WWII-CS

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a Cabinet Department of the US federal government with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the US from terrorist attacks and responding to natural disasters. The DHS has over 200,000 employees and is the third largest U.S. cabinet.  The Department of Defense is charged with military actions abroad and the DHS works in the civilian area to protect the U.S. in, at, and all around our borders.  Spring Valley is a leafy area in the Northwest section of the District of Columbia, and it is also the location of the American University. During the First World War, the area was known as the American University Experimental Station and Camp Leach, a test center for chemical weapons. The experimental station and chemical laboratories were located on American University property. In January 1993 a contractor who was digging a utility trench discovered First World War munitions in the Spring Valley area. During further investigations, munitions were discovered in pits located on the Korean ambassador property, and additional pits were also found on the property right next to it. An additional pit on the next residence found many additional munitions and the work has not been completed yet. That work was scheduled to begin in the fall of 2007. Arsenic-contaminated soil has been removed from the Child Development Center play area on American University. Soil removal actions have been completed on several American University lots and at approximately eighty residential properties. The expanded arsenic sampling program was developed after elevated arsenic was found near the pits on the Korean ambassador property. The site-wide soil cleanup standard for arsenic has been finalized by EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the D.C. Health Department. One hundred and forty five properties have arsenic levels above the cleanup criteria and will need remediation. The Army Corps of Engineers budget for this site is approximately $11 million dollars per year. Site work is expected to continue for approximately four more years. The USACE has completed excavation of lab waste and debris near the boundary of the American University. Tons of empty (scrap) munitions and several intact bottles were removed from the site. One of the bottles was found to contain a small amount of Lewisite, a blister agent used at the site; a second bottle was found to contain mustard gas. Other chemical agent degradation products have been found in sealed containers.

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