Chemicals from the plant floated down the New River
Marty Gordon
Chemicals from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant were swept away by last month’s floodwaters.
At a community meeting held Thursday, Nov. 7, plant officials said they feel there is no danger to the public.
Last month’s flood courtesy of the rising New River caused problems throughout the New River Valley including the Radford Army Ammunition Plant (RAAP). Plant officials addressed concerns during the community meeting, held at the Christiansburg Public Library.
The facility experienced, according to plant officials, significant flooding. Some parts of the plant were submerged by water from the New.
Following Hurricane Helene flooding, Calcium Sulfate, Petroleum, Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) releases filed with Department of Environmental Quality. Public health was not jeopardized, according to plant officials, and there were no observed impacts to the environment.
Prior to the “historic” flood, the plant team proactively took action to mitigate impacts from the flood. This included, according to information provided at the meeting, moving 14 tractor trailers of material up ground from the river, prioritizing the product based on safety and potential for environmental impact.
Plant officials continued moving material until deemed unsafe due to rapidly rising water levels in buildings.
Carla Givens, the environmental engineer for BAE Systems who operates the plant, said 13 totes of Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were swept away by the flooding. The totes were located in a warehouse near the river and held as much as 275 gallons in each.
Plants officials felt the anticipated products left sealed in warehouse would only be half submerged, and too heavy to move. Instead, the floodwaters pulled them downstream. Four have been recovered so far.
DBP is a liquid placticizer found in nail polish and hair spray, which was being stored in Area 13 of the facility.
Givens said a search from helicopter has been executed 35 miles downstream and additional search by drones has covered almost 60 miles from the plant. One tote has been found as far away as West Virginia.
The tubs, which are the size of a small car, were in plastic and steel case. So far, only one that was found has been discovered to have partially leaked its contents. One tub was found on an island downstream from the plant, and another was along the shoreline. Two others were found in the Parrott area of Pulaski County.
Givens said if someone finds a tub, they will be labelled as being RAAP property.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency points out Dibutyl phthalate is used in making flexible plastics that are found in a variety of consumer products.
In information from the EPA website, Dibutyl phthalate is used in shower curtains, raincoats, food wraps, bowls, car interiors, vinyl fabrics, floor tiles, and other products, and appears to have relatively low acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) toxicity. No information is available regarding the effects in humans from inhalation or oral exposure to dibutyl phthalate, and only minimal effects have been noted in animals exposed by inhalation.
BAE Systems nor Army officials have said what they use DBP for in the production at the Radford facility.
Givens said the flooding also led to the release of potentially calcium sulfate wastewater and several large amounts of diesel fuel.
Citizens at the community meeting also asked about RAAP’s outside burning grounds. Givens said there was no problems associated with flooding at that part of the plant.
Construction at the plant on an Energetic Waste Incinerator/Contaminated Waste Processor Complex was not affected by the floodwaters, and there were only minimal impacts to the EWI/CWP site. But to ensure the safety of all personnel, site access was temporarily suspended due to adverse weather impact and has sense resumed.
The EWI/CWP will thermally treat energetic waste in an emission-controlled environment and is an alternative technology to the open burning ground and provides a modern solution for safer waste removal with air pollution control devices.
Construction of the new EWI/CWP facility will nearly eliminate the use of the open burning ground at the site. The project has been in the works for the past six years and hopeful to be completed in the next two years.
The community meeting is held on a regular basis to inform the public of activities at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant and was not planned to just address concerns over the flood water problems.
BAE Systems is continuing to work with the Army to modernize RAAP to reduce future storm impacts.
