ARMY NOT KEEN ON SHELL BLAST CHAMBER

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

**** Article orginally appeared in the Cape Cod Times ****

Military resists mortar shell blast chamber
EPA, local review team believe portable container is a good idea

By JEFFREY BURT
 STAFF WRITER
 The gulf between the federal environmental agency and
the
military over how to dispose of almost 1,100 corroded mortar shells
on Camp
Edwards is widening.

 The federal Environmental Protection Agency is
enthusiastic
about an Illinois company that says it can build a portable chamber
that
would allow the military to blow up the shells without releasing
harmful
materials into the air or soil.

 But military officials say the technology promoted by
Donovan Demolition is unproven,that the chamber would take too long
to
build and that open-air detonation is not harmful to the public or
environment.

 "We are not pro or con" about the idea of contained
detonation, said Army Lt. Col. Richard O. Murphy, project coordinator
for
the Massachusetts Military Reservation. "The technology just is not
available."

 Since December, almost 1,100 corroded mortar shells
have
been discovered inside the Camp Edwards artillery range.

 In March, the National Guard announced a plan to move
the
shells farther into the impact area on the base - away from
Forestdale
Elementary School in Sandwich - and blow them up, something they said
is
done on bases all over the country.

 The plan drew vocal opposition from Upper Cape
residents,
who said outdoor detonation could release harmful contaminants into
the
air, soil and ground water.

 Some also questioned whether the military knows
exactly what
is in the munitions, which date to the late 1960s.

 The EPA told the military they could not blow up the
shells
outdoors without reviewing other alternatives. EPA officials also
said the
open-air detonation would violate an April 1997 cease-fire on all
live
artillery training on the base.

 Since last month, the military and environmental
regulators
have been trying to find a disposal method acceptable to all sides.

 Cost estimated at $1.4 million

 On March 16, representatives from Donovan Demolition
met
with military and EPA officials in Washington, D.C., to discuss the
company's patented Donovan Blast Chamber.

 Representatives from the 34-year-old company said a
portable
chamber could be built and delivered to the base in about six months;
that
it would take less than a week to blow up the mortars; and that it
could be
done for about $1.4 million.

 The package would include a blast chamber that would
be
placed on the back of a truck.Company president John Donovan said
last week
that his company has used the chamber at its Illinois site for 10
years.

 The chamber would catch the shrapnel from the shells
and
deaden the sound. An air pollution control unit would treat the fumes

before they are released into the air, he said.

 Donovan said the chamber currently is being used to
blow up
munitions at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant in Tennessee. Two more
will be
built at sites in Kentucky and Alabama.

 "Based on your presentation .*.*. EPA is very
enthusiastic
about the environmental benefits that a technology like yours could
deliver," John P. DeVillars, EPA regional administrator, told Donovan
in a
letter a few days after the meeting in Washington.

'It's simple and it's safe'

 On March 31, Donovan representatives presented their
technology to the Impact Area Review Team, where again it was
embraced
enthusiastically by most members, except for the military.

 "It looks pretty good," said Joel Feigenbaum of
Sandwich, a
team member and longtime base activist. "My main concern is the air
pollution (from the detonation), because of the high cancer rates
around
here. It's just my philosophy that you don't put anything in the air
that
could cause harm."

 James Kinney of Barnstable, another team member,
agreed.

 "I got the feeling in the Donovan presentation that
it's
simple and it's safe," Kinney said.

 "We feel very optimistic about the technology and will

continue to have discussions with the National Guard," said EPA
spokeswoman
Elizabeth Higgins.

 Murphy, the base project coordinator, said the
military
doesn't share that optimism.

 The mortars should be blown up as soon as possible,
and not
sit around for the six months or more that it would take to build the
blast
chamber, he said.

 "They are not a danger to the (Upper Cape) community,
but
they are a danger to our community on MMR," Murphy said.

 Open-air option defended

 He also disputed suggestions the military can build
something around the shells to house them until the blast chamber is
built.

 "The adjutant general's decision is absolute," Murphy
said.
"We do not build storage facilities for unstable munitions, and we do
not
move unstable munitions around."

 Studies show open-air detonation does not pose a
public or
environmental risk, Murphy said, adding that soil and air would be
monitored before and after any outdoor explosion at the base.Until
the
military is confident that technology exists to adequately blow up
munitions in a contained facility, open-air detonation will continue
to be
the preferred method, he said.

 He also defended the Army's refusal to allow Donovan
representatives to view the site where the mortars were found, a move
that
angered both the EPA and Impact Area Review Team members.

 "I was very disappointed," said team member
Feigenbaum. "I
think that was kind of a petty stalling tactic."

 In a letter to the EPA, Murphy said it is the military
- not
a contractor - that will assess the condition of the mortars, and
allowing
Donovan on the site would give the company an advantage over other
potential bidders.

 "Donovan has absolutely no business being there,"
Murphy
said in an interview last week. He admitted members of the review
team have
been to the site, but "they did have a reason to be there."

 Donovan said the technology has been proved by the
longevity
of the chamber his company has used for 10 years. According to
company
documents, an average of 64 detonations have occurred each day of
operation
since 1988 with no major repairs needed.

 That technology is expected to be in greater demand in
the
future as more unexploded ordnance is found on military bases.

 A recent EPA memo estimates there are 5,000 to 8,000
military artillery ranges covering 40 million to 50 million acres in
the
country that contain unexploded munitions.

 Those numbers could increase to 12,500 to 20,000
ranges as
the Department of Defense completes its inventory of sites.

 "In summary, as measured by acres, and probably as
measured
by number of sites, ranges and buried munitions represent the largest

cleanup program in the U.S.," according to the memo written by Ken
Shuster
of the EPA.

 Decision rests with EPA

 Given those numbers, Kinney and Feigenbaum said it's
no
wonder the military is hesitant about technology such as the blast
chamber.

 Using the more expensive blast chamber technology at
the
Cape military base could set a precedent nationwide, they said, when
contrasted to open-air detonation that would cost about $50,000.

 The EPA will decide whether to allow open-air
detonation.
After that, it will be up to the military to find an acceptable way
to
dispose of the mortars.

 Higgins, of the EPA, said her agency probably would
make a
decision within a couple of weeks.

 Mark Forest, an aide to U.S. Rep. William Delahunt,
D-Mass.,
said he and staffers for other members of the state's congressional
delegation hope to meet with Donovan representatives this week for a
briefing on the technology.

 Murphy, when asked about military options should the
EPA
rule out open-air detonation, said he was unsure.

 "It's going to end up being almost a political
football," he
said. "It will be taken out of our hands (and discussed) in higher
offices."

 _______________________________________

 news@capecodonline.com
 Copyright (c) 1998 Cape Cod Times. All rights reserved.