US Army/Air Force GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY Stock Piled Dangerous Materials Like Chromium, Benzene, Iodine Crystals & Liquid Mercury For Decades

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. The General Services Administration (GSA) oversaw 117 Federal Army - Air Force Depots across the USA since early 1940's, they were all carbon copies of each other, same size warehouses, same dangerous chemicals stored. The 117 GSA Supply Depots were mega doomsday preppers on steroids, never needed or utilized and the US govt wasted $$$$$ trillions of dollars on them. In 2003, the Federal Protective Service, which secures GSA-managed and other buildings, was moved to the United States Department of Homeland Security. The General Services Administration (GSA) manages all federal property like the GSA Depots. As of Feb 2006 a report for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicates the Binghamton - Hillcrest Depot is currently owned by the Federal Government (GSA) and operated by the Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). In 1950 the 'Binghamton Air Force Specialized Depot' transferred property ownership on paper of the "Hillcrest Depot" to the General Services Administration (GSA) but the US Air Force continued use of the Hillcrest Depot for storing "strategic materials" such as manganese, zinc, crude rubber, asbestos, columbium, benzene, mercury, cooper, chromium, lead, tungsten carbide and millions of dollars of opium gum blocks to make morphine, all during the Korean War. The opium gum blocks used to make morphine had been stored at GSA Depot West Point NY and GSA Belle Mead Depot Hillsborough NJ where some had been stolen in the 1970's. Parents in certain areas of Broome County near industrial sites became concerned when a seemingly disproportionate number of children were stricken with blood cancer in the 1990s. Their fears were not imagined. Subsequent studies by the Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control found unusual spikes in leukemia and other cancers among children in Hillcrest NY.

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. In 1950 the US Military (GSA) told the local newspaper, Press & Sun Bulletin, that it was closing the 129 acre Hillcrest Depot nothing to see here, keep moving, but in April 1952 an additional 200,000sf warehouse was built at Hillcrest Depot for $929,170 that figure would be $11,004,767 in 2024 money. In 1988, the DLA assumed responsibility for the Depot and GSA maintained property ownership at 1151 Hoyt Ave Binghamton NY. US Army - Air Force GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY stock piled massive amounts of dangerous materials, some radioactive, we are talking about amounts in tons (2,000 lbs). The railroad tracks that extend onto the GSA Depot site allowed Western Railroad and New York Susquehanna Railroad access to transport materials on-off-site for distribution. All commodities in the warehouses are arranged neatly with several feet of aisle space between pallets. I worked at the GSA Depot Hillcrest in 1968 as a forklift operator and saw a lot of strange things.

There was 2.8 million pounds of Chromium stored at the US Army GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY. The Binghamton GSA Depot in Hillcrest also had 210 metric ton of Mercury stockpiled (462,971 lbs) stored in plastic bottles sitting on wooden pallets that leaked onto the bare concrete floors. Crude Iodine Crystals were kept in amber glass containers with teflon liners, Iodine will burn through drums, wood and nails. Iodine fumes are so destructive and corrosive that the fumes will rust the steel beams in the warehouse. Iodine Crystals cause burns by all exposure routes, harmful if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. At ordinary temperatures, iodine sublimes to a violet gas with a characteristic, irritating odor. Benzene was also most likely stored at the Hillcrest Depot by the US Air Force along with crude rubber. Benzene-containing products are used in numerous steps during the production of rubber and tires, essential products for the US military. Military personnel face a number of occupational hazards. Specifically, exposure to benzene poses a significant health risk when it is encountered in military operations. The long-term health risks associated with benzene exposure are of significant concern. One of the most significant risks is the development of cancer, particularly leukemia, a type of blood cancer. Benzene liquid is highly flammable. It should be stored in tightly closed containers in a cool, well ventilated area, like Hillcrest Depot warehouses which were not heated in 1968. Benzene vapor may form explosive mixtures in air. All sources of ignition must be controlled. The GSA Depot Hillcrest NY had their own 28 man fire department.

