Eagle River Flats covers 2,165 acres and has been the primary ordnance impact area for Fort Richardson for about 50 years. But it is also an important staging ground for waterfowl during spring and fall migrations.
Soldiers place explosives to blast sumps in Eagle River Flats.
In the early 1980s an unusually high number of waterfowl carcasses were found. Investigations during a six-year period indicated up to several thousand waterfowl a year were dying of unknown causes. Bill Gosweiller, Chief of the Environmental Resources of the Fort Richardson Department of Public Works, raised concerns that the flats may be contaminated. He initiated the investigative process and was responsible for the logistics and early fieldwork performed at the Flats. The conclusions from a 1989 study by a private contractor indicated that residues from munitions might be causing the waterfowl mortality.