Report By Edwin Arthur
On March 7, 2005, representatives of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe (Council members Mike Iyall, and Taylor Aalvik) and a representative of the area Veterans association (Veteran Chuck Mason) met at the Livingston Cemetery, which is pocketed adjacent to a closed US military installation in Clark County Washington, called Camp Bonneville. Camp Bonneville was announced for closure in 1995 as part of the Nation’s Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act. The old military base is still under question by the Cowlitz Indian Tribe over cultural resource issues.
Camp Bonneville (nearly 4000-acres) is an Army installation that was closed in 1995. It is located in Southeast Clark County about 12 miles east of Vancouver, WA. Established in 1909, the Camp has been used to train many generations of military personnel with field artillery. At one point, Royce Pollard, now Mayor of the City of Vancouver, was the commander of this facility. The Camp was decommissioned by the Army, and the property is slated for transfer to the Clark County Parks Department sometime within the next ten years. Plans have been mentioned for the County to build a public amphitheater and to open the area to hiking and other public uses.
Landfill Four is coated in plastic to prevent
erosion and movement of the pollution from rain.
The yellow posts in the background mark a test well
that is used to monitor ammonium perchlorate
levels in the groundwater.
Camp Bonneville is a decommissioned military installation in Clark County. The US Army used this forested area for target practice, including the firing of missiles. The camp was also used as a munitions landfill. These buried munitions have caused a toxic underground plume of ammonium perchlorate to develop.
