[CPEO-MEF] PERCHLORATE CLEANUP: U.S. could escape paying up

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Nevada
Monday, March 24, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
PERCHLORATE CLEANUP: U.S. could escape paying up
Pentagon could make DOD exempt from contributing
By SAMANTHA YOUNG
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is seeking military environmental
exemptions from Congress that some say could absolve the Pentagon from
paying to clean up a toxic chemical that has been leaking into Lake Mead
and the Las Vegas water supply.

The Defense Department already is being sued by Kerr-McGee Corp. to
contribute to an extensive cleanup of perchlorate traced to its
Henderson rocket fuel plant, which once was owned by the Navy and then
operated by defense contractors.

Ongoing efforts to remove perchlorate from the environment could reach
$94 million, company officials said. Costs so far have amounted to $76
million.

Controversial new legislation crafted in the name of military readiness
could exempt the Department of Defense from perchlorate cleanup in
Nevada and at 46 defense sites nationwide, some lawmakers and
environmental advocates said.

They said the perchlorate exemption is part of a wide-ranging proposal
that would amend pollution control, natural resources, solid waste
disposal and superfund laws to remove obstacles the Pentagon says
restrict military training.

Among concerned lawmakers is Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who aides said was
working on a letter with Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., urging the
Department of Defense to pay for toxic chemical remediation.

"Senator Reid's view is that the DOD has a responsibility to contribute
financially to the cleanup," a Reid aide said. "DOD knows it wants to
exempt themselves from perchlorate."

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Mar-24-Mon-2003/news/20945276.html

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