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. The GSA Depot Hillcrest NY was built in 1942, it's former name during the late 1940's and 1950's was the 'Binghamton Air Force Specialized Depot' at 1151 Hoyt Ave Binghamton NY. On 18 September 1947, the 'Army Air Forces' became the 'United States Air Force' as a separate and equal element of the United States Armed Forces. The US Air Force ran the Hillcrest depot in Binghamton NY from August 15, 1948 to late in 1953 the end of the Korean War. On June 27, 1950 the U.S. Enters Korean War, the Korean war officially never ended as each side did not surrender, the U.S. supported South Korea and the Soviet Union and China supported North Korea. The U.S. Air Force was only three years old as a separate service when North Korea invaded South Korea in the summer of 1950. The Korean peninsula is split at the 38th parallel. The American military services, and especially the Air Force, tried to increase their abilities in the fields of chemical and biological warfare (BW) during the Korean conflict. 

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. Article in the Press & Sun Bulletin newspaper on April 5th 1950 indicated that the 'Binghamton Air Force Specialized Depot' was closing, but two years later in April 1952 an additional 200,000sf warehouse was built at a cost of $929,170.00 by the Montgomery Cosnt Co of Grove City PA. In 1951 the 'Binghamton Air Force Specialized Depot' stored strategic military materials (weapons) on site. An additional 200,000sf warehouse was built in April 1952 to go with the original 4 buildings that have 600,000sf of storage, each building is 1,000 feet long and 200 feet wide. If the Hillcrest GSA Depot is /was shutting down in April 1950 why was an additional warehouse built at a cost of $929,170.00 in April 1952, who's voomin who here? The $929,170.00 spent in 1952 to build the additional warehouse at Hillcrest Depot would cost $11,004,767.51 in 2024. US military fed the local press misinformation about the Hillcrest Depot from the start. From the end of World War II through the Korean War, the U.S. Army, the Chemical Corps and the U.S. Air Force all expanded their biological warfare (BW) programs significantly.

WHY WAS THERE AN AIR FORCE DEPOT IN BINGHAMTON DURING THE KOREAN WAR? The Air Force was assigned the primary operational role in biological warfare during the Korean War. The directorate of the air force biological weapons program during the Korean War was divided into two parts, both parts reporting separately to Lt-Gen. T. D. White, deputy chief of staff for operations. The task of the first part, known as the US Air Force BW-CW Division (with an acronym AFOAT-BW) under Colonel Frank Seiler, was to establish an overt biological warfare capability for the emergency general war plan against the Soviet Union. As already mentioned, the most advanced propaganda weapon of psychological warfare units, the 500 lb. leaflet cluster bomb, was adapted and standardized as a biological weapon. The regular US Air Force had approximately 70,000 of these leaflet cluster bombs in its storage hangars depots by 1950. The Truman administration increased funding for biological warfare research and development from $5.3 million for the fiscal year 1950 to $345 million, exclusive of operating costs, for the years 1951-1953. Other Korean War era cover-ups by the US military include the destruction of evidence in the Army Chemical Corps files. The Chemical Corps was the branch of the US armed forces responsible for the manufacture and supply of biological weapons.

During WWII nearly 1,700 people worked at the GSA Hillcrest Medical Depot 1151 Hoyt Ave in Binghamton NY. During the Korean War it was renamed the 'Binghamton Air Force Specialized Depot' 1151 Hoyt Ave Hillcrest NY. Olmstead Air force base in Middletown PA had jurisdiction over the GSA Depot in Hillcrest said Maj F. W. Sturgeon the commanding officer at the Hillcrest Depot Binghamton NY. GSA Depot Hillcrest, Warehouse #11 stored 4.6 million pounds of liquid Mercury, see chart above. I worked as a forklift driver in Warehouse #11 during 1968, broken crates and damaged goods coming in off the packed supply trains was the norm. GSA Depot Hillcrest was in operation during WWII (1941 -1945), the Korean War (1950 - 1953) the Vietnam War (1962 -1975) and The Cold War with Russia (1947 - 1991). There is no telling what multitude of hazardous materials and possible chemical weapons that have been stored in these Hillcrest warehouse buildings for the past 85 years or so and that is why nobody wants to buy it at any price. Chromium, Cadmium, Iodine Crystals, Benzene and Liquid Mercury spills, “these are all sins from the past.”

