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SAN FRANCISCO The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today
approved the U.S. Army's revised closure plan for the Johnston Atoll
Chemical Agency Disposal System (JACADS) facility.
"Approval of the revised plan provides the Army with a green light
to proceed with closing the facility and returning Johnston Atoll conditions
safe for people, birds and marine life," said Arlene Kabei, associate
director for the EPA's hazardous waste management program for the Pacific
Southwest office.
The closure plan addresses the JACADS facility's dismantling,
treatment of waste and methods of clean up. The plan includes a human
health and ecological risk assessment, a sampling and analysis plan, and a
quality assurance project plan. The facility was designed to incinerate
military weapons containing blister agent (known as mustard) and chemical
nerve agent.
Beginning in 1990, with the world's first chemical weapons
incinerator, the Army destroyed four million pounds of the chemical agent
and chemical weapons originally stored on Johnston Atoll. In November 2000,
the Army destroyed the last of the remaining chemical weapons stockpiled
there.
After JACADS closure is complete, the atoll will remain a national
wildlife refuge as established in 1926. The atoll, an unincorporated
territory of the U.S., is approximately 800 miles southwest of the Hawai'ian
islands and will be turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The
Army is required to ensure the area is in a safe condition upon departure.
Johnston supports a rich and varied ecosystem for thousands of
nesting seabirds, beautiful corals and colorful tropical fish. It consists
of approximately 50 square miles of shallow coral reef surrounding four
islands.
Due to extensive comments from the EPA and the public, the Army
revised its JACADS closure plan as announced through a public notice in Nov.
2001. The Army held its most recent public meeting regarding the closure
plan in Honolulu on Dec. 11, 2001. The EPA received comments from the
public on the revised closure plan in a comment period that ended Feb. 28,
2002.
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