The Child Development Center at American University

It is very important for regulators, residents, and stakeholders to get whatever help they can get. The press is often invaluable at uncovering information. Most reporters are inquisitive and observant. This section presents an example of how listening to a simple observation by a reporter (actually, a magazine writer) led to the discovery of a major problem area and undoubtedly kept a lot of kids from falling prey to Lewisite contamination. 

As a regulator, there is a tendency to act like one knows it all. One day in the fall of 2000, Harry Jaffe, a writer for the Washingtonian Magazine, 

We immediately asked the Corps to sample for arsenic on the playground of the Child Development Center (CDC). The first sampling that was done was a six-part composite sample. This was consistent with the plan that we agreed to with the Corps for other properties at that time. Essentially, they would take six scoops of surface soil, mix them up in a bowl and then send one sample to the laboratory for analysis. If the results were above the background level of 12.6 ppm of arsenic, then the Corps would divide up the property into grids of 10 ft by 10 ft, or 20 ft by 20 ft in most areas, and take a separate sample in each grid. 

Of course, thanks to the combined backing we received from the parents and a very astute day-care supervisor, Ms. Green, the kids were immediately removed from the facility. We believe that Ms. Green was prepared to engage the Major in hand-to-hand combat if necessary to protect her little charges. Had that occurred the author would have bet on Ms. Green. 

1 Many Clues Must Be Used to Find Burial Sites 

---