For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2002

For More Information:
Teri Olle, CALPIRG, (415) 206-9338 x 303
Anna Keyzers, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, (775) 574-0101
Scott Allen, Cox & Moyer, (415) 543-9464
Howard Hirsch, NELC, (415) 206-9338 x301

Army Lawsuit Settlement Ends Practice
Of Open Air Munitions Exploding And Burning
By California's Lead Air Polluter
Army Agrees to Permanently Stop Hazardous Disposal
of Waste Explosives at Sierra Base

(Herlong, CA) -- The U.S. Army has agreed to permanently end its decades-old practice of burning and exploding unused and unwanted munitions in open pits in the Eastern Sierra, a practice that made the Army's Sierra Depot the number one stationary source for air pollution in California in 1999. Parties filed settlement papers in federal court in Sacramento today in a lawsuit challenging the Army's disposal methods at the Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, California, 55 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada.

"This agreement will result in significantly less air pollution for communities in California and Nevada," said CALPIRG toxics program director Teri Olle. "The Army's practices made Sierra Army Depot the number one source of air pollution in the state, leaps and bounds above any other polluter."

According to the Army's own data, in 1999 (the most recent data available), the use of Open burning and open disposal (OB/OD) at the Sierra Army Depot released over 5 million pounds of air pollutants, including almost 30,000 pounds of lead, making the facility the largest stationary source of air pollution in California. By comparison, the next largest air polluter in California in 1999 was an oil refinery that emitted less than 2 million pounds of air pollutants.

"We are all breathing easier now that the Army has agreed to permanently halt this practice," said Anna Keyzers of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

For over 40 years, the Army has disposed of unwanted munitions, rocket motors, and other explosives by exploding or burning using "open burning" and "open detonation" (OB/OD) at Sierra Army Depot, releasing millions of pounds of toxic chemicals into the environment and shaking homes miles away from
the blasts. The practice of OB/OD involves placing bombs, rocket motors and other ordnance into unlined, open pits in the ground and blasting or burning them for the purpose of disposal.

In response to pressure from the plaintiffs, the Army halted its OB/OD operations at the Sierra Army Depot last fall. Under the terms of the settlement, the Army will permanently cease using OB/OD at Sierra Army Depot except in rare emergency or national security situations. The suit, which was filed by California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), the Rural Alliance for Military Accountability, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Residents Against Munitions, and three individuals, in federal district court in Sacramento in 2000, alleged that the Army's use of OB/OD at the Sierra Army Depot violates federal and state environmental laws.

The groups alleged that a significant quantity of the air pollution from the base was being deposited on Pyramid Lake in Nevada, located approximately 10 miles downwind of the facility on the reservation of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. Pyramid Lake is the last remaining habitat of a fish called the
Cui-ui, and is also home to the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. Both fish are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. A preliminary assessment by Army contractors, estimated that the conduct of OB/OD at projected quantities would have increased the concentrations of certain toxic metals in Pyramid Lake by more than tenfold.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the groups and local residents by San Francisco attorney Scott Allen, of the law firm Cox & Moyer, and by the National Environmental Law Center (NELC). Howard Hirsch of NELC explained that the settlement agreement has been submitted to the federal district court for approval. "Once it is approved, this agreement commits the Army to permanently cease the widespread use of OB/OD at Sierra Army Depot."

The lawsuit included claims that the Army's widespread use of OB/OD violates clean air and hazardous waste laws because those laws permit OB/OD only where there are no safe alternative means of disposal. The Army's own witnesses admitted in deposition testimony that all of the items subjected to OB/OD at Sierra Army Depot could be disposed of by safer means.

"The Army has been using more environmentally-friendly disposal technology at other bases for years," said Scott Allen of Cox & Moyer. "Unfortunately, it took our lawsuit to force the Army to stop using this primitive means of disposal at the Sierra facility."

Local residents lauded the settlement. As Jack Pastor, a Susanville resident and plaintiff in the case, stated, "Halting OB/OD will protect the environment and the health of the people who live in the vicinity of Sierra Army Depot."

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe is a federally-recognized Native American Tribe with approximately 2,300 members.

Residents Against Munitions is a grassroots association of approximately 800 Lassen County citizens active in monitoring the environmental impacts of the Sierra Army Depot.

Rural Alliance for Military Accountability is a non-profit organization based in Reno, Nevada that focuses on the impacts of military operations in rural communities.

Cox & Moyer is a plaintiffs' law firm in San Francisco with special emphasis in representing individuals and groups in environmental, personal injury, product liability, and medical malpractice cases nationwide.