Project Updates

February 2025 - There are two remaining issues of note at the site, groundwater and the former AU Public Safety Building. 

Groundwater update 

The Spring Valley team held a Groundwater Proposed Plan public meeting on the AU campus in August 2024. That same month, the team also concluded the public comment period for the Proposed Plan and received very little feedback on the proposed decision of No Further Action. We are currently working on preparation of the Record Of Decision for upper level signatures, which should be finalized by end of calendar year 2025 and made available on this website.

Former Public Safety Building (PSB)

All planned field work at the former PSB site was completed in July 2024 and crews have determined debris is buried deeper in the hillside than our lagging wall allows us to go.  In discussions with the Partners—District of Columbia and the U.S. EPA—we are exploring the idea of leaving the remaining debris in place as additional removal efforts would be very disruptive and intrusive to AU campus operations and provide minimal risk mitigation. A final determination will be made in close coordination with the Partners and the landowner.  While a decision is made on whether to leave remaining debris in place, debris is being mapped as accurately as possible to allow establishment of a long term management plan with the landowner, if necessary.  

With respect to mapping the remainder of the debris, our team is processing a change to our contractor’s tasking at the site and will issue a modification authorizing a rotosonic drill investigation to determine the boundaries of the remaining debris. If this course of action is accepted by all parties (leaving debris in place), it would represent a change from the 2017 Decision Document and we would prepare a Record of Decision Amendment that would explain the deviation from the 2017 document and discuss why such a change is appropriate and protective.  This amendment would then be made available to the public via our website upon completion during calendar year 2026.  

Financial Update

We spent $2.16 million on Spring Valley activities during Fiscal Year 2024, bringing our overall total to $352.139 million since 1993. We have been provided a budget of $5.48 million for Fiscal Year 2025.  Our two main expenditures remain groundwater and the PSB site.  We also continue to slowly close down the Federal Property behind Sibley Hospital. Last fall we dismantled the Interim Holding Facility and no longer have the capability to store Chemical Warfare Materiel at the site. Although we have no munition items in storage currently, we continue to be able to store conventional munition items, if needed. 

For an archive of monthly updates, click here.