20th CBRNE supports chemical cleanup effort in capital

Courtesy Photo | The 20th CBRNE Command's CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity (CARA) and the 48th Chemical Brigade are supporting the remediation effort at the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site near American University.  

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES

01.14.2015

Story by Walter Ham  

20th CBRNE Command

WASHINGTON - Units from the 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives) are involved in a chemical warfare material cleanup effort here in the nation's capital.

The 20th CBRNE Command's CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity (CARA) and the 48th Chemical Brigade are supporting the remediation effort at the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site near American University.

An activity made up exclusively of Department of the Army civilians, CARA is responsible for running the personnel decontamination station, emergency decontamination station, rescue team and the weather plotting station, as well as the packaging, transport, escort and storage of chemical warfare material.

CARA is the only U.S. Defense Department activity authorized to conduct chemical weapons material surety missions.

The Fort Hood, Texas-based 48th Chemical Brigade is home to five CBRN battalions that serve across the nation and deploy around the globe.

Headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the 20th CBRNE Command is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington, D.C., District Department of the Environment at the site.

In January 1993, a contractor working on a utility trench unearthed remnants of World War I ordnance and chemical weapons at the site, previously known as the American University Experiment Station.

Additional investigations discovered munitions in pits on adjacent properties in the Spring Valley area.

The chemical munitions were developed at the American University Experiment Station during World War I.

Established in 1993 and headed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District, the Spring Valley remediation team has found more than 1,000 ordnance items and chemical weapons materials in the neighborhood.

In addition to Spring Valley, CARA supports remediation efforts at formerly used defense sites in Withlacoochee, Florida; Deseret, Utah; and Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

Brig. Gen. JB Burton, the commanding general of 20th CBRNE Command, said the effort demonstrates the unique nature of his command.

"From the far flung corners of the earth to the heart of our nation's capital, 20th CBRNE Command is defending our nation and our friends and allies," said Burton, a native of Tullahoma, Tennessee.

"The Spring Valley remediation effort is a detailed, meticulous and comprehensive endeavor and it is a testament to all of the agencies involved," said Burton.

• Date Taken: 01.14.2015
• Date Posted: 01.14.2015 16:27
• Story ID: 151986
• Location: WASHINGTON, DC, US
• Hometown: TULLAHOMA, TN, US