Norton Optimistic About Federal Funding for Spring Valley Health Effects Study

Washington, DC – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that language encouraging the Department of Defense (DoD) to support public health studies of Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) in densely populated communities, like Spring Valley in Northwest Washington, D.C., was included in the report accompanying the fiscal year 2012 omnibus spending bill recently passed by Congress. "The report language is part of my 18-year effort to ensure the health and safety of residents living near the Spring Valley FUDS, a community that developed around the American University campus without any knowledge that their original neighborhood had been among America's largest development and testing sites for chemical and other weapons during World War I," Norton said.

Earlier this year, Norton offered an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill for a study of the health effects of the Spring Valley FUDS, after a constituent asked her at the July 4th Palisades parade if she could get a comprehensive public health study of Spring Valley. Norton has concentrated on ensuring funding for cleanup during these tough budget times, but decided to try for the study with an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill. Although the amendment was defeated on the House floor, Appropriations Committee members committed to work with Norton to help her in her efforts to get a study. Because the report calls for "public health scoping studies of densely populated residential communities located on or near formerly used defense sites that have conducted research and tested chemical agents, equipment and munitions," Norton believes a Spring Valley study qualifies. Norton thanked Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Norman Dicks (D-WA) for working closely with her to get the language in the omnibus report.

In 2009, Norton, who has worked for years to ensure the continuation of federal funding to properly remove and destroy World War I-era munitions in Spring Valley, got the Army Corps of Engineers, for the first time, to release the full list of munitions and toxins found in Spring Valley during the past 18 years. Since munitions were first discovered there in 1993, Norton has repeatedly toured Spring Valley sites, has held a series of community meetings and congressional hearings, and has witnessed the destruction of munitions in order to ensure that the appropriate precautions are being taken in the cleanup of the site. In 2007, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health conducted a public health study in Spring Valley, which showed that the overall community health status is good, but said that more study was needed. The language in the omnibus report makes Norton optimistic about getting funding for this important study.