Re: [CPEO-IRF] Defense Department environmental testimony

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

I want to clear up a potential misunderstanding of my message about the
maturity of the Defense cleanup program. I am not challenging the
competence of the program. It's not perfect, but overall the program -
along with its state and federal regulators - is proceeding as well as
similar programs at private sites..

Rather, I'm suggesting that the cost of cleanup will increase
significantly after the BRAC '05 bases close, because new problems will
be discovered. Furthermore, with a steady stream of emerging
contaminants and pathways, many large cleanup sites - private as well as
federal - face significant unanticipated costs.

Opponents of specific closures, and perhaps the BRAC commission itself,
are using this concern to argue that closing major bases would be too
costly. In the long run, that's not true.

Rather, I'm concerned that the Defense Department will lowball its
cleanup estimates to avoid sticker shock. Congress will appropriate
insufficient funds, and cleanup program managers will be forced to seek
acceptance for inadequate remedies because the money in the pipeline
doesn't match requirements.


Lenny
-- 


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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