USACE no longer maintains a presence on Glenbrook Road as of July 31, 2021.  Issues with access to 4825 and 4835 Glenbrook Road should be coordinated directly with the property owner, American University. 

Weekly Update for August 27, 2021

This is our final project update. This is for the week ending August 27th.

USACE has completed the remediation and restoration efforts at the 4825 Glenbrook Road project area. We want to thank you again for your participation and support over the years. It has been our honor to work on such an important remediation project.

Early in the week,  the fencing contractor finished installing the remaining fence panels, completing the privacy fence at 4825 Glenbrook Road.

On Wednesday, we removed the remaining silt fence along Glenbrook Road, and the property owner later mowed the new grass, for the second time. The grass is filling in and the site restoration is complete (see photo).

Our offsite team continued to work on the Site-Specific Final report, and completion is anticipated by early October 2021. When completed, the final report will be available on the USACE Baltimore District website, as well as at the Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Branch Library’s reference desk, located at 4450 Wisconsin Ave, NW.

If you have a question about USACE’s remediation efforts in Spring Valley, please notify us by email or phone call. Also, you can keep up to date on our other Spring Valley FUDS project efforts at our website: https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Home/Spring-Valley/ . You are also welcome to attend the next Spring Valley FUDS Restoration Advisory Board meeting, which will be held online via WebEx on September 14th at 7pm.

Photo of 4825 Glenbrook Road site restoration completed week of Aug. 27, 2021
 

Click here for an archive of Glenbrook Road Weekly Updates

UPDATE: Final ATSDR 4825 Glenbrook Road Report Released

Final ATSDR Report Released: We wanted to share that the final Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) report "Health Consultation - An Exposure and Health Effects Evaluation of Former Workers and Residents to Chemical Contamination at 4825 Glenbrook Road within the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) Washington, District of Columbia" was released August 26, 2016.  A summary of the public comments and ATSDR responses are in an appendix of the finalized document. For more information on the final report, including the report itself, you can visit their website at: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/springvalley/index.html

Background: In 2010, the Corps of Engineers asked ATSDR, a part of the US Department of Health and Human Service's Center for Disease Control (CDC), to develop the report, which evaluated past exposure scenarios at the 4825 Glenbrook Road property, specifically for two groups: construction and other workers who developed the property (1992-1993), and the family who lived at the residence from 1993 until 1999.


ATSDR released a draft of the report earlier this year, taking feedback from the public regarding their evaluation during a public comment period that ended on June 20, 2016.

Project Overview

The project site is a residential property located at 4825 Glenbrook Road N.W. within the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site in Northwest Washington, D.C. During the World War I era, the property was part of a larger area known as the American University Experiment Station (AUES), where the U.S. government researched and tested chemical agents, equipment and munitions. AUES related waste, including more than 500 munition items, 400 pounds of laboratory glassware and 100 tons of contaminated soil, have been recovered and safely removed from the property during investigations from 2000-2002 and then again from 2007-2010. In August 2010, several agencies within the Department of Defense as well as the regulatory partners, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and District Department of the Environment, made the decision to separate the 4825 Glenbrook Road property from the Spring Valley neighborhood site to expedite the cleanup process.

After thorough reviews and a public comment period, the Corps of Engineers, with concurrence from the partners and American University (property owner), selected the alternative to remove the house, cleanup, and restore the property to residential standards, providing for unrestricted future use of the property. This approach is the most effective and protective of human health and the environment. 

Cleanup Implementation

 

Crews removed the house (Nov. 29 - 30, 2012) systematically from top to bottom using an excavator. After the demolition, crews began preparing the site for the high probability operations. Historical and field data were used to indicate the high probability areas of the property with a greater likelihood of containing AUES debris and/or glassware items.

Site preparation included low probability test pitting in several areas in the backyard, utility relocation, general site preparations, and installation of the engineering controls needed to safely perform the high probability work. The engineering controls included an Engineering Control Structure (a 60’x80’x27’ tent) that fully enclosed the high probability excavation areas, a chemical agent filtration system that filtered the air leaving the control structure, and a continuous air monitoring system. All of the materials removed during the high probability phase were safely disposed.

Additionally, the Corps of Engineers developed a Shelter-in-Place program as an added layer of protection to the public.

High probability operations began Sept. 23, 2013 and concluded on May 26, 2016. Additional low probability operations will begin in early fall 2016. The goal is to completely remove any remaining AUES debris and restore the property to residential standards the end of 2019.

Learn more about the work through a video tour of the site:  http://youtu.be/yVws5UnBuZw. You also can see the actual excavation work in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK0LzWtzum8.

 

 

Information Repository

The Information Repository is located at the Tenley-Friendship Branch Library, 4450 Wisconsin Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.
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Hard copies and digital records of key project documents can be found upstairs in the Reference Section.  The document collection includes a variety of materials created since the start of the project, 20 years ago. Check with the reference librarian to direct you to our shelves of materials.

Also, on your next visit to the library, ask at the Reference Desk for the Spring Valley FUDS large binder, which has a table of contents and almost a hundred disks that contain years of digital records available for research and review. These disks must be checked out from the librarian and are only available for use on the library’s public computers during your visit.  If there is a piece of information you cannot locate in the library, please contact the Community Outreach Team at 410-962-0157.

Additional archived documents not found in the library or here on the Web site, can be found at http://springvalley.ertcorp.com.

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Contact Information

Baltimore District Public Affairs Office
NAB-PAO@usace.army.mil