WASHINGTON — A D.C. delegate is pushing for an investigation into possible soil and groundwater contamination throughout Fort Totten Park.
In a letter to the National Park Service (NPS), Del. Eleanor Homes Norton (D-DC) requested the investigation after she said she was assured one had been conducted shortly after a World War I chemical weapon had been located on the Fort Totten Trail in 2020. She said she later learned NPS only investigated parts of the trail and not throughout the entire park.
Norton writes that a different NPS study only conducted tests around the immediate area of a toxic soil dump. She claims the studies found elevated levels of arsenic that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s generic regional screening levels for both residential and industrial soil in both surface and subsurface soil.
"I believe it is imperative that NPS conduct an investigation throughout Fort Totten Park," Norton said in her letter to NPS. "This park is located in a residential neighborhood and is regularly used."
Norton says she is committed to ensuring people living in DC are safe from ordnance, chemical weapons and soil and groundwater contamination.
AMC Commissioner Zachary Ammerman met with Norton and her team to discuss the issue previously.
He says the concerns actually go back to the early 90s when WMATA brought in toxic soil from the Springvalley Toxic Waste site, which he says is sometimes called "the mother of all toxic waste dumps" in Ward 3. He says some of that toxic soil went missing and he believes it ended up in his District near the Fort Totten Metro.
Ammerman points out that NPS has conducted tests of the area but he feels they have only tested a tiny portion of the area he is concerned about.
"The area that I think is over concern is the area where they did that landscape restoration project at the exact same time that the soil went missing and where they later found a chemical weapon," said Ammerman. "All of those signs, plus the fact that they found elevated levels of arsenic, I think point to that is where the soil ended up, where they were doing that landscape restoration project, and so far the vast majority of that area has not been tested. It's only a tiny portion around where the trail was."
Ammerman is concerned about what these chemicals could do to people, considering they were designed to hurt people.
"This is the worst of the worst possible stuff you can talk about," he said. "The fact is we don't know 'cause they haven't done enough testing of the entire park area."
The AMC Commissioner expressed frustration over having to go through a member of Congress to get this issue resolved, saying if D.C. was a state the testing problem would be fixed with less complications.
"If we were a state this would be much easier, I could just go right to the district government Department of Parks and Recreation and they could get it done easier," he said. "Instead, I have to go through a member of Congress."
Ammerman says, in his opinion, NPS appears to only be doing the bare minimum amount of testing allowed.
"It appears to me, this my own personal opinion, but it appears that they keep doing the bare minimum amount possible that they can do, testing the tiniest amount that they can get away with testing so that they don't test the entire area and find out what the real issue is," he said. "I would just like them to test the entire area."
Ammerman is also concerned about the people who not only enjoy the park but live there.
"There are people experiencing homelessness that are sleeping in the soil," he explained. "I personally, myself, have cleaned up sites where it's obvious people have been sleeping directly on the soil where there could be chemical weapons and arsenic and elevated levels of nasty things."
WUSA9 has reached out to NPS for comment and is still waiting to hear back.
Read Norton's letter in full below:
Dear Director Sams:
I write to request that the National Park Service (NPS) investigate ordnances and soil and groundwater contamination throughout Fort Totten Park.
After an unexploded ordnance was uncovered on the Fort Totten Trail in 2020, I convened a meeting with NPS, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to discuss the scope of NPS’s investigation. In that meeting, I was assured that NPS had conducted a thorough investigation.
However, I have since been informed that NPS has only investigated parts of Fort Totten Trail, and not throughout Fort Totten Park.
Furthermore, a different NPS study only conducted tests immediately around the site of the toxic soil dump. Given that these studies found elevated levels of arsenic that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s generic regional screening levels for both residential and industrial soil in both surface and subsurface soil, I believe it is imperative that NPS conduct an investigation throughout Fort Totten Park. This park is located in a residential neighborhood and is regularly used.
I am committed to ensuring that residents across the District are safe from ordnance, chemical weapons and soil and groundwater contamination. I request a response to this letter by February 28, 2023.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Environmental groups are pushing for a comprehensive action plan to deal with PFAS chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems.
