Fort Detrick is investigating
locations scattered through its main post for remnants of Agent Orange
and radioactive waste in addition to ongoing toxin testing near Area B.
Joseph
Gortva, manager of the Fort Detrick Environmental Restoration Program,
presented the information to the Restoration Advisory Board on Wednesday
evening as part of his division’s planned activities for fiscal 2016.
The board serves as a forum to keep the community, government agencies
and Fort Detrick officials informed of all cleanup activities on post.
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The Army’s current investigation into
herbicide-related toxins and radioactivity started with a review of
archival records pertaining to the post’s history of biological warfare
research and possible releases of waste into the environment. The review was completed in 2014.
The
Army is now working with contractors to look at sites on the main post
and on Rosemont Avenue where Agent Orange and other herbicides were
stored or used, and 18 sites on post where radioactive materials were
used.
The 18 sites are mainly concentrated
near buildings along Miller Drive, Chandler Street and Sultan Street on
post, around the National Cancer Institute’s office buildings.
There
is a “low likelihood” of finding residual herbicides or radioactive
byproducts, according to Gortva, but the Army’s contractors will perform
soil and gamma ray testing to confirm that.
The
Army is also looking at 11 former incinerator locations on the main
post that may have deposited metals and left-behind petroleum products,
among other chemicals, in soil and groundwater. Those sites are also
near NCI property on the post.
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