Bombs In Your Backyard: 22 Medium, High-Risk DOD Sites In MD

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Maryland has 85 properties or installations currently or formerly owned by the Department of Defense that have at least one hazardous site and 22 of these installations have at least one high or medium risk hazardous site, according to data released from the DOD that was acquired and published by ProPublica.

According to ProPublica, which has been documenting toxic pollution left behind by the military across the country, there are more than 40,000 such hazardous sites polluted by U.S. military operations.

Through its reporting, ProPublica found that many of these sites have extensive groundwater and soil pollution or present a risk of exploding bombs and munitions. Some of these sites are part of old facilities that may not be known locally even though a risk of exposure to contaminants may still be present. ProPublica also notes that contamination could affect an area much larger than the site itself.

According to ProPublica, past and estimated future costs of hazardous sites cleanup in Maryland is $2.04 billion.

The Maryland installations with at least one high or medium risk site are:

• Aberdeen Proving Ground, Harford County
• Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center, Charles County
• Joint Base Andrews, Prince George's County
• Patuxent River NAS, St. Mary's County
• Fort George Meade, Anne Arundel County
• Fort Detrick, Frederick
• Blossom Point Research Facility, Adelphi
• Chesapeake Bay Det. Nrl., Calvert County
• Curtis Bay, Anne Arundel County
• Annapolis NS, Anne Arundel County
• Annapolis US Naval Academy, Annapolis
• Forest Glen, Silver Spring
• Solomons Annex NAVRECCEN, Calvert County
• Bainbridge NTC, Port Deposit
• Fort Howard, Baltimore County
• Annapolis NSWC Det. Bay Head Annex, Anne Arundel County
• Nike BA-03 (Phoenix), Baltimore County
• Fort Washington, Prince George's County
• St. Inigoes Nies East Coast Det., St. Mary's County
• Nike W-44 Waldorf, Charles County
• Catoctin Recreation Demo Area, Thurmont
• Assateague Island, Worcester County

ProPublica explains in its methodology that it classified entire installations as high risk even if it contained one high risk site. A site is either assigned a relative risk of high, medium or low or a priority level of 1 through 8. ProPublica simplified that into one risk level and confirmed their assessment with the DOD.

Some sites are marked as “response complete,” meaning the DOD cleanup actions are complete but that doesn’t mean there is no longer a hazard. According to ProPublica, this may mean sites are simply fenced off to the public or the DOD determined no cleanup was required by law.

Patch file photo by Elizabeth Janney