Military Munitions: DOD Needs to Develop a Comprehensive Approach for Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites
Abstract
Over 15 million acres in the United States are suspected of being, or known to be, contaminated with military munitions. These sites include ranges on closing military installations, closed ranges on active installations, and formerly used defense sites. Under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program, established in 1986, the Department of Defense (DOD) must identify, assess, and clean up military munitions contamination at these sites. DOD estimates these activities will cost from $8 billion to $35 billion. Because of the magnitude of DOD's cleanup effort, both in terms of cost and affected acreage, as well as the significant public safety, health, and environmental risks that military munitions may pose, The Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked us to evaluate (1) DOD's progress in implementing its program to identify, assess, and clean up military munitions sites and (2) DOD's plans to clean up remaining sites in the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 19, 2003
- Accession Number
- AD1157837
Entities
People
- Anu K. Mittal
- Cynthia Norris
- Edward Zadjura
- Elizabeth Erdmann
- Jack Burriesci
- Matthew Reinhart
- Ray Wessmiller
- Rebecca Shea
- Sherry Mcdonald
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office