U.S. ARMY Building burn plan hits a snag
Contaminants have been found in buildings planned to be burned by the Army.
AKRON (AP) -- The Army wants to burn old buildings at former ammunition plants in Ohio and Wisconsin, but its plan has run into a roadblock: The structures are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
Exposure to these toxins, found in paint used decades ago, can cause cancer, liver damage and skin irritation. Burning PCBs increases their toxicity.
Still, burning is the safest way to destroy old buildings that house explosives, according to Army project manager Mark Patterson.
About 50 buildings at the now-closed Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant already have been burned and the Army wants to burn the rest. But PCB levels of the other buildings are 30 to 104 times higher than what can legally be burned. They're even higher at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant in Baraboo, Wis. -- about 440 times the federal limit.
The Army is seeking an exemption from that limit. It is conducting tests, air samples and risk assessments to prove that it can burn the buildings safely. Army officials plan to apply for approval of its plan from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the next year, Patterson said. Approval from the Ohio EPA is not required.
At Ravenna
The Ravenna arsenal made artillery and mortar shells during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars before closing in 1971. Most of the 21,419-acre complex is now used by the Ohio National Guard for training.
The Army must show that an open burning would create "no unreasonable risk" to the environment or health of residents. That's a high, but not impossible, standard to meet, said Tony Martig, an EPA spokesman in Chicago.
Meanwhile, a growing number of environmental activists oppose the plan.
"It's a bad idea ... the public health is at risk from open burning of PCBs," said Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group. The Berea, Ky.-based CWWG was one of 67 organizations that sent a letter to the U.S. EPA opposing open burning in Wisconsin.
"The mere thought of open burning PCB-contaminated materials is preposterous," Williams said. "It should be totally out of the realm of anyone's acceptability."
Walter Adams, a spokesman for Ohio's Portage County Environmental Roundtable, said his organization is troubled by the plan and wants more information about the possible health threat.
"We want to know what is likely to be emitted if these buildings are burned, what the potential health hazard might be and where these pollutants would likely go," Adams said.