Pentagon refuses EPA orders to clean up toxic bases
Pentagon Fights EPA On Pollution Cleanup
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 30, 2008; A01
The Defense Department, the nation's biggest polluter, is resisting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Fort Meade and two other military bases where the EPA says dumped chemicals pose "imminent and substantial" dangers to public health and the environment.
The Pentagon has also declined to sign agreements required by law that cover 12 other military sites on the Superfund list of the most polluted places in the country. The contracts would spell out a remediation plan, set schedules, and allow the EPA to oversee the work and assess penalties if milestones are missed.
The actions are part of a standoff between the Pentagon and environmental regulators that has been building during the Bush administration, leaving the EPA in a legal limbo as it addresses growing concerns about contaminants on military bases that are seeping into drinking water aquifers and soil.
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Experts in environmental law said the Pentagon's stand is unprecedented.
"This is stunning," said Rena Steinzor, who helped write the Superfund laws as a congressional staffer and now teaches at the University of Maryland Law School and is president of the nonprofit Center for Progressive Reform. "The idea that they would refuse to sign a final order -- that is the height of amazing nerve."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...901977_pf.html
Re: Pentagon refuses EPA orders to clean up toxic bases
The height of amazing nerve is an understatement.
Grrrr!
Re: Pentagon refuses EPA orders to clean up toxic bases
I find it a little odd. Since the Army was over the top in recycling and waste management during my whole tome in from 1990 to 2005. Recycling everything. From soda cans in the day room to oily rags in the motor pool. Hell you can't throw away a MRE heater unless water has been added to it to activate it. The water at vehicle wash points is even recycled with no soap allowed. The soap would kill or deplete the bacteria in the water that breaks down petroleum products...........
So I find this story a little odd from a personal experience POV, course I was just a Sergeant and not privy to the things Generals discuss.
Re: Pentagon refuses EPA orders to clean up toxic bases
Quote:
Originally Posted by
LadyLuck
The height of amazing nerve is an understatement.
Yeah...Something like that.::)