Army Aberdeen Proving Research Articles

Mustard Agent Leak Under Investigation

In 60 years, no Leaking mustard agent had ever been detected at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground (APGl storage area in Mary- Land. That changed when an alarm sounded recently in an igloo holding ton-sized containers of the chemical warfare agent awaiting disposal via neutralization. The trace amount (7.68 ig/m3) of mustard vapor detected by the alarm was confirmed using mini Chemical Agent Monitors that were inserted into the storage igloo, says Jeff Lindblad, spokesman for the Army Chemical Materials Agency. No liquid agent was found. Whatever leaked has not escaped from the storage building, APG spokesman George Mercer says. He adds, Since the original detection, no additional vapor has been detected inside the structure. The storage igloo is located within the Edgewood Area of APG and a few hundred yards from the building where agent neutralization actually takes place. No workers were exposed to the blister agent. After temporarily relocating workers at the neutralization ...

Spatial variability in the soil foodwebs in a contaminated grassland ecosystem

Spatial relationships among soil nematodes and soil microorganisms were investigated in a grassland ecosystem at the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. This area was contaminated with a wide range of concentrations of heavy metals. The study quantified microbial biomass, the abundance of soil protozoa and nematode populations. Geostatistical techniques were used to evaluate cross-correlations among biotic and abiotic parameters and to determine spatial distributions of these parameters in soil. The graphical analysis technique displayed a surface in three-dimensional space, the topography of which was generated by an independent variable and the surface colored by a dependent variable. Both the visualization technique and the cross general relative semivariogram showed a negative correlation between the abundance of fungivore nematodes and fungal biomass, the abundance of bacterivore nematodes and bacterial biomass, and between the numbers of protozoa and microbial biomass in less-contaminated portions of the study site. Graphical analyses of the spatial distribution of soil biota showed that relationships among components of the soil foodweb were altered in the highly contaminated area compared to the less-contaminated local background area. This suggests that environmental conditions in the soil of the contaminated areas may have a detrimental effect on trophic interactions in the soil foodweb.

Soil heavy metal concentrations, microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a contaminated grassland ecosystem

Soil enzyme activities and microbial biomass were measured in a grassland ecosystem with a wide range of heavy metal concentrations ranging from 7.2 to 48.1 mmol kg −1 (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in portions of the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, U.S.A. Total and fluorescein diacetate active (FDA) fungal biomass, FDA-active bacterial biomass, substrate-induced respiration (SIR), the activity of N-acetylglucosaminidase, β-glucosidase, endocellulase, and acid and alkaline phosphatases were also measured. Most measures of microbial biomass were lower in polluted soils. Significant reductions (10- to 50-fold) in the activities of all enzymes closely paralleled the increase in heavy metal concentrations. These results demonstrate that heavy metal contamination of soil has adversely affected the abundance and activity of microorganisms involved in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling in this site.

New Defenders of Wildlife

ames Bailey stands on the banks of Romney Creek, a broad but short tidal stream that flows through the US Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground and into the Chesapeake Bay north of Baltimore. Here, on a sunny fall day, an eastern deciduous forest sheds its autumn leaves quietly not far from a site where Army engineers test weapons, munitions, and other military equipment. A short distance upstream, some 30-40 roosting bald eagles eye the water for signs of fish. Downstream, great mounds of dried guano on Pooles Island in the Chesapeake Bay attest to the 600 pairs of great blue herons that nested there over the summer. At a nearby pond, some 2000 ducks and other migrating waterfowl rest on cool fall nights. If we weren't here, this land would be all marinas and condominiums, says Bailey, an Army wildlife biologist at Aberdeen. Instead, Aberdeen's 79,000 acres hold a healthy deer herd, beaver ponds, turkey vultures and black vultures, red-tailed and marsh hawks, and the largest bald eagle population on the northern Chesapeake. We are a de facto wildlife sanctuary, Bailey