NSA says its toxic waste is classified

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Maryland
THE BALTIMORE SUN
NSA says its toxic waste is classified
Area activists complain agency is uncooperative with EPA cleanup efforts

By Rona Kobell and Ariel Sabar
Originally published December 30, 2003

Since the Environmental Protection Agency put Fort Meade on its
Superfund list of the nation's most hazardous sites in 1998, regulators
have been pushing for an aggressive cleanup of the 5,400-acre complex.

Despite repeated requests, though, officials at the National Security
Agency have refused to share with either Army officials or government
regulators crucial information about environmental conditions on its
section of the Odenton post.

Regulators and citizen activists contend that the NSA -- a super-secret
global eavesdropping agency -- still thinks of itself as separate from
the post, and thus not subject to the laws regulating environmental
cleanup.

"No one's asking them for state secrets," said Zoe Draughon, chairwoman
of the Restoration Advisory Board, a group of citizens and regulators
overseeing the post's cleanup. She said that her group will not let the
agency "wrap themselves up in paranoia and patriotism and say they have
classified dirt."

In a written response to questions from The Sun, NSA officials said they
classified their report because it gave away too much information about
its buildings and their functions.

The agency added that it has every intention of complying with
environmental laws. It has promised EPA officials an edited,
unclassified version of the report without the sensitive information by
early next year, when the NSA is expected to complete its security
review.

The 86-year-old post, a major camp for soldiers during both world wars,
landed on the EPA's list mostly because of contamination from fuels,
solvents and munitions. Some of the worst problems were found in 1995,
when workers discovered 267 buried drums seeping petroleum.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-te.ar.nsa30dec30,0,4063187.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

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