9 - Recommendations

Abstract

It is important for the stakeholders to make detailed recommendations for the remediation of a chemical or explosive weapons site. The threat posed by a chemical weapons site requires that every part of it be surveyed with magnetometers and ground penetrating radar as deep as possible, with all anomalies intrusively investigated and cleared. It stresses the need for timely action due to the increasing contamination and sensitivity of munitions. Residents, stakeholders, and regulators must be reminded of the deleterious aspects of delay. The field of toxicology itself has recently been transformed to account for chronic low-level exposures. The groundwater should likewise be sampled by strategically placed monitoring wells. Surface water and sediments should also be sampled. Sediments in bogs or intermittent streams may provide useful data. Finally, a health survey of nearby residents should be conducted to determine if there is any elevated incidence of any disease processes related to the hazardous substances found in the sampling. The body does not detoxify mustard, a Class A human carcinogen, and even low levels can cause serious health effects if breathed over a long period of time. Stomach cancers have been reported in a community near a large mustard gas manufacturing facility in Maryland. Two former District of Columbia residents with a mustard gas burial site in their yard both died of cancer. Such anecdotal evidence does not prove anything but it points to the need for a thorough health screening of residents living near a CWM burial site