Military Range Cleanup Plan Sputters; Could Take More Than 300 Years

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If more than 300 years is a "sputter", what is a full throw up?Only our Defense Dept knows - in the meantime they'll keep turning contaminated lands into schools, parks, farms and homes. Remember to giveyour children a glass of good healthy milk after they gethome from the playground - and stay on good termswith your family physician.AP: Military Range Cleanup Plan Sputters

Fri Jan 16,11:36 PM ETBy JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Removing unexploded munitions and hazardous waste found so far on 15 million acres of shutdown U.S. military ranges could take more than 300 years, congressional auditors say.

In a report to Congress, the General Accounting Office (news - web sites) said the Defense Department has yet to assess three-fifths of the 2,307 potentially contaminated sites identified as of September 2002 and has finished cleaning up only 1 percent of them. Some of the areas have been redeveloped for homes and parks. The report, obtained by The Associated Press before its release, said the Pentagon (news - web sites) "does not yet have a complete and viable plan" to guide its remaining cleanups. Assessments of the sites not yet examined in detail for possible explosive hazards, chemical warfare material and chronic health and environmental hazards won't be completed until 2012, the GAO said. The department's latest estimate for the cleanups is anywhere from $8 billion to $35 billion. That's an increase from its previous estimate, little more than a year ago, of up to $20 billion. At the current rate of annual spending ­ $106 million on average during the Bush administration ­ the cleanup "could take from 75 to 330 years to complete," the auditors said. Defense officials say they have spent $25 billion over the past two decades on environmental restoration at more than 29,500 military sites, including ordnance testing and training ranges. But the officials say they don't have a breakdown on how much of that was devoted to munitions cleanups. In recent years about 5 percent of the cleanup budget has been devoted to sites once associated with munitions. Those sites represent at least 39 million acres in the United States where firing has resulted in either known or possible contamination. They include actively used military installations, ranges being shut down and former defense training areas. Many have been redeveloped into parks, farms, schools and residential areas. For example, 8,810 acres along Morro Bay near San Luis Obispo, Calif., are now occupied by homes, farms, parks and a wildlife refuge. In September 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) used military data to tally 126 incidents of civilians exposed to unexploded ordnance over the 83 previous years. The tally included 65 fatalities and 131 injuries. Reps. John Dingell of Michigan and Hilda Solis of California, two Democrats who requested the GAO report on the 15 million acres of closed military ranges, called the results troubling. Defense officials are "failing miserably to meet the challenge of cleaning up its legacy of contamination," Dingell said. Of the 2,307 sites identified two years ago, Pentagon officials said 362 required no cleanups based on an initial cursory evaluation. Of the 558 sites it has examined in more detail, it concluded that cleanups were needed in only 15 percent of them, the GAO said. Solis said she's upset that analyses of the remaining 1,387 sites won't be completed until eight years from now. "It is almost as if they don't care, and what is more troubling is, they do not even have a plan for cleaning up the known areas," she said. Pentagon officials had no immediate comment. In a December response to GAO, Philip Grone, an assistant deputy defense secretary for environmental issues, said he agreed with the auditors' recommendation that Pentagon officials needed to work with Congress to develop budget proposals that would allow the department to finish cleanups "in a timely manner." But there could be many more such sites with contamination, according to the GAO. Though the Navy and Air Force examined their sites, the Army had only looked at 14 percent of its installations, or 105 ranges, as of last year, the GAO said. Moreover, among 9,181 formerly used defense sites with ranges that were transferred to private ownership, 1,691 have known or suspected contaminants. The GAO said the Army Corps of Engineers expects to add at least 75 more. A government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Army plans to add at least 500 more sites later. The biggest contaminants that have been found are TNT, RDX and HMX explosives, perchlorate used in rocket fuels and white phosphorus. TNT and RDX are possible human carcinogens; HMX causes potential liver and central nervous system damage, animal studies suggest; perchlorate can cause thyroid disorders; white phosphorus can damage reproductivity, the liver, heart and kidney. In September 2002, the GAO estimated that more than one in three of the former defense sites that had been declared environmentally clean by the Army Corps of Engineers still contained unexploded weapons and other hazardous materials. http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & cid=542 & ncid=542 & e=5 & u=/ap/20040117/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/military_cleanups