[CPEO-MEF] Blumenauer "Dear Colleague" letter

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) is continuing his push for a more
serious and extensive national program to address unexploded ordnance
contamination throughout the United States. He wrote this letter to his
colleagues in response to an article in the January 8, 2000 Washington
Post:

January 11, 2001

Unexploded Ordnance: Accidents Waiting to Happen

Dear Colleague:

You may have seen this week's Washington Post article (on reverse)
regarding excavations currently taking place around American University
to deal with toxic and explosive wastes left over from World War I. This
is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problem of
unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Millions of acres of land and internal waterways within the United
States are contaminated with UXO. Over 1,000 formerly-used defense sites
are known or suspected to contain UXO. Additionally, of the 206 Base
Realignment and Closure (BRAC) sites across the country, UXO is know to
exist in many of them. These sites, such as bombing ranges and testing
facilities, were once located in underpopulated areas. However, distance
in no longer a protective factor and these sites are now often bordered
by housing developments and schools or contained within parks and other
public lands.

Cleanup estimates now exceed $100 billion; we are spending some $150
million a year on the problem now. At that rate, cleanup will take more
than 500 years.

More funding is needed for this cleanup and to develop better
technologies for identifying potential UXO sites. I look forward to
working with colleagues who have an interest in this issue. Please
contact me ...

Sincerely,

Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org


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