As the cleanup continues at Camp Bonneville, the public has another opportunity to weigh in on what’s happening, this time on a proposed change in the cleanup action plan.
As a quick refresher, Camp Bonneville, a 3,840-acre property in eastern Clark County, was used by the U.S. military for live-fire exercises to train troops from 1909-95. That left behind explosives, an enormous number of unexploded ordnance, munitions debris, lead contamination and explosive-related contamination of groundwater.
As of 2016, $23 million had been budgeted for cleanup, but that number was expected to climb. Contractors have said that the Army greatly underestimated the scope of the contamination from both lead and unexploded ordnance. The county, Army and state Department of Ecology are working together to clean the site so a portion of it will be available for public use sometime in the future.
For cleanup purposes, Camp Bonneville has been divided into five remedial action units. They are generally grouped by type of contamination, versus physical boundaries.
The project contractor, Weston Solutions Inc., has completed clearing Camp Bonneville’s central valley floor.
The proposed change for the action plan affects what’s labeled RAU-3, or the camp’s western slopes, an area generally west of Lacamas Creek in Camp Bonneville. The change would reduce the area slated for clearance from 425 acres to 194 acres, according to the county’s Camp Bonneville website. Once cleared, this area is slated to be used for hiking trails and environmental preservation. No buildings or other activities would be allowed.
In justifying the proposed change, the website notes munitions were generally fired from the western slopes toward the east. The revised surface clearance area would therefore focus on that area’s eastern portion, where munitions are more likely to be found. In addition, portions of the western slopes overlap with other cleanup actions and investigations and thus have been addressed. A public meeting will be held if at least 10 people request one during the comment period. Comments are due by Dec. 31 and may be submitted at http://cs.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=egT6t.
As we’ve noted editorially in the past, the Camp Bonneville cleanup has had its challenges. Clark County was forced to terminate the contract with a previous contractor after an investigation exposed about $150,000 in questionable expenses.
But over the past eight years or so work has been proceeding more smoothly, and contractors are using metal detectors to systematically assess where to focus their energy.
Clark County residents care about outdoor activities and amenities, and since Camp Bonneville is destined to one day be a part of that landscape, we encourage residents to check out how the cleanup is progressing and share their thoughts with officials if they have concerns or compliments.
Scaling back this particular action plan for the western slopes seems like a sound proposal as the parties continue their mission to turn Camp Bonneville into a site all Clark County residents will one day be able to enjoy.
