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EPA ORDERS FURTHER TRAINING RESTRICTIONS AND CLEANUP AT CAMP EDWARDS

Release Date: 04/10/1997
Contact Information: Elizabeth Higgins, (617)918-1051

BOSTON -- The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency today ordered the Army National Guard to suspend all training activities at Camp Edwards that could release contaminants to the air, soil, and water on Upper Cape Cod. EPA also ordered the National Guard to immediately begin the cleanup of lead and unexploded ordnance from the firing ranges and impact area on the base.

John P. DeVillars, administrator of EPA's New England Office, used two federal environmental statutes -- the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act -- to support his order. The laws authorize EPA to take actions to prohibit activities it believes may pose an imminent and substantial threat to public health.

The order, issued to the National Guard Bureau and the Massachusetts National Guard, suspends use of propellants and pyrotechnics in addition to the two training activities--firing of live munitions and demolition training -- halted by National Guard on March 18 in response to EPA's February 27, 1997 call for pollution prevention measures. The EPA order makes the actions previously agreed to by the Guard fully enforceable under federal law and requires the National Guard to secure EPA's approval prior to resuming the activities.

EPA's concern is based on the fact the groundwater underlying the MMR is the sole source of drinking water for all of the Upper Cape's year-round and seasonal residents. The apex of the largest part of the aquifer, the Sagamore Lens, lies directly under the training range and impact area, and is especially vulnerable given the proximity of the groundwater to the land surface, the porous soils, and the fact that groundwater flows from there in all directions. Any contamination of this part of the Sagamore Lens could result in contamination reaching existing and future public water supply wells surrounding the base.

"Today we shift the burden of proof from those whose health may be threatened to those whose activities are potentially harmful," said DeVillars.

"I appreciate the steps taken thus far by General Vezina, General LaBrie, and General Baca, and the assurances they have given that they will make protection of the Cape's water supply their highest priority," commented DeVillars. "They have moved a long way in a short period of time. Nevertheless, in my judgment we need to do more. And that's what this order does."

Propellants are used in both live and non-live firing of artillery and mortar. The propellants used at MMR contain dinitrotoluene (DNT), classified by EPA as a probable human carcinogen. DNT has been found in soil at CS-18, one of the artillery firing positions on the base, at levels as high as 17,000 parts per billion, as well as in the groundwater at CS-19, also within the impact area. Pyrotechnics are devices such as smoke screens, smoke grenades, flares, riot control agents, and signals used in training conducted on the firing range as well as in maneuvers. One of the most commonly used pyrotechnics at MMR is Grenade Hand Smoke HC AN-M8 which contains hexachloroethane (HCE), a possible human carcinogen. Detonation of pyrotechnics containing HCE introduces HCE vapor in the atmosphere with subsequent fallout to soil and potential leaching to groundwater.

EPA's order allows the National Guard to submit a petition to EPA requesting that the suspension be lifted for a particular training device if it can present information demonstrating that its use will not result in any harm. If any petitions are submitted, EPA will solicit public review and comment before making a decision about which activities if any can resume.

The order requires the National Guard to expand other aspects of the pollution prevention plan it submitted to EPA in response to EPA's first order. Under its pollution prevention plan, the National Guard had proposed to remove lead from seven of the backdrop berms at the small arms ranges. Today's order requires the National Guard to take additional steps: to remove lead from all of MMR's small arms firing ranges; and to search for unexploded ordnance (UXO) and remove it wherever feasible given safety considerations. Up to 12,000 pounds of lead are deposited each year in the backdrop berms as the result of small arms firing at each of the ranges. Lead is a probable human carcinogen. UXO, if left in the ground, can corrode and leak harmful ingredients of explosives, such as TNT and RDX, into soil and groundwater.

EPA's order will allow training such as small arms firing of nontoxic plastic bullets and other activities that do not threaten public health to continue at Camp Edwards so long as firing of live munitions, demolition training, and use of propellants and pyrotechnics are suspended. Once the study of soil and groundwater at the MMR training range and impact area, ordered by EPA in its first order on February 27, 1997, is completed, EPA will consider withdrawing the suspension of activities at MMR after opportunity for public review of the study. The study is estimated to take 1-2 years to complete.

"Based on what we already know, there is real cause for public health concern in terms of contamination of the Cape's sole source of drinking water and elevated cancer levels," said DeVillars. "The health of Cape residents and the viability of the Cape's economy depend on safe drinking water. In the grand scheme of things, to restrict training at Camp Edwards for a summer or two is a very small price to pay to assure a full measure of long-term public health and economic protection."

EPA also announced today it will issue a letter within the next week to the National Guard commenting on the plan the Guard submitted in response to EPA's February 27 order requiring a study of soil and groundwater impacts from past training activities at the MMR. EPA will announce at that time the formation of a committee, to be chaired by EPA and to include representatives of the Upper Cape's communities.