Use of common material contributes to range sustainability

12 Jul 07 -- Vicksburg, Miss. -- Research being conducted by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Environmental Laboratory (ERDC-EL) is currently assisting with the sustainability of military training ranges.

Training ranges are vital for training Soldiers and testing weapons and munitions that will be used by U.S. military forces. However, potential contamination at the ranges may create environmental challenges for range managers. ERDC engineers and scientists are using a simple, innovative and cost-effective technique to transform and stabilize munitions constituents (MC), reducing the potential for migration of MC into water sources and MC accumulation in the range soil. ERDC scientists are using hydrated lime to quickly transform explosives into benign constituents and prevent metal residues from migrating to surface water or groundwater sources.

"Most munitions-contaminated soils found on training ranges contain a mixture of compounds," said Dr. Steve Larson, research chemist in ERDC-EL. "For hand grenade ranges, the prevalent munitions used are fragmentation grenades, typically composed of a steel shell containing Composition B explosive material. Through normal detonation, hand grenades can deposit trace amounts of both RDX and TNT at the range, along with the components of the steel shell casing."

"Via alkaline hydrolysis, explosive residues are quickly broken down and metals can be effectively immobilized via hydroxide precipitation." said Andy Martin, an environmental engineer at ERDC-EL. "With the addition of hydrated lime to the hand grenade range soils, we can effectively accomplish this in a manner that is both cost effective and easily implemented."

During a recent field demonstration, the ERDC team recently applied hydrated lime to an active hand grenade range. "The results from the ongoing field demonstration indicate that the proper application of hydrated lime can be incorporated into range management operations to reduce migration by transforming energetic compounds into benign compounds and by sufficiently stabilizing the metals associated with hand grenade shells," Martin said. "Current field results have shown greater than a 50 percent reduction of RDX in post-liming range soil samples taken less than 24 hours after a liming event."

Proactive management of grenade ranges will help mitigate potential environmental issues associated with munitions constituents by treating them on site. The potential cost to the Defense Department for soil and groundwater remediation is also reduced via in-situ treatment.