Residue burial

The new FUDS manual, Corps of Engineers Regulation ER 200-3-1, requires the states to provide their documentation when asking that a EUDS site be listed or reopened. This proactive authorization differs from the Corps previous position, which was that states could only comment on the Corps reports. The author s research report on American University, copied substantially in Chapter 10, is an example of a report sufficient to cause the Corps to reopen a EUDS site. The author concluded that there are likely to be some residual burial sites on or near the campus. Four substantial burial sites have now been found and two more have yet to be found. 

Tabic 1.1. Amino acids per thousand residues for standard type 1 collagen and 15 human bone collagen samples from St. Thomas Church cemetery. Samples are identified by burial numlter (Bx) followed by age midpoint for subadults and age range for adults in parentheses. For example, B17(0) refers to burial 17 who was aged as a newborn. 

Arsine is highly volatile and there is little risk of direct residual contamination. However, potential persistent decomposition products include arsenic and arsenic oxides. Wash the remains with soap and water. Pay particular attention to areas where agent may get trapped, such as hair, scalp, pubic areas, fingernails, folds of skin, and wounds. If remains are heavily contaminated with residue, then wash and rinse waste should be contained for proper disposal. Once the remains have been thoroughly decontaminated, no further protective action is necessary. Body fluids removed during the embalming process do not pose any additional risks and should be contained and handled according to established procedures. Use standard burial procedures. 

Evershed, R.P. and Charters, S. (1995). Interpreting lipid residues in archaeological ceramics preliminary results from laboratory simulations of vessel use and burial. Materials Research Society Symposia Proceedings 352 85-95. 

Some component of the terrestrial POM must be extremely nonreactive to enable a higher burial efficiency as compared to autochthonous POM. A possible candidate for this nonreactive terrestrial POM is black carbon. This material is a carbon-rich residue produced by biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion. Some black carbon also appears to be derived from graphite weathered from rocks. It is widely distributed in marine sediments and possibly carried to the open ocean via aeolian transport. 

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