Spring Valley FUDS is located in the Spring Valley neighborhood of northwest Washington, D.C. This 661-acre area includes approximately 1,600 private residences, several foreign embassies, American University (AU), Wesley Seminary, numerous commercial properties, and a portion of the Washington Aqueduct Federal Property.

The RCWM FUDS is in an area that was formerly occupied by the American University Experiment Station (AUES) and Camp Leach between 1917 and 1920. During World War I, the U.S. Government established the AUES to investigate the testing, production, and effects of noxious gases, antidotes, and protective masks. The AUES was located on the grounds of the present AU and used portions of adjoining properties to conduct the research, development and testing of chemical agents, including mustard and lewisite, and conventional chemical fills, including adamsite, irritants, incendiaries, and smokes. An area adjacent to the AUES, named Camp Leach, was also established and used for staging, training, and billeting troops. Immediately after the war these activities were transferred to other locations, and the property was returned to the owners. The site is currently a residential area with multi-million dollar homes.

In January 1993, a buried cache of DMM was discovered during a construction project on 52nd Court, NW. The cache contained 141 intact munitions, of which 43 were considered to be RCWM. Following this recovery, USACE completed a remedial investigation (RI) of the SVFUDS. During this investigation, USACE conducted geophysical surveys on 518 properties that centered on identified Points of Interest (POIs). During these surveys, USACE identified more than 1,900 anomalies. After evaluation of the survey data, an Anomaly Review Board (ARB) determined that a number of anomalies were not munitions related. The ARB recommended that 840 anomalies be intrusively investigated. During the anomaly investigation, 4 suspect munitions and 11 munitions debris (MD) items (i.e., remnants of munitions, such as fragments, penetrators, projectiles, shell casings, links, fins that remained after munitions use, demilitarization, or disposal) were recovered. After evaluation of the RI and anomaly investigations results, USACE determined that no further action was required.

In 1998, USACE reviewed the 1993 RI report, supplementing this review with an analysis of circa 1918 photos of the AUES. As a result of this review, USACE conducted additional geophysical surveys on AUES to attempt to locate potential burial pits. USACE conducted intrusive investigations of suspect burial sites as well as environmental sampling at properties adjacent to these pits. During these investigations three munitions burial pits, which were located on two private properties (4801 and 4825 Glenbrook Road) adjacent to the current AU campus were found.

4801 Glenbrook Road. The DMM USACE recovered from the 2 pits located on this property contained a total of 299 conventional munitions and 19 chemical munitions. Consistent with national and DoD policy at this time, these munitions were shipped off-site for disposal. 4

825 Glenbrook Road. USACE completed an intrusive investigation of the third burial pit, which was located on the property line between 4801 and 4825 Glenbrook Road, during two separate field efforts. In 2001, a total of 406 intact munitions were recovered from Pit 3. Of these, 18 munitions were determined to be RCWM. Along with over approximately 100 conventional munitions or MDEH, which were destroyed on-site using contained destruction technology (the T-10 Donovan Chamber), 15 of these munitions were destroyed on site using the Army-developed explosive destruction system, a contained destruction technology designed for on-site destruction of RCWM. The remaining three RCWM were shipped to Battelle Labs, OH for testing and destruction under the research and development permit for the Acid Digestion Process. The investigation of the remainder of Pit 3 was completed in March 2009.