Nike Site and Love Canal

Senator Nancy King compared the Nike Site to Love Canal at the Nike Site Development Update Meeting on Tuesday October 21, 2014. But can she prove it when the truth lies buried?

a. The truth lies buried deep in the dirt and in the 30 foot cement walls of the Nike Site Silo.

b. The truth lies buried in the numbers of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality Index (AQI) measuring the density of carcinogens, a substance capable of causing cancer in a living tissue.

c. The truth lies buried in the Government bureaucracy and its unenforced demolition safety practices.

How can the truth be unearthed? As one attendee correctly noted, “Knowledge is power.”

a. Citizens must obtain the Nike Site demolition plan approved on October 14, 2014.

b. Citizens must obtain measurement data from a properly designed soil sampling protocol.

c. Citizens must obtain the EPA AQI standards for safety.

d. Citizens must obtain the regimen of actual demolition contractor practices and compare these to industry best practices as well as those required by regulation.

Why wasn’t the Nike Site cleaned up years ago? The simple answer is that it was thought that the waste was dangerous. Today we have the science to know that the waste is dangerous. The demolition activity will disburse carcinogenic particles into the air, and once airborne these can travel for miles.

Armed with these facts, citizens need to be heard by their Government representatives who must act on behalf of the community. Fortunately, the community has some ammunition of its own in Dr. John Martin former NIST scientist who thoroughly understands the science and best measurement practices in all this and has generously shared his time, expertise, and opinions with citizen activists. Given the facts citizens are seeking, Dr. Martin has the capability to interpret the ground truth necessary to prove scientifically the degree to which the waste is dangerous, whether the measurements fall above or below EPA guidelines, and whether the EPA guidelines themselves are in fact sufficient.

Just like the Webb Tract struggle in years past, the Nike Site issue will take more than just the East Village Homes Corporation, and the stakes are higher. The Webb Tract involved the quality of life of adjacent homeowners. The Nike Site involves life itself.

For example, the Webb Tract development includes a Montgomery County Department of Education Food Processing Facility located just a few hundred yards away. An outcome at risk here is the contamination of school lunches prepared daily with carcinogens from the Cold War Nike Site. David Dise, the Montgomery County Project Manger of both the Webb Site and the Nike Site as well as the failed Silver Spring Metro Station, sent a letter to be read at the meeting to the effect that air, soil, and water monitoring of the site had started, but it was too early to have any findings.

This is a serious problem affecting us all and needs to be followed closely.