Decontamination of Ravenna Arsenal continues

Dec 19, 2009

Ravenna Arsenal has been training Ohio Army National Guard troops for the past few years, but the site had been used to study aircraft crash fires and produce ammunition during both the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Its military history has led to widespread contamination of the site that spans tens of thousands of acres. Waste explosives and “pink water” – fluid that is contaminated with TNT – are only part of the problem. Bruce Sullivan, who worked in plant maintenance from 1968 until 1970 said that asbestos was everywhere, so much that they used to have snowball fights with it. Even at low levels of exposure, asbestos is known to cause cancer and serious respiratory illnesses.

Cleanup efforts at the arsenal began back in 1989 and will likely continue until 2018 at a cost of over $150 million. Just in the past year, the cleanup has included the removal of three deteriorated 500-pound live bombs. The Ohio National Guard’s environmental supervisor said that their mission of training soldiers comes first, but they need to do their work in a way that doesn’t mess up the environment.

As each section of the arsenal site is decontaminated, control is passed to the Ohio National Guard. The Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant/Base Closure Realignment Commission still needs to clean up nearly 1,300 acres of the site.

For the full story, go to Cleveland.com.

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