Army Corps may be in violation of the order.

Therefore, I strongly support the petition submitted on behalf of Luisa Z. (22 months old) and Lucas Z. (5 years old), which explains that the children may be in imminent and substantial danger during the current excavation at 4825 Glenbrook Road. Accordingly, I ask that the EPA investigate whether children should be considered differently at an excavation site, and if so, the appropriate action during the remainder of the excavation process at 4825 Glenbrook Road. Because the excavation has already begun, I ask that you move expeditiously.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I ask that you give full and fair consideration to this request, consistent with applicable law, rules, and regulations.


Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton


Published: March 8, 2013