[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS, CLOSURE: Camp Bonneville (WA) failure

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Bonneville Blunder
Plans for park and cemetery now appear more elusive than ever at Camp 
Bonneville

Editorial
The Columbian (WA)
March 27, 2009

Unfortunately for Clark County residents, the cleanup of Camp Bonneville 
is turning into a classic example of government at its worst. As The 
Colombian's Erik Robinson reported Thursday, it now appears cleaning up 
the old Army artillery range in the east county will cost about twice as 
much as the Army had predicted, and less than half of the 3,480-acre 
site could be turned over to public use.

Understandably, converting old artillery ranges into public use is an 
inexact science. It's hard to know how many old shells and dangerous 
leftovers are buried until the cleanup begins. But in this case, public 
frustration rises to a higher level because of widespread 
finger-pointing among at least four stakeholders in the project: Clark 
County officials, the state Department of Ecology, Army officials and a 
nonprofit organization contracted to oversee the cleanup. Throw in 
several subcontractors working on the site, plus the legitimate needs of 
special-interest groups such as parks developers and advocates of a 
veterans cemetery, and what seems like a simple project turns into a 
bureaucratic nightmare.


...

For the entire editorial, see
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090327/OPINION02/703279972/-1/OPINION

--


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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