The New York Times
Sunday, May 7, 1989

Catholic Camp Near Nuclear Plant Is Closed

Special to The New York Times

CROSBY TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Fort Scott Camp, the oldest Roman Catholic 
summer camp in the country, has closed because of concerns about the 
Fernald nuclear weapons plant two miles away.   The decision by the 
Archdiocese of Cincinnati was made in the face of predictions that 
enrollment would drop 50 percent this year. The camp has served about 
150,000 children 7 to 15 years old since opening in 1922.   Soil and 
water tests conducted in the last few years at Fort Scott Camp did not 
show any health hazards, said the Rev. Ted Kosse, director of 
communications for the archdiocese. "But the public opinion is, people 
aren't buying that," he said.   Fort Scott is the second camp near 
Fernald to close in the last year. In October the Great Rivers Girl Scout 
Council closed Camp Ross Trails, which is two miles north of the plant.

Reaction by Company

Bob Walker, a spokesman for Westinghouse Materials Company of Ohio, which 
took over operating the Government-owned plant in 1986, said the company 
was disappointed that the two camps had decided to close.   "We certainly 
understand the feelings of people as they watch developments here," he 
said, "but we don't believe that anyone at either of those camps would be 
at risk today."   A private study released May 4 said the Fernald plant 
released up to six times as much radioactive uranium dust as the 
Government has disclosed.   According to the study, prepared by two 
researchers hired by Ohio residents who are suing the Government over 
emissions from the plant, 600,000 to 3.1 million pounds of uranium dust 
have been released since the plant opened in 1951 to process uranium for 
nuclear weapons. The Energy Department, in contrast, estimated in March 
that 394,000 to 552,000 pounds were released.   

The Rev. Len Wenke, director of the archdiocese's office of youth 
ministry said other plans to keep the camp active were considered but 
proved too costly.   Some of the camp's backers think the gamble would 
have been worth it, however. Judy Marx of Cincinnati has sent her two 
daughters to Fort Scott Camp for the last two summers. Mrs. Marx and her 
husband, Andy, met at the camp when they were counselors; his mother also 
went to Fort Scott. 

An Optimistic View

"If the camp was open this summer we would probably be sending our 
children," Judy Marx said. "Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I don't 
think that there's any big problem." 

Others are not so sure. Mary McDonald, assistant editor of the editorial 
page for The Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote in the newspaper that although 
her children attended the camp two decades ago, she would be reluctant to 
send them there today. Although she and her children have many fond 
memories of the camp, "I wonder if there will be a belated price for that 
happiness," she wrote.   Concern about the Fernald plant is expressed on 
the grounds of Fort Scott in the form of a cluster of loudspeaker horns 
atop a pole tucked into the trees. Tests of the horns, installed by 
Westinghouse to sound an alarm in the event of an emergency at the plant, 
had be come part of the activities at the camp attended each summer by 
about 2,300 campers.

But the only people who can hear the sirens now are Larry Shannon and his 
family. Mr. Shannon, the camp's full time caretaker since 1975, came to 
the camp in 1965 as a counselor and met his wife there in 1971 when she 
was a counselor. When he became caretaker the family moved into a house 
on Fort Scott's 204 acres; five of the couple's six children have been 
born since the family moved to the camp.   Mr. Wenke said the archdiocese 
is trying to work out an arrangement that would allow the Shannons to 
remain at the camp, where they farm and keep several beef cattle.   Mr. 
Shannon, who speaks of the closing and Fernald without bitterness, said 
his family would like to stay.   "I don't really fear living here that 
much," he said, "The wind blows away from us 90 percent of the time."