We are happy to report a victory for environmental justice!
A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will require the Secretary of the Navy to purchase and operate a closed detonation chamber – ending decades of polluting open air detonations on former U.S. military bombing ranges in Vieques, Puerto Rico – and authorizing $10M for the initiative.
On Vieques alone, the Navy has already open air burned or detonated more than 100,000 high explosive ordnance, including bombs, projectiles, rockets, grenades and submunitions as part of its environmental remediation program. By definition, open burning and open detonation (OB/OD) result in the uncontrolled release of toxic munitions constituents to the environment. These emissions endanger public health by contaminating air, groundwater, surface water, sediments and soils near these operations.
The language approved by both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House of Representatives requires the Secretary of the Navy to “purchase and operate a portable closed detonation chamber and water jet cutting system to be deployed at a former naval bombardment area located outside the continental United States that is part of an active remediation program.”
The Navy projects there are “tens of thousands” of munitions on the land and in the sea at Vieques that still need to be demilitarized. The water cutting system is necessary to manage the size of very large munitions prior to treatment.
The push from Congress – led by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) – was made necessary by a lack of initiative by the Department of Defense to transition to newer and safer technologies.
Earlier this year, the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) issued a report – initially requested by U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI) – that confirmed alternative technologies are “mature, including contained burn and contained detonation chambers with pollution control equipment, and many are permitted to replace open burning and detonation of waste munitions.”
However, the NAS study emphasized that “without a clear directive and sufficient and stable funding from Congress, it will be impossible for the military to implement a full-scale deployment of alternative technologies to replace OB/OD.”
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger (CSWAB) and other organizational members of the Cease Fire Campaign – including Vidas Viequenses Valen and California Communities Against Toxics – actively supported the initiative by Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez to tackle the relentless open air burning and detonation of hazardous waste by the Department of Defense.
“Safer advanced treatment technologies that can capture and destroy toxic emissions have been successfully implemented at other military sites across the U.S. and the world,” said CSWAB Executive Director Laura Olah. “We need support from Congress to get them deployed in communities like Vieques.”
Vieques Call to Action 42 Groups to EPA Reg 2 US Congress April 2019
(Photograph: Open air detonation of waste munitions by U.S. Navy on Vieques, Puerto Rico.)