[CPEO-IRF] Cost of cleaning major downsizing bases

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

The Cleanup Cost of Bases Proposed for Major Downsizing
Lenny Siegel
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
May 24, 2005

Of the 22 installations proposed by the Defense Department this month to
lose 500 ore more direct employees without full base closure, six are on
U.S. EPA's "Superfund" National Priorities List (NPL).

Based upon existing uses, the Defense Department projects the
Environmental Restoration (ER) cost of those bases to total
$1,070,904,000,  $648,054,000 of which has already been spent (through
fiscal year 2004). It projects the munitions response (MR) cost to be
$191,397,000 only $751,000 of which has already been spent. Thus the
Environmental Restoration cost to complete is $422,850,000 and the
Munitions Response Cost to Complete is $190,646,000. The combined total
(both environmental restoration and munitions response) is
$1,262,301,000 consisting of $648,805,000 already spent and $613,496,000
projected for completion.

I have not seen any analysis of how much property on these downsizing
bases the military plans to declare excess. Major portions of some, such
as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, will likely be transferred,
while others, such as Grand Forks Air Force Base, are likely to retain
their present boundaries. Where property is transferred, or just devoted
to new uses without transfer, the cleanup costs are likely to increase.
It's conceivable, given the magnitude of projected cleanup expenses at
some of these facilities, that environmental consideration were a factor
in downsizing, rather than closing the bases.



Notes on the attached Excel table:

All figures are in $US thousands

RAB = Restoration Advisory Board

Though both Point Mugu and Port Hueneme are now considered part of the
Ventura Naval Base (CA), the Defense Environmental Restoration Program
Annual Report summarizes their cleanup progress separately.

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

Attachment: Realign 05 cleanup costs.xls
Description: Unknown Document

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