ustxtxb_obs_1991_05_17_50_00020-00000_000.pdf

Burn Pits at Pantex Weapons Facility, Amarillo SHARON STEWART The Department of Energy’s Environmental Survey Preliminary Summary Report of the Defense Production Facilities documents that from 1954 to 1980, Pantex burned off chemical waste in an unlined open pit. In 1980, the EPA outlawed this practice, but in the meantime, Pantex had allowed an unknown amount of those wastes to seep down toward the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies eight states and is the country’s largest fresh water source. Unfortunately, one-third of the wells for the Amarillo municipal water system are on the land neighboring Pantex, posing an immediate threat to the city if the groundwater under Pantex becomes contaminated. Les Breeding Peace Farm 20 MAY 17, 1991