Fernald worries close camp
By Nadine Louthan and
Al Salvato
Post staff reporters
Girl Scouts no longer will hike the trails at Camp Ross, a 305-acre camp near the uranium processing plant at Fernald.
The Great Rivers Girls Scout Council has closed the camp because of environmental concerns. Residents of the area around the Feed Materials Production Center had expressed concerns about land and water contamination, said Barbara Bonifas, executive director of the Great Rivers Council.
“Certainly, there has been no incident of environmental danger that would make us close down the camp,” Ms. Bonifas said. “But the residents are concerned for environmental safety, and we are concerned.”
She said the Girl Scouts have no proof the camp is contaminated, but Scout leaders also are unsure whether the camp is completely safe.
“All we want is some reassurance there is nothing out there that would prove a health hazard over the long term, she said.
Lisa Crawford, a spokeswoman for Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health (FRESH), a citizens advocacy group, said several parents of Scouts called her last summer to ask if the camp was safe.
“If it were my children, I would not send them there. The camp is two miles from the plant,” she said.
Fernald spokesman Bob Walker believes Scouting officials may be overreacting.
“We have absolutely no scientific evidence or other evidence that we would be a source of any environmental or health danger to Camp Ross Trails,” he said.
Ms. Bonifas said Girl Scouting has a history of being a healthy, safety-conscious organization, and the Great Rivers board of trustees wants this to continue.
“We will hold onto the land for a while to see what happens,” she said. “In the meantime, we have several other camps the girls can use.”
The processing plant is operated by Westinghouse Materials of Ohio for the U.S. Department of Energy. The plant processes radioactive materials for nuclear weapons and nuclear plants.
Westinghouse and the energy department already conduct monthly tests on water at Fort Scott Camp, which is owned by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and is about 1 1/2 miles from the processing plant.
Father Len Wenke, the archdiocese’s director of youth ministry, said regular testing had found no contamination.
“We also do our own independent tests each spring and have found no chemicals.”
Father Wenke said the camp, which is closed until next year, will remain open unless a problem arises.
However, Girl Scout leaders were told last week that their camp would be closed. The camp is about 18 miles from Cincinnati in northwestern Hamilton County.
Last year, leaks of cancer-causing uranium from Fernald increased compared with 1986 but still did not reach levels that threatened health, the Department of Energy reported in May.
Of 4,083 environmental
samples from test wells, air monitors, fish and other sources last year,
95 percent were within health safety standards set by the Department of
Energy and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.