[CPEO-MEF] HEALTH: Ft. Wainwright (AK) housing

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility News Release 
(www.peer.org)
For Immediate Release: July 7, 2008

ARMY KNEW ALASKA BASE FAMILY HOUSING SITE WAS TOXIC - Audit Found Civil 
and Criminal Liability at Taku Gardens But No Action Taken
Washington, DC - The U.S. Army knew that the site chosen to build a 
family housing complex at Fort Wainwright was a toxic dump but proceeded 
anyway, in violation of federal laws and service policies, according to 
an audit by the Army's own Office of Staff Judge Advocate that was 
released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility 
(PEER). Despite creating a hugely expensive debacle, sickening workers, 
spreading pollution and retaliating against whistleblowers, the base 
command has absolved itself and issued an "outstanding" rating to the 
official who green-lighted the project.
The January 2007 Army audit questioned "the wisdom of building a family 
housing complex on top of a known 1950s-era military landfill" and 
concluded that "the situation with the Taku construction project is the 
direct result of multiple individuals failing to adhere to Army and 
federal regulations and guidance."
Nonetheless, the Army command excused the failures at Fort Wainwright by 
issuing a report just six months later which dismissed any major 
concerns but skipped over most of the audit findings, including –
    * Construction workers became ill at both Taku Gardens and another 
toxic hotspot because the projects were not slowed to properly analyze 
the sites. As with the illnesses, worker safety in digging through 
unexploded ordnance was dismissed with one base official stating "if a 
bulldozer did encounter a live artillery shell, it would simply scare 
the driver."
    * The Taku project discharged polluted runoff directly into the 
Chena River while improper disposal of toxic soils, drums and other 
debris spread contamination beyond the work site; and
    * When a top environmental official at the base opposed the 
project, she was bypassed, harassed and ultimately removed. The 
environmental director who pushed the project through, however, was 
allowed to transfer with no sanction and an "outstanding" evaluation, 
provided that he did not "disclose any specific information regarding 
the PCB" at Taku Gardens.
The audit stated that the base "Command is at risk of being assessed 
significant environmental fines. Some [base] personnel appear to be at 
risk of criminal prosecution... More significantly, [Fort Wainwright] 
military families in desperate need of housing will not be able to 
occupy the constructed units for several years - if at all." Slightly 
more than half of the planned 128 units on the 54-acre Taku Gardens site 
were built before construction was halted and these may ultimately have 
to be torn down.
"The experience at Taku Gardens demonstrates that accountability remains 
an elusive concept in the U.S. Army," stated PEER Executive Director 
Jeff Ruch, noting that taxpayers might end up losing $150 million on a 
complex that may never be occupied. "This audit report is Exhibit A for 
the case of why military agencies should not be exempt from pollution 
laws and why strict civilian oversight is essential."
PEER had requested all internal investigations of Taku Gardens back in 
November 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act, but the Army 
produced only two reports (one damning and the other exonerating) and 
did not even mention the audit. Last month, PEER asked the Department of 
Defense Inspector General to step into the case and is now supplementing 
its complaint to include the audit findings and why the Army hid them.
For the original press release and a link to the Army audit, go to
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1073

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
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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