Laura Olah / Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger – 2018-03-15 01:04:55
Sen. Tammy Baldwin Seeks Progress in Mercury Cleanup
Laura Olah / Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
(March 14, 2018) — On behalf of concerned residents, US Senator Tammy Baldwin has requested and recently received an update on the Army’s pending cleanup of mercury-contaminated sediments at Gruber’s Grove Bay on Lake Wisconsin. The contamination was caused by the direct discharge of industrial wastewater from the Badger Army Ammunition Plant during active production years.
The primary public health concern associated with mercury in the bay is contamination of fish tissue. Mercury is a highly toxic element and there is no known safe level of exposure. Ideally, neither children nor adults should have any mercury in their bodies.
As a first step, the Army plans to conduct additional sampling of sediment in the 25-acre bay to better delineate remaining mercury concentrations, according to the February 2018 memo from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment to Senator Baldwin. [See memo below — EAW] The decision of who and how planned dredging will be performed has not been made, the Army said.
The good news is that the military said that it does not intend to challenge the final level of cleanup at Gruber’s Grove Bay. The cleanup will be in accordance with the July 2000 WDNR approval which calls for a cleanup goal of 0.36 mg/kg (the background level) or less of mercury in remaining sediment, the military wrote.
HOW TO HELP: Click here to sign our petition!
ACTION ALERT: Lake Wisconsin:
Clean Sediment is Priceless
For more than 75 years, mercury contamination from Badger Army Ammunition Plant has poisoned fish and aquatic life in Lake Wisconsin, placing public health at risk. Safe removal of contaminated sediments is desperately needed to protect human health from ongoing exposures.
The primary public health concern associated with mercury in Gruber’s Grove Bay is contamination of fish tissue, according to the Wisconsin DNR. Mercury accumulates in fish tissue as methylmercury. This form of mercury presents the greatest risk to human health through consumption of contaminated fish.
Infants in the womb can be exposed to methylmercury when their mothers eat fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury. This exposure can adversely affect unborn infants’ growing brains and nervous systems.
Mercury is a highly toxic element and there is no known safe level of exposure. Ideally, neither children nor adults should have any mercury in their bodies.
How You Can Help:
Below is a petition to EPA, Governor Scott Walker, and state and federal representatives. It’s very important that you add a brief personal comment at the end of the petition! Decision-makers typically give much greater weight to a petition with a personal note. Then complete the form to the right and click ‘Submit’.
THE LETTER
For more than 75 years, mercury contamination from Badger Army Ammunition Plant has poisoned fish and aquatic life in Lake Wisconsin, placing public health at risk. Safe removal of contaminated sediments is desperately needed to protect human health from ongoing exposures.
Please act in support of clean, safe water and a healthy future for Lake Wisconsin by demanding – in writing – the Army’s full and immediate compliance with the Clean Water Act and the safe removal of contaminated sediments in Gruber’s Grove Bay.
Memo from the Assistant Secretary of the Army
for Installations, Energy and Environment to Senator Baldwin
Q1: Will Army be responsible for paying for the sampling and dredging? Out of which funds?
A1: The Army will pay for the sampling and dredging from its Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) appropriation.
Q2: Will Army actually be doing the dredging? If so, with Army personnel (Army Corps or others) or via contractors?
A2: The decision of who and how dredging will be performed has not been made. Both the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and contractors have expertise in dredging techniques. As a first step, the Army plans to conduct additional sampling of sediment in Gruber’s Grove Bay (GGB) to better delineate remaining mercury concentrations.
Additionally, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has provided recommendations to the Army of dredging techniques that may be more effective at removing the remaining contaminated sediments in GGB. New sampling results will help inform which dredging techniques are most effective at removing contaminated sediment. The Army’s review of dredging techniques will include experts from USACE.
Q3: To what environmental clean-up standard has Army agreed?
A3: The Decision Document (DD) for GGB was coordinated with WDNR in July 2000 and calls for a cleanup goal of 0.36 mg/kg (the background level) or less of mercury in remaining sediment.
Q4: What statutory and regulatory authorities will govern this work (e.g. DERP, CERCLA)?
A4: The Army will continue to perform remedial activities at the GGB under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Also, this remedial action is being performed in accordance with the DD and the DERP.
Q5: As part of the current dialog between Army and WI DNR, is Army soliciting and incorporating input for the affected local community? If not, why not? If not, Sen. Baldwin would like Army to do so via a transparent and easily accessible/navigable process.
A5: Yes. As part of Army’s concerted effort to improve public outreach, presentations on the progress, status, and schedule of the GGB project will be included in upcoming public meetings. An updated Community Involvement Plan (CIP) was created in 2017 that included input from the public. As part of their CIP input, the community suggested that public meetings at the public library are a preferred mechanism for receiving information on restoration activities at the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant (AAP); which includes GGB.
A mailing list has been created and will be used to provide communities with information on the ongoing projects. A web site has been developed for the former Badger AAP and has a feature for communicating questions to the Army. (https://aec.army.mil/index.php/baap).
Q6: Will the sampling work plan and the eventual dredging approach/work plan be shared with the affected local community, including for solicitation and incorporation of its input? If not, why not? If not, Sen. Baldwin would like Army to do so via a transparent and easily accessible/navigable process.
A6: The Army will provide the community with the opportunity to review documents related to ongoing projects at the former Badger AAP to include activities at GGB; however, explicit input to contract solicitations are procurement-sensitive and cannot be shared. The Army anticipates having public meetings routinely throughout the year correlated to significant schedule milestones.
Again, in the CIP, the community suggested that public meetings at the public library would be a preferred mechanism for receiving information on the program. The Army will encourage the community to provide suggestions on topics they would like to have discussed during the public meetings.
Q7: How does Army internally track status and progress of the GGB project? We ask in the context of the various open items/ongoing restoration projects at BAAP. Does Army have a master list or tracking process for all open items? Is such a list/process publicly available? If not, why not? If not, Sen. Baldwin would like it to be.
A7: The Army communicates the status and progress of its project, including GGB dredging, through the annual issuance of the Installation Action Plan (IAP). The IAP is generated from Army’s internal database of record that is the basis for the Army data reported in the statutorily-mandated Annual Report to Congress (ARC). The IAP is made available to the community annually.
Additionally, Army Environmental Command (AEC) is responsible for the execution of projects at the former Badger AAP including the groundwater sampling, landfill inspections, and sampling and dredging of GGB. Project schedules and status will also be made available on the former Badger AAP website (https://aec.army.mil/index.php/baap) and provided at periodic public meetings.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
