Remediation of white phosphorus contamination in an Alaskan wetland

Abstract

Eagle River Flats, an estuarine salt marsh located on Fort Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska, has been utilized as a military impact area for almost 60 years and is contaminated with white phosphorus, a highly toxic element used as an obscurant. When munitions containing white phosphorus were fired into the cool, wet glacial sediments of the Flats, particles of the disbursed chemical became extinguished. Dabbling ducks and swans sieve these seed-size particles from the bottoms of ponds throughout the range. The persistence of the particles in the saturated sediments has resulted in thousands of waterfowl deaths that continue 15 years after the cessation of the munition's use. A remediation method was devised to attenuate the contaminant that will be effective in the short, cool summer season while minimally impacting the environment. Although the cold climate limits the efficiency of the remediation, we were also able to use it to our advantage. Key words: white phosphorus, remediation, dabbling ducks, cold, ice, glacial silt, contamination, impact range, pumping, unexploded ordnance.