[CPEO-IRF] "New Uses for Old Bases"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

BETH H. MITCHELL AND MARY K. RYAN
New uses for old bases 

By Beth H. Mitchell and Mary K. Ryan 
Opinion, Boston Globe 
July 6, 2005

NEWS THAT the Pentagon has recommended the closing of Otis Air National
Guard Base on Cape Cod, as well as other significant military
installations in New England, has shaken the region. While many in
Massachusetts breathed a sigh of relief that Hanscom Air Force Base and
the US Army Soldier Systems Center would be spared, other communities
are reeling from the prospect of lost jobs and vacant land. Although the
base closures appear to be a dark cloud on the horizon, the closings
also include the silver lining of reuse and revitalization.

The efforts to save Otis and the other facilities are ongoing. Until the
Base Realignment and Closure Commission submits its report to President
Bush in September and the president acts on the commission's
recommendations, affected communities on Cape Cod and elsewhere in New
England will work to preserve the bases. Eventually, however, some
communities may need to come to terms with a new reality: the closure
and eventual reuse of the bases. Communities that take the initiative
and begin early planning will be in the best position to reposition the
bases for productive reuse.

Under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act, the Department of
Defense is charged with undertaking the orderly transfer of the bases.
Initially, much of that effort will focus on identifying any hazardous
waste contamination at the bases and developing appropriate remediation
plans. Given the use of these facilities for military purposes, most
bases are replete with contamination, ranging from solid waste debris to
fuel oil and other petroleum products to unexploded ordnance and other
uniquely military wastes.

...

For the entire column, see
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/07/06/new_uses_for_old_bases

-- 


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
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