20% CAP ON D.E.R.A. STUDY MONEY

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

CAP ON D.E.R.A. STUDIES

Defense Environment Alert (May 31, 1995) reports that the House 
National Security Committee, in addition to cutting the FY1996 
DERA budget by $200 million and allowing an additional $200 
million to be diverted, has proposed a 20% cap on studies from the 
DERA account. That is, if the current version of the Defense 
Authorization Act is enacted, no more than one fifth of the DERA 
account may be spent on studies that are a normal part of the 
cleanup program.

The Defense Department has made progress in advancing "real 
cleanup." More DERA money is now spent on cleanup than on 
studies.

But the arbitrary cap is irrational. It could force the armed services 
to perform cleanup on less risky/low priority sites instead of 
completing studies on complex, hazardous sites. You can't very well 
sink an extraction well, or even determine that's the proper remedy, 
unless you've characterized the plume.

Defense testimony before Congress has stressed that just as 
battlefield commanders must conduct reconnaissance before going 
into battle, so must the forces that attack hazardous waste 
contamination.

In my previous writing, I have agreed that there is too much 
paperwork in the cleanup process, but the physical size of studies 
on a bookshelf should not be confused with the need to look before 
we leap.

Lenny Siegel