UXO R & D

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>

UXO R & D
In its markup of the Defense Authorization Act, the House National 
Security Committee specified that an additional $5.0 million be spent 
"for continuation of research, testing and analysis work at the Army 
Environmental Center for unexploded ordnance [UXO, that is munitions, 
etc.] remediation programs."
This is a step in the right direction, but it is far short of the need. 
UXO contamination is a sleeping giant of the military cleanup program, 
and millions of acres of former ranges may never be declared safe until 
new technologies for investigation, clearance, and disposal are 
developed and proven. One of the major reasons the debate over 
munitions waste regulation is so contentious is that there is currently 
no safe, complete, cheap way to clear ranges or even prove that they 
are safe.
Lenny Siegel