The Cincinnati Enquirer
Wednesday, December 28, 1988

Fort Scott Camp to close next year

By Elizabeth Neus
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Fort Scott Camp will not open this summer because of concerns about its
location near the Fernald uranium-processing plan, the Archdiocese of
Cincinnati, which operates the camp, said Tuesday.

It's the second camp in the Fernald area to close in recent months because
of environmental concerns.  The Great Rivers Girl Scout Council closed its
Camp Ross Trails in Butler County in September.

The archdiocese has been testing the soil and water at its camp, only two
miles from the plant in northwest Hamilton County, for radioactive
contamination for nearly four years.

Officials also have worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and
attended meetings of the citizens' watchdog group FRESH (Fernald Residents
for Environmental Safety and Heath).

"We've still not found anything," said the Rev. Len Wenke, archdiocesan
director of youth ministry. "But people's uncertainty about the area has
increased."

The decision applies only to the summer of 1989.

Early enrollment for the 1989 summer camping season, which would have
begun in June, was down so much that the archdiocese projected that
between 30% and 50% fewer children would have signed up, he said.

More than 2,000 children, ages 7 to 15, have attended Fort Scott each
summer since 1922.

The camp also employs about 70 to 80 seasonal workers, mostly college
students or recent graduates who want to work with children. Job
applicants have been sent a list of about 12 other camps where they could
apply for work, Wenke said.

"Based on the knowledge that we have, it is safe, but you can't fight that
kind of public perception," said Rose Vesper, a member of the Fort Scott
advisory board and a camp alumna.

Fort Scott and Camp Ross are included in a $300 million class action suit
against the plant's former contractor, National Lead of Ohio. The lawsuit
represents anyone within a five-mile radius of the plant.

"It (the archdiocese's decision) all lends a lot more credibility to what
we've been saying," said Lisa Crawford, a FRESH representative. "It just
took them a little bit longer to realize."

Bob Walker, a representative of Westinghouse Materials Co. of Ohio, which
runs the plant, said, "We're disappointed that they chose to close the
camp. On the other hand, we understand the concerns they have. But
everything we know tells us there is not a health concern for anyone at
that camp."

Controversy about the Fernald plant heated up this fall when the U.S.
Department of Energy admitted that it ignored and undermined attempts by
National Lead to control pollution at the plant.

"Our early registration began in October, and that was when all of that
came out," Wenke said. "It's not going to go away, and that's the
uncertainty that we face."

"It's doubly sad," said Vesper, who met her husband at Fort Scott when
they were counselors 25 years ago.  Her daughter also has worked as a camp
counselors, "Since Camp Marydale (in Erlanger, Ky.) is closed, too, we've
lost several fine opportunities for kids to be outdoors in a Christian
environment."

Camp Marydale, run by the Diocese of Covington, will not be open this
summer because the Kentucky Department of Transportation is considering
building a road on camp property.

In letters to parents about the camp's closing, the archdiocese
recommended that they check the Parents' Guide to Accredited Camps,
published by the American Camping Association, for an acceptable
alternative.