[CPEO-MEF] 90 Million Dollar Club

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

According to Defense Department figures, 98 current and former
Department of Defense facilities will cost a total of more than $90
million each to clean or otherwise address hazardous waste
contamination. CPEO has determined membership in the $90 Million Club by
adding facility-specific data, from the Defense Environmental
Restoration Program Fiscal Year 2001 Annual Report to Congress, on
cleanup expenses through fiscal year 2001 to Defense projects of the
cost to complete at each facility. Those data, as well as first time
official (and incomplete) data on the Military Munitions Response
Program, are included in the table linked to below.

While the historical data is generally accurate, the cost-to-complete
projections are subject to dramatic change. Many of the facilities
listed in CPEO's 1995 version of the $100 Million Club lost their
membership as cost projections plummeted. On the other hand, several
facilities now in the Club didn't qualify in 1995. We anticipate that
new technologies and risk management strategies will push costs down in
the future, but they will be outweighed by the identification of
munitions response obligations, the discovery of new contamination (such
as the plutonium found at  McClellan Air Force base), and new or tighter
cleanup standards for contaminants such as arsenic, trichloroethylene,
and perchlorate.

At the $90 Million Club facilities, combined historical costs
($10,251,115,000) slightly exceed official projected costs
($10,093,094,000). The cost to complete at the 90 active and closure
facilities in the Club, $9,353,352,000, represents roughly 67% percent
of the estimated total $14 billion cost of completion at such
properties. Defense Department estimates of cleanup at Formerly Used
Defense Sites are much less certain.

Overall, the data show that the Defense Department has a large number of
bases and other properties with major installation restoration
challenges. These properties are widely distributed, and they are
divided among all the armed services and the Defense Logistics Agency. A
great deal of money has been spent, but much work remains to be done.

The table can be viewed (and downloaded in Excel format) at:
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/club/90mil.htm

Table data can also be viewed by state at:
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/club/us_map.html

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