screenshot photo credit GSA Depot Somerville NJ. I saw the way things were stored when I worked there in 1968 as a forklift driver in the GSA Depot Hillcrest gigantic connecting warehouses at 1151 Hoyt Ave Binghamton NY. Donald Rowe was the GSA depot manager in 1968 when I was there. The US Army - Air Force GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY closed, shut down, but there was storage of dangerous materials like Benzene, Cadmium and Mercury, some radioactive, and possibly chemical weapons. Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal. The use of Cadmium must be limited as it could cause kidney failure. You will never find out what was really stored in the Hillcrest GSA Depot, National Security and all being what it is!

There was a D&H railroad track spur that split the massive GSA Depot warehouse compound for delivery and shipments of the raw materials in boxcars right up to the loading doors of the individual connecting warehouses at 1151 Hoyt Ave Binghamton NY. There were multiple employees using forklift trucks to load and unload the train deliveries. Samples taken from a creek just inside the Binghamton GSA Depot that feeds into a nearby pond showed levels of Mercury at 2.5 per million in the water which exceeds background levels by three times. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA in 1991 set an enforceable regulation for inorganic mercury, called a maximum contaminant level (MCL), at 0.002 mg/L or 2 ppb.  

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found in the ground at several areas of the GSA Hillcrest Depot property. The chemicals and metals are carcinogenic or poisonous if people are exposed to enough of them. Long-term health effects of exposure to PAHs may include cataracts, kidney and liver damage, and jaundice. Breathing or swallowing large amounts of naphthalene can cause the breakdown of red blood cells and Leukemia.

DLA's Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC) is working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Broome County Health Department to conduct sampling at the Binghamton Depot on 1151 Hoyt Ave Town of Fenton Hillcrest NY and evaluate the installation's potential impact on the local community. This effort was spurred by the presence of a cancer cluster affecting young children in the nearby Hillcrest NY area. 

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. The Defense National Stockpile Center planned to move thousands of metric tons of Mercury from supply depots in Hillsborough NJ, Binghamton, NY, New Haven, IN., Warren, Ohio, and Oak Ridge, TT, to the defense distribution center in Richmond, VA. But the decision to consolidate all the mercury in Virginia was dropped in June 2000 after officials at the Richmond depot complained and it was determined a required environmental assessment of the move would take too long. Instead, stockpile officials decided to move Binghamton's 210 metric ton Mercury stockpile to the Somerville NJ GSA Supply Depot. The Somerville GSA Depot stores 2,615 metric tons (2,883 tons) of liquid mercury in 75,980 flasks.

During WWII, Belle Meade General Depot Somerset NJ was an Army Services Forces (ASF) depot (opened in October of 1942) for ammunition, and general war supplies, among other things. It became Belle Meade GSA depot was located in Hillsborough NJ. The General Services Administration (GSA) proposes the remediation of soil and sediment on the 336-acre Northern Parcel of the former Belle Mead Army Depot (Depot). Contamination at the Depot consists of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals released into the environment on the Northern Parcel, same problem as at GSA Hillcrest Binghamton NY.

