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Spring Valley Munitions Excavations Halted

CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY have prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to suspend the search for World War I-era chemical munitions that were buried decades ago in D.C.'s Spring Valley neighborhood, officials said.

The halt was called to allow the corps to reassess safety procedures after an artillery round was discovered on the 4800 block of Glenbrook Road, near American University, The Post's Steve Vogel reports:

The Army's safety procedures for the excavation assume a worst-case scenario involving the release of arsine, a toxic chemical agent from a 75mm artillery round that was not configured to explode. Corps officials said they do not know whether the artillery round recently discovered is explosively configured.
None of the munitions unearthed since chemical weapons were first found in the neighborhood in 1993 has been configured to explode, a Corps official told Vogel.

» "Army Suspends Search for Buried Munitions" [WaPo]

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