Environmental Contamination: DOD Has Taken Steps to Improve Cleanup Coordination at Former Defense Sites but Clearer Guidance Is Needed to Ensure Consistency

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This report responds to your subcommittee's request that we examine Department of Defense (DOD) policies and practices regarding cleanup of environmental contamination at government owned, contractor operated (GOCO) plants, as a follow up to our previous reports that showed inconsistent policies and practices on cost sharing. We reviewed nine higher-cost case studies at the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the military services (1) to assess the consistency of cost-sharing practices across DOD and (2) to compare the service cleanup estimates against DOD'S. Specifically, we identified the actions taken and the types of arrangements for sharing cleanup costs between the government and other responsible parties, and examined site-specific cleanup cost data.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Under the Defense Environ. Restoration Program (DERP), DoD is responsible for cleaning up 5,400 sites on military bases that have been closed, as well as 21,500 sites on active bases, and over 4,700 formerly used defense sites, properties that DoD owned or controlled and transferred to other parties prior to Oct. 1986. The goals of DERP include: (1) reducing risk to human health and the environ.; (2) preparing properties to be environ. suitable for transfer; (3) having final remedies in place and completing response actions; and (4) demonstrating progress toward meeting program performance goals. This testimony discusses information on: (1) how DoD allocates cleanup funding at all sites with defense waste; and (2) cleanup status.