Sep 19, 2008

Pentagon Accused of Retaliation Over Base Cleanup Requests

Congress gives the Pentagon about $30 million annually to dispense to states with contaminated military bases, to help pay the states' costs to oversee cleanup of those sites. But in 2006, the Pentagon began telling some states they would no longer receive money for various oversight activities and would lose all of the money if they took enforcement action.
Washington Post ~ (September 19, 2008: pg. A-2)

Testing gas masks at Camp AU (1918) ~ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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2 comments:

  1. Allen HengstSeptember 28, 2008 at 9:54 PM

    In reference to the Spring Valley FUDS, on 9/20/08
    Kent Slowinski said ~

    "One of my main concerns is that after 15 years on the job, the Army Corps has still not conducted a thorough archival research. This is supposed to be the first step in any
    cleanup. How will they know when they are finished with the clean up, when they don’t know the extent of the problem? It isn’t very comforting knowing that EPA might not be able to carry out it’s oversight role if DOD is threatening retaliation, especially when you are dealing with weapons of mass destruction. Senator Boxer, we need your help!"

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/
    wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/
    AR2008091803435_Comments.html

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  2. Allen HengstOctober 2, 2008 at 7:02 AM

    WASHINGTON POST (June 30, 2008: pg. A-1)

    The actions are part of a standoff between the Pentagon and environmental regulators that has been building during the Bush administration, leaving the EPA in a legal limbo as it addresses growing concerns about contaminants on military bases that are seeping into drinking water aquifers and soil ... Experts in environmental law said the Pentagon's stand is unprecedented. "This is stunning," said Rena Steinzor, who helped write the Superfund laws as a congressional staffer and now teaches at the University of Maryland Law School and is president of the nonprofit Center for Progressive Reform. "The idea that they would refuse to sign a final order -- that is the height of amazing nerve" ... But Superfund sites are only one aspect of the Pentagon's environmental problems. It has about 25,000 contaminated properties in all 50 states, and it will cost billions and take decades to clean them up.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/
    wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/29/
    AR2008062901977.html

    ReplyDelete