A newly released document is pushing for shutting down the open burn area at the Radford Army Ammunition (RAAP).
The document is from the groups, Citizens for Arsenal Accountability, Earthjustice’s Community Partnerships Program (CPP), and the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR).
CAA is a community organization composed of citizens in Southwest Virginia that advocates stopping the open burning of toxic munitions and eliminating pollution produced by the Radford Army Ammunition Plant to ensure clean air, water, and soil for the New River Valley.
Earthjustice’s Community Partnerships Program provides legal and advocacy resources to local leaders demanding a safe, just, and healthy environment in which their communities can thrive – no matter how long the fight.
CPP works hand-in-hand with frontline communities to remove environmental hazards and secure access to environmental benefits. CPP acts collectively with community partners to challenge harmful social and political structures and to improve the environmental conditions in neighborhoods.
The report says, “At military bases across the country, the Department of Defense (DoD) has for decades relied on a practice known as open burn/open detonation (OB/OD) to destroy excess, unserviceable, or obsolete military munitions, including small arms cartridges, rockets, mortars, missiles, and other items. Open burn and open detonation harm the environment and human health as these practices result in the uncontrolled release of toxic constituents directly into the air, soil, and groundwater.”
This is where the report points to the New River Valley.
“RAAP has released millions of pounds of harmful toxins and heavy metals into surrounding communities and the environment as a result of its day-to-day operations,” the report says. “The facility has made matters worse with its long record of violations and lack of compliance with permitting requirements. As a result, nearby residents face pollution burdens that create an elevated risk of asthma and cancer compared to the rest of the state. On top of all of this, RAAP and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) have also failed to provide sufficient transparency about operations at the arsenal. Community members are often left in the dark not knowing what they are being exposed to or what is being done to ensure they are protected.”
According to the group, the harmful pollution from RAAP has continued for too long without adequate oversight or accountability.
Citizens for Arsenal Accountability makes the following recommendations:
- End Open Burning at RAAP. Open burning of hazardous wastes at RAAP must end, and the facility should put in place the safest alternative technology.
- Third-Party Alternatives Assessment. An alternatives assessment should be conducted by a neutral third party to ensure that the facility has chosen the most environmental and health protective option.
- Close the Old Incinerators. The two old incinerators at RAAP must close once an alternative technology is in place, pursuant to a transparent and enforceable schedule.
- Improve Transparency and Community Involvement. VDEQ and RAAP should make greater efforts to ensure that community members are aware of what is happening at the facility, including, for instance, creating an online repository of information. RAAP has continually endangered community members and the environment through its use of open burning, as well as incineration, to treat hazardous wastes. The facility also repeatedly violates its permit limits resulting in additional pollution releases that are harmful to the health of community members and the environment. This report describes the history of RAAP, its current operations, its pattern of noncompliance, and the environmental and health risks presented by the facility’s operations.
- Improve Compliance. VDEQ must ensure that there are consequences for noncompliance and that the facility takes affirmative steps to make sure that violations do not continue to occur.
- Conduct a Cumulative Hazard Assessment and a Community Health Assessment. Virginia legislators should allocate funding so that a cumulative hazard assessment and a community health assessment can be conducted by a neutral third-party.
RAAP has been ranked as one of the largest polluters in Virginia since 2001, but plant and U.S. Army officials do have a plan to eliminate the open burning area.
A new permit has been approved for an explosive waste incinerator at the Radford arsenal, but the facility will not be online until 2026.
The environmental groups are asking the open burn area to be shut down immediately.
In a previous statement, the U.S. Army said it is working toward a safe, efficient, and environmentally-friendly solution for the management of RFAAP’s onsite solid and hazardous wastes. The environmental groups say the delay in getting the incinerator online is taking too long.
The plant manufactures many types of explosives, ammunitions, and rocket fuel, and containments associated with the manufacture of these products included heavy metals and solvents.
This summer, the BAE Systems’ ordnance unit was given a new $1.29 billion contract to continue to run the government-owned ammunition manufacturing complex in Virginia.
News Messenger staff report
