DUMPING NEAR ST. E'S OPPOSED

INCINERATOR ASH A THREAT, GROUP SAYS

Greenpeace, an environmental organization, called yesterday for an end to city dumping of incinerator ash near St. Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast Washington, charging that it poses a risk to public health.

But officials of the Department of Public Works said that the amount of metal in the incinerator ash is below the maximum federal levels and that there is no hazard.

"We routinely test the ash to make sure," said public information officer Tara Hamilton. Hamilton said that the latest test, conducted in September 1987 by a private contractor, found that the fly ash from the antipollution devices from the mass-burn incinerator at 3200 Benning Rd. NE contained 14 parts per million lead, nearly three times the amount allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and 8.45 ppm of cadmium, more than eight times the federal maximum.

However, Hamilton said the fly ash represents "only a small percentage of the ash" from the incinerator. Fly ash consists of the fine particles of ash that float up the stacks of the incinerator and would be released into the environment if they weren't trapped by the pollution control devices. When combined with the rest of the incinerator ash, the total ash product contained 3.24 ppm lead and .36 ppm cadmium, according to the 1987 test, she said. Both of those levels are within the federal maximums.

Greenpeace spokesman Bryan Bence said that the city's fly ash is a hazard and that the metals in the combined ash "pose a hazard and approach EPA limits." Greenpeace contends such toxic material can be inhaled directly and has the potential to leach into nearby water, such as the Anacostia River. He urged that the incinerator be closed and that a study be made of the environmental impact of the dumping.

A community meeting of citizens of Ward 8 has been scheduled for Thursday to organize an end to the dumping, Bence said. The meeting will be held at the Campbell AME Church, 2568 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, he said.

Hamilton said that the city has been dumping incinerator ash near St. Elizabeths since 1977. The dumping now is concentrated on the east side of the hospital grounds near Martin Luther King Avenue, she said. Hamilton said that work crews assisted by a bulldozer mix the ash with dirt and grade it "to follow the contours of the land."

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