But, the US Army GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY also stock piled dangerous materials like cancer causing Chromium, Columbium, Tantalum, Tungsten in 1960's. Columbium, Tantalum, Tungsten are radioactive materials were under license by the NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Who's kidding who here, all of these materials stored at the US Army GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY could have gotten into the ground water and be the cause of a cancer cluster affecting young children in the Hillcrest NY area. The cluster included Brain Cancer and Lymphoma. Tom Tiffany, a longtime resident of Hillcrest NY, was one of the original activists who helped uncover the hazardous waste issues in his neighborhood in the 1990s. Tom Tiffany was one of the original members of the Hillcrest Environmental Assessment Team (HEAT). The US Army GSA Depot is just a few blocks from the Tiffany home. 

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. The GSA was getting rid of the US Army Depot in Hillcrest NY in 1982, they had posted ads in newspaper offering up to 344,000 sf storage space for lease in Building 10 and/or Building 11. Chromium (Cr), mainly the hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI), is a chemical associated with cancer 'when found in drinking water' making it a major public health issue. This study assessed a possible carcinogenic human health risk among the general population due to exposure to total or hexavalent chromium. US Army GSA Depot Hillcrest NY had 2.8 million pounds of Chromium stored in warehouses. I worked at the US Army GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY as a fork lift operator in 1968, nothing was covered, everything open in crates sitting on wooden pallets in the multiple connecting warehouses.

GSA Army Depot 1151 Hoyt Ave, Town of Fenton, Binghamton, Broome County, New York. Under the direction of the federal Defense Logistics Agency, the Hillcrest GSA Depot off Hoyt Avenue in the Town of Fenton, Binghamton NY stockpiled commodities that could have been used for manufacturing during a national emergency until 2005, when the last of the materials — including heavy metals and low-level radioactive ores was removed. US Army GSA Depot Hillcrest Binghamton NY stock piled dangerous materials like Chromium, Mercury, Columbium, Tantalum and Tungsten in the 1960's. Anybody who ever saw the movie 'Erin Brockovich' knows what Chromium is and what it can do to groundwater contamination. US Army GSA Depot Hillcrest NY had 2.8 million pounds of it, WTF! Hexavalent chromium (Cr+6) is toxic. The chemical is used in a number of industrial processes as well as for leather tanning, chromium plating, colored glass making and in paint pigments and inks that color plastics and fabrics and serve as corrosion-resistant coatings. It is hazardous when breathed in, ingested, or touched. It carries a 50 percent lethality (LD50) when ingested to the amount of 50 milligrams per liter of body weight.

 

The property at the US Army Depot facility in Hillcrest, Binghamton NY is being sold "as is," minimum bid price was $500,000 for the the 125-acre facility, no takers at that dirt cheap price. Documents on the bidding site detail a number of identified hazards, including:

• The presence of mercury in one warehouse and volatile organic compounds beneath another
• The potential for lead-based paint in some or all of the buildings.
• The presence of asbestos-containing materials in some or all of the buildings.
Between 1950 and 2005, the government stored a variety of hazardous commodities at the facility. When environmental assessments began in 1998, they included 2.8 million pounds of chromium, 1 million pounds of columbium-tantalum and 490,000 pounds of tungsten, according to a hazardous substances notice posted on the bidding site. The latter two are listed as radioactive materials by the Defense National Stockpile Center. The property has sanitary sewer lines (underground) potable water lines (underground). Binghamton "Hillcrest" Depot is located 1151 Hoyt Ave, Town of Fenton, Binghamton, Broome County, New York. A portion of the Binghamton "Hillcrest" Depot includes approximately 45 acres of land improved with 8 structures. The structures include cold storage warehouses ranging from 16,000 sq ft. to 172,830 sq ft.; an office/administration building, a garage/maintenance building, 2 guard houses, and heated garage/equipment storage 'Butler' building. The Property is also improved with overhead electrical lines, gas lines (underground), sanitary sewer lines (underground) potable water lines (underground), paved roads and fencing. Access to the property is from Hoyt Avenue (public road).

