RDX-Milan, TN

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Subject: RDX-Milan, TN
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998
From: James Knipp <jknipp@usit.net>

The Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MAAP) was established in 1941 located
adjacent to the town of Milan, Tennessee. For most (if not all) of it's
existance since that time and up to the present it has been a "Load,
Assemble, and Pack" (LAP) plant; it manufactures no explosives, but
receives explosives, projectile and bomb bodies, and fuses from other
installations. Historically, in the process of casting and pressing
explosive components into projectiles, improperly-filled projectiles
were heated with steam, and the explosives-laden water was poured into a
settling pond. From this pond, as well as from cleanup around the load
lines, explosive components have leached down into the aquifer. In
1978-1979 a team from the Army Environmental Hygiene Agency sampled the
aquifer underlying the Ammunition Plant and found it contaminated with
explosive. For the next few years, when the expected public outcry did
not materialize, only cursory action was taken. In 1981 the Army stopped
its practice of dumping untreated wastewater into drainage ditches.

In 1983 an article appeared in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal that
focused national concern on MAAP and resulted in the MAAP being placed
on the EPA Superfund list (August 1987). By this time the explosives had
been identified as 2,4,6-TNT, 4-DNT, RDX and HMX. In December 1987 the
Army formed a Technical Review Committee to search for methods of
clean-up, which met in closed session; the general public was
specifically excluded from attending those meetings. The Army's efforts
at this time appeared to be directed toward identifying the extent and
location of the contamination. Since the general flow of the underground
contaminated water was generally in the direction of the city of Milan,
from September 1993 to July 1994, 82 monitoring wells were sunk to
better determine the rate and direction of flow toward the city's three
water supply wells. It was during this time (January 1994) that one of
the three city wells was closed due to RDX contamination (in excess of 4
ppb); the other wells also showed RDX contamination, but at a much lower
level. As a result, the Army provided the City of Milan with $9 million
to build a new well field and water treatment plant 4.5 miles from
Milan, out of the known contaminated plume underlying Milan.

In August 1994 the Army formed a Restoration Advisory Board to replace
the Technical Review Committee; the Board originally met monthly, but
currently is only convened every three months. There is no significant
discussion at these meetings, either by the Army or the community
members, about clean-up of the RDX known to be passing under the city of
Milan and proceeding beyond the city limits into the county. The Army's
1998 Installation Action Plan shows no current actions to clean-up of
this plume; it only states that remedial action is planned in FY 02.

Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org