Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Officials at the Radford Army Ammunition Plants say 10 totes missing as a result of last fall’s stormwaters of the New River have been found, leaving three unaccounted.
During a community outreach meeting this past week, Nelson Hernandez, the government contractor’s (BAE Systems) environmental manager, said one tote was located on an island downstream near Great Falls.
“The 2,300-pound tote will be moved in the future. It is in a stable location, the tote is intact, and nothing has spilled from it,” he said.
The totes were filled with the chemical dibutyl phthalate and floated away when a warehouse was flooded by rising water from the New River. They were swept downstream, creating a search and concern for what danger the chemical might create.
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.
Several of the found totes have lost their chemical payload.
A river search for the totes is still active, and plant officials say if totes are found in areas downstream from the plant, please contact the non-emergency line in the location’s area.
BAE Systems personnel will reach out to schedule an in-person visual assessment of the tote to determine if it was released from RAAP. If the tote is confirmed to be property of BAE Systems, they will replace it with a new tote of the same volume if interested.
The latest incident at RAAP was a nitric acid spill from a rail car in April. Updated information from the community meeting said the acid was spilled onto a gravel area at the railcar unloading area.
After stabilizing the area so personnel could directly measure the amount of material lost from the rail car, RAAP updated the spill amount for all agencies from an estimated 600 gallons to 6500 gallons.
The cleanup effort included treating the acid spill and removing gravel/soil from spill site. Because of team’s neutralization efforts, spill was contained to railcar area ensuring no impacts to the environment or threat to public health.
Leaders at the plant also took a moment to discuss several other issues cited recently at the plant by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
In March, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a notice of violation (NOV) for wastewater exceedances that occurred in the second half of 2024. The cited exceedances were reported to the DEQ, as required by RFAAP’s wastewater discharge permit. BAE Systems has identified corrective actions to resolve the issue and has begun implementation.
Also in March, the DEQ issued an NOV and a corresponding consent order and agreement (COA) for a noncompliance regarding an air emissions monitoring system. BAE Systems has identified corrective actions. Administrative control monitoring has shown effectiveness of corrective actions, as compliance has been maintained since implementation.
Wastewater exceedances were also identified for one of the treatment systems in Q1 and Q2 2025. BAE Systems has begun the process of identifying the root cause and implementing corrective actions.
The exceedances were reported to Virginia DEQ, as required by RFAAP’s wastewater discharge permit. According to DEQ, public health was not jeopardized, and there were no observed impacts to the environment as a result of the three violations.
