RE: [CPEO-MEF] Vieques Report

[CORA.CHRISTOPHER@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV]

The last part of your message was truly bizarre.  I don't think whats going on
at Vieques has anything to do with keeping America a non-russian speaking
country.  At no time did Russia have intentions of invading America,
unless you
use Hollywood/Reaganism as a history book (Red Dawn).  (However, we did
seriously contemplate invading Russia at the end of WWII.  I think if you 
looked
at the history of Russia you would see they have had much more experience at
being invaded and devastated, than we have.)

The justification that the "government" or military should be allowed to do as
they wish with our environment based on alleged national security is not
supported in our laws. The government is not exempt at complying with our
hazardous waste laws, RCRA and CERCLA.   By your logic, all the pollution and
environmental devastation caused by the U.S. Government is justifiable and
should not be remediated.  The U.S. Government is the largest polluter in the
U.S.  Our federal facilities are the largest superfund sites in the nation and
have caused significant damage to the environment.  It did not have to happen
that way.  Fortunately, they have committed to remediating the past mistakes,
and I believe have done admirably well in most cases.

If it means that the military has to curtail their training in order to comply
with the laws of the U. S., than they should.  The practice of not applying
environmental regulation to military training, specifically range use,
has had
a devasting impact on vast stretches of the U.S.  It has also cost the tax
payers billions of dollars and individuals their lives.  The military can
train
and comply with existing regulations.  But there needs to be a committment.
Chris Cora



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