Binghamton University geology professor Joseph Graney and his research team last month reported the results of a study that could help shed light on a high incidence of childhood cancer at a public meeting in Hillcrest. Graney and the team undertook the study in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Defense Logistics Agency. Beginning in October 1998, six children under age 14, all living within a one-mile radius in Hillcrest, were diagnosed with cancer in a brief period. Graney’s quest was to address what, if anything, in the area’s soil and sediment might have contributed to the high cancer rate. Hillcrest is home to two metal finishing businesses (one a Superfund site) and an Army GSA storage depot. All three could be possible sources for heavy metals that are known carcinogens such as chromium, nickel, cadmium and lead. All three were areas of concern, but Graney concentrated on sampling at the Army depot. “The Army storage facility had housed materials including liquid mercury in flasks (that leaked) inside warehouses,” he said.

An Historical Site Assessment (HSA) was conducted by ChesNuc during November 2005. Warehouses impacted from storage or sampling of radioactive materials at the GSA Hillcrest depot are Warehouses 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. The Decon Room in the Fire Station is also considered impacted as it was potentially used for showering following operations
with radioactive materials. The Binghamton GSA Depot is currently owned by the Federal Government (GSA) and operated by the Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). 

screenshot photo credit Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. The Binghamton Depot GSA Hillcrest stored columbium/tantalum and tungsten ores and commodities; some of which contain naturally occurring radioactive materials in the form of uranium and thorium. The ores and concentrates at GSA Depot Hillcrest contained sufficient quantities of these two naturally occurring radionuclides as to require licensing by the NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The radionuclides stored at this facility were thorium and uranium contained as a constituent of tungsten or columbium/tantalum.  Benzene was most likely stored at the Hillcrest Depot, it is a chemical that is a colorless or light yellow liquid at room temperature. It has a sweet odor and is highly flammable. Benzene is used mainly to make other chemicals, including plastics, resins, lubricants, rubbers, dyes, detergents, drugs, and pesticides. Hillcrest Depot stored crude rubber along with mica, benaene and mercury. The Hillcrest Depot had their own fire department with two trucks and 28 firefighter/guards with a 2,000,000 gallon reservoir at the far end of the complex to fight fires, (see article above). A sprinkler system was also installed in 1950 in all the warehouses. Human leukemogens, one such known agent is benzene, a known bone marrow depressant. Benzene will cause leukemia in humans.

Benzene was stored in underground tanks owned by Air National Guard at GSA Depot Coos Head Oregon that leaked and polluted the groundwater. Benzene appears to be a chemical widely used by the US Air force at GSA Storage Depots nationwide, it showed up in underground tanks at the GSA Depot Coos Head Oregon. Benzene was also known to be stored in metal barrels with GSA lettered on the side at Stockton CA west coast supply depot. Benzene is known to cause Leukemia, blood cancer.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS STORED AT US ARMY GSA DEPOTS: At GSA Depots facilities around the USA, the destruction of the GB rockets marks the elimination of all chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) in July 2023, but also the destruction of all chemical weapons that were in the U.S. GSA Depot stockpiles for well over 40 years. The M55 rockets containing GB nerve agent represented more than 50% of the original chemical weapons stockpile safely stored at BGAD. Five different kinds of chemical agent-filled weapons were originally stored at the depot: 155mm projectiles containing mustard agent, 155mm projectiles containing VX nerve agent, 8-inch projectiles containing GB nerve agent, M55 rockets containing VX nerve agent and M55 rockets containing GB nerve agent. Army reports have indicated that nerve agent GB can corrode the metal casings of the munitions over time. 

As Sarin decomposes it forms acids which can corrode the aluminum casings found around the agent in the M55. M55 rockets containing GB have accounted for the majority of leaking American chemical weapons. The M55 rocket was a chemical weapon developed by the United States, thousands were produced from 1959 to 1965. Designed to be fired from howitzers, the projectiles were produced during the period of the Vietnam War. The U.S. once had more than 30,000 tons of chemical weapons that were stored in GSA Depots nation wide. The United States Army produced both Sarin and VX unitary warheads for the M55 missile. Were such chemical weapons stored at the US Army GSA Depot on Hoyt Ave Hillcrest Binghamton NY during the time period 1950 to 1990?

