Army aims to leave behind radioactive mess

After years of testing water and soil at the old Jefferson Proving Ground in Southern Indiana, the Army is seeking permission to end its federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission license — leaving an estimated 162,040 pounds of depleted uranium projectiles and thousands of unexploded artillery shells at the firing range.

If permission is granted, the Army also would be allowed to stop environmental testing at the 2,080-acre hot zone, which was used to test an array of weaponry from World War II all the way through 1995. The uranium munitions, used to penetrate armored vehicles during Operation Desert Shield and other campaigns, were tested there during the 1980s and '90s.

"The Army never thought much about the future," said Mike Moore, 72, a member of the Jefferson Proving Ground Heritage Partnership who worked at the site for the Army until 1994. "They just wanted to test the ammunition. ... No thought was given that you've ruined this land forever."

Moore, who isn't related to the Jeffersonville mayor of the same name, said he worries that shells and projectiles will be carried out of the main firing area by swollen creeks during heavy rain.

Story continues after the gallery.

According to the Army's decommissioning plan, it would be too costly — and dangerous — to clean up the area north of the firing line. In addition to fenced areas with pad-locked gates, its radiation safety plan calls for signs to be posted that warn visitors: "CAUTION, RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL."

The regulatory commission has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday night in Madison regarding the latest decommissioning plan and environmental report for the 50,000-plus-acre, Army-owned property that spans portions of Jefferson, Jennings and Ripley counties and is partof the Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, about 45 miles upriver from Louisville.

The commission will document residents' comments and concerns as part of an environmental-impact study that also will examine possible alternatives to the Army's proposal.

"We hope area residents will participate in this meeting to provide comments about the environmental issues they consider significant," said Stephen Lemont, a senior project manager for the commission.

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Environmental concerns

The Army estimates that 1.5 million depleted uranium penetrating rods are still in the ground or on the surface. And another 3 million to 5 million unexploded conventional shells with live detonators, primers or fuzes also remain just north of the firing line, according to Army documents.

It remains unclear what long-term health and environmental effects the uranium — which has a half life of 4.5 billion years — could have on the area.

Experts say radioactive levels of this nuclear byproduct are relatively low in comparison to enriched uranium used for nuclear weapons and energy. A study conducted by Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc. for the Army last year concluded it will take "many decades to corrode completely" due to the low-corrosion rates of DU material in the penetrating darts, which remain largely intact.

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According to a 2013 article from Al Jazeera, Iraqi government statistics have found increased numbers of birth defects, cancers and other health problems they believe could have been caused by depleted uranium contaminants in war zones like Fallujah, where buildings and other hard targets were bombarded, stirring up radioactive dust that's especially harmful if ingested.

After the Army closed the proving ground in 1995, testing moved to the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Similar depleted uranium weapons were also tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where comprehensive cleanup was also deemed cost prohibitive.

Tim Maloney, senior policy director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, said he knows of no other former military installation in Indiana where depleted uranium has been abandoned without ongoing testing.

"It's not right leaving something radioactive there," Maloney said.

Richard Hill, who has been closely involved with the two-decade decommissioning process as a leader of the Madison-based activist group called Save the Valley, said that some area residents still get their water from wells near Big Creek, one of a few tributaries that wind through the massive property.

But he said the group is pretty convinced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will give the Army permission to avoid cleanup.

Hill said Save the Valley would like to see the Army continue some environmental monitoring, even if it's once a year. He wonders how the Army plans to maintain signs and blockages.

"We also don't know how the public will be informed about the restrictions," Hill said.

However, it appears the Army will never be allowed to sell or transfer the property like other decommissioned military installations.

Kristine Michalson,a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., said the senator "believes the federal government should ensure a proper and efficient plan is in place that will not jeopardize the health and safety of our local community."

Today and yesterday

The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife Service has operated the Big Oaks wildlife refuge since 2000, offering hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. It has a 25-year lease with 10-year renewal options to operate the refuge for the Army.

About 24,000 acres of Big Oaks is restricted due to the unexploded ordnance and depleted uranium. Hunters are told to stay in the wooded, perimeter areas and to avoid touching any shells or small penetrating rods, said Ken Knouf, who managed the property for the Army prior to 2000.

"You're talking about material that's always going to be there. And a lot of it's on the surface or just below the surface because when it was fired here, it was fired basically on a straight-line trajectory so it would tend to skip on the ground," said Knouf, who is also a member of the Jefferson Proving Ground Heritage Partnership.

Meanwhile, Indiana Landmarks' southern regional office remains concerned for two historic structures that remain at the proving ground: the old Oakdale School just beyond a chain-link fence near the firing line and the Old Timbers Lodge farther north near where the Indiana Air National Guard conducts occasional bombing and gunnery exercises in a roughly 1,000-acre portion of former farm fields.

Moore and Knouf also would like to see the buildings preserved. Knouf said the schoolhouse is "rough around the edges" but still structurally sound. And shortly before he retired in 2010, Knouf helped the air guard and Big Oaks Conservation Society come to an agreement where the nonprofit conservancy would maintain the lodge and schedule its use.

"One of their first projects was to rewire the place to bring it up to code" and a new septic system has since been added, Knouf said.

The Army did sell a 4,300-acre section south of the firing line after cleaning it up and deeming it uncontaminated to local farmer Dean Ford, who bid $5.1 million in a 1995 auction. The Army plans to transfer 1,200 more acres to him by next fall. Ford also owns the old Marble Hill site, making him the largest property owner in Jefferson County, Moore said.

The Indiana Department of Transportation bought a piece, as did the Madison Port Authority. Jefferson County also was given two parcels totaling 635 acres, including a lake that's a county park, Moore said.

Reporter Charlie White can be reached at (812) 949-4026 or on Twitter @c_write.

Jefferson Proving Ground

What: Nuclear Regulatory Commission will accept public comments on the Army's request to end its license, with restrictions, at Jefferson Proving Ground

When: Open house for informal discussions from 6 until 7 p.m. Dec. 3; public comments taken from 7 to 10 p.m. Dec. 3

Where: The Livery Stable, 309 Broadway St., in Madison, Ind.

More info: Stephen Lemont, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, (301) 415-5163 or Stephen.Lemont@nrc.gov. Written comments also can be submitted by Dec. 18 to Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 3WFN-06-A44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.