NEWS RELEASE
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE DEMOCRATS
Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member

Washington, D.C. – At the request of Congressmen John D. Dingell, D-Mich., and Tom Sawyer, D-Ohio, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has conducted a year-long investigation of "Formerly Utilized Defense Sites" (FUDS) with environmental contamination.

"The Corps’ work to date has principally focused on the ‘cheapest and least technologically challenging’ work such as tearing down buildings and pulling tanks while many high- and medium-risk properties with toxic groundwater contamination or unexploded ordinance have been left to percolate," Dingell said. "These seriously contaminated sites must be addressed in a timely manner before this dangerous brew threatens public health and safety."

The GAO reports that the Army Corps of Engineers’ established goal of cleaning up FUDS contaminated with toxic, hazardous, and radioactive waste by 2014, at approximately $200 million per year, is short by more than 50 years. The GAO further reports the Corps cost estimate of $13 billion to complete the cleanup of these properties does not account for cleanup of unexploded ordinance on FUDS properties which the Corps estimates will cost more than an additional $5 billion.

In Michigan, at FUDS with high risk projects, only 13 percent ($15.5 million out of $116 million) of the necessary work has been funded. Nationwide only 16 percent ($961 million out of $6 billion) has been funded. Of the medium-risk projects in Michigan, only 8 percent ($957,000 out of $12.5 million) has been funded. Nationwide only 3 percent ($73.5 million out of $2.8 billion) has been funded.

The GAO also found that the Department of Defense reporting with respect to cleanups completed provides a misleading picture of the FUDS program accomplishments by including ineligible projects or projects that did not involve any actual cleanup effort. According to the report, the Corps determination that no contamination or other hazards exist that require cleanup was made without input from state or federal regulatory agencies, which may not agree.

"As evidenced by the notorious Spring Valley site in Washington, D.C., the Corps’ determination can be very wrong," Dingell noted. "I hope a similar mistake is not played out on a national scale."

In December 1998, the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials conducted a survey of 39 states and found that "over half indicated that they had reason to believe that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not made sound environmental decisions regarding no further action determinations at FUDS." The GAO is conducting a separate investigation of the 4,070 sites at the request of Representatives Dingell and Sawyer.

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Click here for the:    GAO report
                                State-by-state condensed summary
                                State-by-state full summary

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