Democrats write EPA about DOD facilities

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

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On March 24, 2004, two leading Democrats on the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, John Dingell and Hilda Solis, sent a letter to EPA
Assistant Administrator Marianne Horinko questioning the agency's
current regulatory approach to contamination at Department of Defense
facilities. That letter is pasted below, and the original formatted
version can be downloaded from
http://www.house.gov/commerce_democrats/press/108ltr91.pdf

U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Energy and Commerce

March 24, 2004

The Honorable Marianne L. Horinko
Assistant Administrator
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W .
Washington, D.C. 20460-0001

Dear Assistant Administrator Horinko:

A review of the Superfund National Priority List (NPL) sites reveals
that 63 percent of the non-federal sites have reached construction
complete status but only 24 percent of the 141 Department of Defense
(DOD) facilities have attained construction complete status. This
dramatic disparity in cleanup progress between DOD facilities and
non-federal sites is very disturbing. The Superfund statute requires
that remedial actions at federal facilities subject to interagency
agreements "shall be completed as expeditiously as practicable" (Section 120(e)(3)).

In reviewing the NPL listings over the past three years, including the
one announced on March 8, 2004, it appears that no DOD facilities have
been listed. It also appears that no DOD facility has been proposed for
listing on the NPL in the past three years.

One of the last DOD facilities proposed for listing was Chanute Air
Force Base (AFB) in December 2000. We have been informed that both the
EPA and the State of Illinois want it listed on the NPL, but the Air
Force has been resisting. Please explain why Chanute AFB has not been
listed. The Superfund statute clearly intends that the Administrator
list such facilities on the NPL if they meet the criteria established in
accordance with Section 105 under the National Contingency Plan.

In order to evaluate the status of cleanup progress and evaluation and
listing of DOD facilities on the NFL, we request responses to the
following questions and information requests no later than Monday, April
19, 2004.

1. Has the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) been involved in the
final listing decision on Chanute AFB? If so, please describe in detail
the involvement of OMB.

2. Please provide all documents that relate to the listing of Chanute
AFB on the NPL, including any communications between EPA officials and
officials at the DOD and OMB.

3 Please provide the HRS evaluation package for Chanute AFB and any
communications from the State of Illinois with respect to its listing on
the NPL.

4. Is it correct that no DOD facility has been listed on the NPL during
the Administration of President George W. Bush? Please explain why all such

listings have ceased since January 2001. Further, please identify all
such DOD facilities that have been assessed and evaluated as provided in
CERCLA Section 120(d) since January 1, 2001.
 5 Is it correct that no DOD facilities have been, proposed for listing
on the NPL since the beginning of President George W. Bush's
administration? If so, please explain why.

6. In addition to Chanute AFB, five other DOD facilities have been
previously proposed for the NPL but not finally listed. They are Air
Force Plant 85 (Ohio), Arnold Engineering Development Center
(Tennessee), Rickenbacker Air National Guard (Ohio), Sunflower Army
Ammunition Plant (Kansas), and Wurtsmith Air Force Base (Michigan). For
each facility, please explain the reasons why its listing on the NPL has
not been finalized.

7. Is it correct that at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, the Air
Force has violated the Superfund statute by adopting a remedial record
of decision without EPA's concurrence? What action is the EPA taking in
response to the Air Force's unilateral adoption of the record of decision?

8. The Superfund statute (Section 120(e)) requires the DOD at facilities
included on the NPL to enter into "interagency agreements" with the
Administrator for the "expeditious completion by such department,
agency, or instrumentality of all necessary remedial action at such
facility." is it correct that DOD has been delaying and/or refusing to
enter into interagency agreements with the EPA? If so, please identify
each DOD facility where the interagency agreement has been delayed, the
period of the delay, and the specific issue(s) causing the delay.

9. Please provide the funding levels for EPA's Federal Facilities
Restoration and Reuse Office for FY 2001, FY 2002, FY 2003, FY 2004 and
the President's budget request for FY 2005. Of the total funding for
this office, please indicate the dollar amount that has been provided by
the DOD each of the past four fiscal
years.

10. Please identify all DOD facilities that the Regions or the states
have identified as potential or likely candidates for listing on the NPL
since January 1, 2001.

11 How many Hazard Ranking System evaluations have been performed at DOD
facilities since January 1, 2001? Please identify the facility and
provide the preliminary assessment and the evaluation package.

12 Please identify each DOD facility that has been added to the Federal
Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket established by CERCLA Section
120(c) since January 1, 2001.

13. For the former Sioux Army Depot in Sidney, Nebraska, EPA's Region 7
and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality have been
requesting an environmental remediation investigation since 1990. Why
has it taken more than a decade? What is the current status of this
investigation and any cleanup at the site?

14. Please identify each DOD facility or portion of a DOD facility that
has been transferred under the so-called early transfer provisions of
CERCLA Section 120(h)(3)(c). Please also identify the date of the
transfer, the transferee, and the contamination that remained to be
remediated as of the date of the transfer. Since Section 120(h)(3)(c)
allows for deferral of the covenant that "all remedial action necessary
to protect human health and the environment has been taken" if the
deferral and the transfer of the property" will not substantially delay
any necessary response action at the property" please describe the
current status of the cleanup at each transferred property and indicate
when the warranty provided for in CERCLA Section 120(h)(3)(c)(iii) has
been or will be executed and delivered by the United States.

15. Please identify each ROD issued for a DOD facility in FY 2001, FY
2002, and FY 2003 and indicate whether in the case of groundwater
contamination, the remedy selected will return the contaminated
groundwater to beneficial reuse that meets drinking water standards.
Further indicate whether the groundwater was natural attenuation or
engineered remedies or other active means of groundwater treatment.

16. When did the EPA first learn that drinking water with elevated
levels of TCE and PCE was supplied to military families at Camp Lejeune,
N.C.? What action, if any, has the EPA taken in response?

If you have any questions about this request, please contact us or have
your staff contact Richard Frandsen, Senior Minority Counsel, at...



John D. Dingell, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce

Hilda L. Solis, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials





--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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**** Bounces like rubber! Shatters like ceramic! ****
Discover Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty in grown up
handfuls. It's the creativity unleashing, mood enhancing
desk toy!
http://click.topica.com/caab5n2aVxieSa8wsBbf/ Crazy Aaron Enterprises
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