I was aware in 1968 that open wooden crates of Obsidian were loaded onto boxcar trains at the US Army Depot facility in Hillcrest, Binghamton NY, this was during wartime, the Vietnam era. GSA Army Depot was/is at 1151 Hoyt Ave, Town of Fenton, Binghamton, Broome County, New York. An article in the Binghamton Press in Oct 1961 indicated that the US Army stored critical materials used by U.S. industry here such as mica, crude rubber, copper, and reclaimed X-ray material in case of war. Donald Rowe was the GSA depot manager in 1968 when I was there. Obsidian is heavy, you had to use a forklift to load the open wooden crates of Obsidian onto the out bound boxcar trains. Obsidian is a volcanic extrusive rock with a glassy texture that is very hard and dense. The volcanic glass is usually black in color. Well-crafted obsidian blades, like any glass knife, can have a cutting edge many times sharper than high-quality steel surgical scalpels: the cutting edge of the blade is only about three nanometers thick.

Obsidian (volcanic glass) is hard, brittle, glossy, and mostly black amorphous; it therefore fractures with sharp edges. In the past, it was used to manufacture cutting and piercing tools, and it has been used experimentally as surgical scalpel blades. A obsidian blade is the sharpest blade possible by mankind. This is the edges of obsidian vs surgical steel. Obsidian is sharp enough to cut through individual cells. Plastic surgery uses obsidian blades because the cuts don't leave scars. Obsidian is capable of producing an edge sharper than high quality steel razor blades. Why did the US Army Depot facility in Hillcrest, Binghamton NY stock pile chunks of raw Obsidian. 

Seneca Army Munitions Depot Romulus NY the site of nuclear weapons: The site selected in the townships of Varick and Romulus NY had some very favorable qualities. Like the 10 other selected sites, it was remote from major population centers. It was 8 miles long and 4 miles wide and lay between two sets of existing Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks. The shale layer only two to three feet below ground level would serve as a cushion to absorb the shock of any explosion.  The initial target date for completion of May 1, 1942 was soon shortened to April 1. Between August 21 and November 13, 1941, nearly 500 igloos were completed. These igloos were mostly concrete—saving as much steel as possible for other parts of the war effort— about ten feet high, eighty to one hundred feet in diameter, covered with earth and seeded to grass. The GSA Seneca Depot was maintained as a permanent post for storage purpose. At the start of the Korean War in June 1950 there were 803 civilian employees. In July 1952, however, there were 1,821 in the workforce. Two large General Services Administration (GSA) warehouses were constructed in 1953 and 1954 each had 200,000sf of storage. (A new GSA warehouse was constructed at Hillcrest Binghamton NY in April 1952that contained 200,000sf of storage). In July 1956 came the North Depot Activity apparently the site of nuclear weapons or their components at Seneca Army GSA Depot. In the early 1980’s it was publicly disclosed that the Seneca GSA Depot was a major nuclear weapons storage site. The 1982 FOIL documents suggested that the Seneca Depot was probably the Army’s large storage area for nuclear weapons and possible storage site for neutron bombs if they are produced. It was also learned that the uranium for the Manhattan Project (to develop an atomic bomb during WWII) had been stored at the Depot before shipment to Oak Ridge, TN. A February 8, 1982, New York Times articled said the Seneca GSA Depot employed 800 civilians, and that about 400 troops were stationed there, including 250 military police trained as anti-terrorists and reportedly authorized to kill any intruders approaching the bomb bunkers. The Seneca Army GSA Depot in Romulus NY is 75 miles from the Hillcrest Army GSA Depot in Binghamton NY if going by truck. The Seneca Army GSA Depot and the Hillcrest Army GSA Depot had been connected via freight train lines.

 
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