Norton to Give Remarks at Public Meeting on the Demolition of Notorious Contaminated House in Spring Valley

Norton To Give Remarks at Public Meeting on the Demolition of Notorious Contaminated House in Spring Valley

October 26, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) tonight will offer remarks at a public meeting on the proposed plan for the destruction of the house and cleanup of the property at 4825 Glenbrook Road in the Spring Valley area of Northwest D.C. This house has long been a focus at the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS), where munitions and chemical warfare agents were tested during the World War I era, and later discovered almost twenty years ago. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the D.C. Department of the Environment, have proposed a plan to address the contamination at 4825 Glenbrook Road, which includes tearing down the house and removing the hazardous and toxic waste-impacted soil.

"The demolition of this house and cleanup of the affected grounds will remove one of the last known contaminated properties," Norton said. "This property has become a monument to the contamination that has marred a beautiful neighborhood. I hope that when this house comes down and the property is cleaned up, it will signal that we have come close to eliminating the contamination in this neighborhood. A watch period will then begin to ensure that this time all the contamination has been eliminated."

Norton has held congressional hearings and meetings on and has inspected the Spring Valley site, including earlier this year when she inspected the heavily armored controlled detonation chamber used to destroy the munitions that have been found in the area. The meetings and inspections are part of her ongoing efforts to ensure that the Corps remains in Spring Valley until all munitions that were buried in the neighborhood when it was used as a military weapons testing facility during the World War I era are found.

The meeting will take place tonight, October 26, 2011, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the D.C. Public Library Tenley-Friendship Branch, 4450 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. The 30-day public comment period on the plans for 4825 Glenbrook Road will close on November 12, 2011, and all are encouraged to read the proposed plan and submit comments on the Corps' Spring Valley website at https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Projects/Spring%20Valley/.