GAO: Measuring success at military Superfund sites is super confusing

It's unclear how much progress the Defense Department has made with environmental cleanup efforts at several military bases, according to the Government Accountability Office.

GAO reported that Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency use different definitions of cleanup projects and standards for success, making it difficult to measure progress. There are 141 Defense Superfund sites of the original 1,620 sites listed in the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The July 15 GAO study looked at cleanup efforts at three bases: Maryland's Fort Meade Army Base, Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and New Jersey's McGuire Air Force Base.

According to the report, Defense describes some of its cleanup projects as in "mature stages," while EPA cites the Pentagon's efforts as in "early investigative stages." GAO said these differences in interpretation stem largely from the fact that EPA divides cleanup projects into larger units than does Defense.

The report also suggested that the use of performance-based contracting could have limited the number of possible clean-up methods because of price cap demands and strict deadlines. Defense also failed to disclose pollution to EPA and the public in a number of areas, GAO said.

GAO reported various obstacles to cleanup efforts at Defense Superfund sites, including the Pentagon's failure to enter into interagency agreements with EPA on such projects. Under the 1980 law, cleanup efforts must be approved, documented and made available to the public to merit EPA recognition. Without EPA approval, the agency will not recognize Defense's efforts. And GAO said that once an interagency agreement is reached, it could be necessary to repeat cleanup efforts that Defense already has completed.

Defense and EPA have negotiated interagency agreements for Fort Meade Army Base and McGuire Air Force Base; they took effect in October and December 2009. Defense and EPA currently are negotiating over Tyndall Air Force Base.

"EPA shares GAO's concerns over widespread contamination and compliance issues at Tyndall Air Force Base and supports GAO's recommendations that the Department of Defense sign an agreement with EPA to clean up the base," said EPA headquarters spokesman Dave Ryan. "Contamination at Tyndall is serious, with concentrations of toxic chemicals in groundwater at levels hundreds of times greater than EPA's drinking water standards," he added.

EPA and Defense have agreed to 136 of the required 141 agreements; they are hammering out agreements for five Superfund sites.

"We are committed to signing federal facilities agreements at all 141 of our facilities listed on the National Priorities List," said Dorothy Robyn, Defense deputy undersecretary for installation and environment, in response to GAO's report.

Defense agreed with five of GAO's six recommendations; the department disagreed with a proposal to amend a portion of the 1980 law which would allow EPA to impose penalties to enforce cleanup efforts before an agreement is implemented.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who requested the report, acknowledged that Defense has made some progress, but cited bureaucracy as the largest obstacle to cleanup efforts at the Superfund cites. "It is also clear from the report that the Department of Defense routinely engages in unproductive bureaucratic turf battles that jeopardize cleanup efforts at some of its most contaminated sites," said Menendez in a statement released on Tuesday. "This is not good for the public health or the environment, and we will be examining ways to ensure that they act in a much more cooperative manner."