[CPEO-MEF] Colorado Has New Battle to Get Base Cleaned Up

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Colorado
THE NATION
Colorado Has New Battle to Get Base Cleaned Up
-After being sued, the Army agreed to remove munitions. But a bill being
pushed by the military could undermine that deal.
By Elizabeth Shogren, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- The state of Colorado thinks residents should be able to
move into new subdivisions without stumbling over unexploded munitions
left behind by closed military bases. So it sued the Army six years ago
for refusing to remove unspent shells from a former bombing range that
was the site of a new suburb.

Bill Clinton was president, and his Army relented and agreed to clean up
the former Lowry Bombing Range northeast of Denver.

But now the Bush administration's Army is asking Congress to change the
law that was at the heart of Colorado's case.

"If that bill goes through, it could undermine the legal authorities we
relied on for the lawsuit," said Dan Miller, the assistant Colorado
attorney general in charge of environmental cases. "The risk is we're
not going to have the authority to adequately protect human health and
the environment from a variety of military activities."

The Pentagon is seeking to exclude explosives, munitions and munition
fragments from lawsuits, brought under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, that demand cleanups of operational military bases. This
is part of a broader effort by the Pentagon to get relief from
environmental laws that, officials say, hamper military training.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-enviro9apr09,0,7186660.story

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