Fireworks are scheduled to return to Mount Rushmore National Memorial for the Fourth of July/Kurt Repanshek file

Fireworks will be exploding in the night sky over Mount Rushmore National Memorial this Fourth of July as the National Park Service has come up with guidelines to allow the displays to return after an 11-year absence. However, planning for forest fires that might be set by the fireworks, managing visitors to the memorial during the event, and dealing with environmental contamination are issues that must be addressed.

The event will be held July 3 if weather conditions, security, and wildland fire conditions allow. Additionally, conditions must be in accordance with President Trump’s Opening Up America Again guidelines, the memorial staff said in a news release. Conditions contained in the permit issued to South Dakota officials will allow for modifications to the event in accordance with all national, state, and local health and safety guidelines.

“President Trump and I believe that our nation’s founding should be celebrated with the same pomp and parade that John Adams described in 1776, and having a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore once again will be an incredible spectacle for the American people to enjoy,” said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Not everyone shares that enthusiasm, though.

Former Mount Rushmore Superintendent Cheryl Schreier, who retired last year, disagrees with the decision to go forward with the event. 

“I’m extremely disappointed; however, I’m not surprised,” Schreier told South Dakota Public Broadcasting. “Under the political situation, obviously it was a political decision and not an environmental decision, or a public safety or health decision. It’s a somewhat reckless and irresponsible decision.” 

Paul Horsted, a photographer based in Custer, South Dakota, told the station that he believes the decision "is a political decision, not really a scientific one. When I speak privately to frontline Park Service workers, they’re against this but obviously can’t speak out against it.” 

In an email to the Traveler, Horsted said tht during informational meetings earlier this year "the Park Service presented photos documenting scorch marks on the heads from fireworks after an earlier show."

"I have photographs of trees below the sculpture catching fire during the show," he added. "I personally found fireworks litter on top of the sculpture two months after another show. Despite assurances the litter (and unexploded fireworks) will be 'cleaned up,' this is an impossible task on a mountain top of cracks, cliffs, and canyons. None of this seems to have made any impression on the authors of the environmental assessment, but the decision was I think a foregone conclusion. "

The environmental assessment prepared on the question of whether the fireworks display could safely return to the memorial noted a number of adverse effects it would create, but dismissed them as short-term.

Air Quality Issues

Air quality may be affected by emissions from the vehicles of visitors, fireworks contractors, and NPS and event partners before, during, and after the event. These impacts would be no greater than, and possibly less than, normal memorial operations because of the limited number of visitors on that day compared to other summer days. There may be air quality impacts from the potential use of helicopters for event staging and teardown, and by military aircraft from a potential flyover. These impacts would be a negligible addition to regular aircraft traffic in the region. Air quality could also be affected by smoke from the fireworks display; however, these effects are expected to be short-term and negligible and smoke would be expected to dissipate soon after the event. 

Impacts to threatened or endangered species

The northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) is listed as threatened under the ESA and is present at the memorial. The bat could be subject to fireworks and aircraft noise, and could occur in areas subject to fire risk. ...However, wildfire effects are temporary, of low probability, and do not constitute incidental or purposeful take, as defined in the 2016 USFWS Programmatic Biological Opinion for the northern long-eared bat (USFWS 2016). The bats are sensitive to acoustics, but are likely to be in roosts and remain sheltered during the event.

Impacts to wilderness quality

There is no designated Wilderness within the boundaries of the memorial, but the designated USFS Black Elk Wilderness lies to the west of the memorial. No planned activities would occur in designated Wilderness under the preferred alternative (see Section 2.1, Alternative 1); however, the fireworks event may affect Wilderness qualities. The five qualities of Wilderness character, as defined in the Wilderness Act of 1964, are: (1) untrammeled; (2) undeveloped; (3) natural; (4) offers outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation; and (5) other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. Of these, the preferred alternative may result in temporary impacts on opportunities for solitude from the fireworks event. Visitors camping or recreating in the Black Elk Wilderness may experience visual and acoustic disturbances from the event; however, these disturbances would last for 15 to 30 minutes. The NPS would minimize potential adverse impacts on the Wilderness experience for visitors by posting the event in advance.

Regarding the threat of a wildfire sparked by the fireworks, the EA notes that fuel load in the forests in the area "is generally three times heavier than historic levels."

"The high fuel loading and potential for ladder fuels in the analysis area increase the risk of a stand-replacing fire, which is defined as a fire that consumes approximately 80 percent or more of the aboveground dominant vegetation," the document notes. "Because of the lack of significant wildfires in the analysis area, an escaped wildfire at the memorial would be expected to profoundly change the vegetative structure of the memorial’s forests, resulting in stand replacement from radiant heat and long fire resident times around tree roots across much of the area and the loss of many, if not most, of the mature trees and much of the pine reproduction. While such a fire would not be expected to affect the sculpture, it would certainly affect current visual management profiles by reducing mature pine trees and cleaning out the often overly dense understory."

While a 2016 study by the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that surface and groundwater at Mount Rushmore were probably polluted with a chemical common to rocket fuels and explosives by past fireworks display, the EA prepared for this year's event played down the threat of additional perchlorate contamination by noting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been considering a move to bump up the allowable amount of the chemical in drinking water by more than three times, from 15 microgrms per liter to 56 micrograms per liter.

Perchlorate has been found to interfere with the function of the human thyroid gland. 

Aerial fireworks displays took place at the memorial around the 1998-2009 Independence Days. The USGS and National Park Service studied perchlorate and metals associated with fireworks in 106 water and 11 soil samples taken from Mount Rushmore during 2011-2015. Perchlorate concentrations were greatest in samples collected from the northeast side of the memorial, and the scientists found perchlorate in soil where the fireworks were launched and where the debris landed.

That testing found a maximum perchlorate concentration of 54 micrograms per liter measured in a stream sample, and 38 micrograms per liter measured from a groundwater well. In contrast, all groundwater and stream samples collected from sites outside the memorial boundary had perchlorate concentrations less than 0.2 micrograms per liter.

“The lack of alternative perchlorate sources in the area, such as a military site or agricultural land with applied fertilizers, and the presence of firework debris suggest that past fireworks are the perchlorate source,” Galen Hoogestraat, a USGS scientist and the lead author of the 2016 report, said at the time. “Our results can help park managers protect water quality at this iconic national landmark.”

According to the authors of the EA, "Whether future perchlorate concentrations in groundwater used for drinking water will meet regulatory standards will depend in part on the EPA’s decision regarding the regulatory standard for perchlorate, which would influence NPS’s response in terms of water treatment options."

The document added that the risk to park employees "would be reduced because a local reverse osmosis system is used in staff residences at the memorial and is effective in removing these chemicals."

It didn't specifically mention the risk to visitors to Mount Rushmore, but did note that "(G)iven the limited potential for exposure and proposed monitoring measures, and reverse osmosis treatment, human health effects from perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate are not expected to occur."

Prior to the event, the Park Service intends to work with partner agencies, including the state of South Dakota, local communities, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the fireworks contractor and staff, to develop:

• A plan to address event traffic control, visitor management, and emergency response.
• A plan for event staging and demobilization activities.
• A wildland fire response plan.
• A Unified Command incident management team and a Go/No-Go checklist.