[CPEO-MEF] Munitions Response Program data

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

As I reported about two week ago, the 2001 version of the Defense
Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) Annual Report, available as a
series of PDF files on the web at 
http://156.80.6.200/derparc_fy01/derp/index.htm, contains a new chapter
on the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP). That chapter,
accompanied by Appendix C of the report, is designed to fulfill
Congressional requirements for an interim report on the Defense
Department's facilities requiring a munitions response, as laid out in
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 02.

The report counts 13 known MMRP Sites at active installations, including
7 with investigations in progress. These appear to be almost all at Navy
installations. The total cost-to-complete is shown as $77 million. But
the document reminds the reader that this is an interim report: "The
number of MMRP sites at active installations is expected to grow as the
inventory is completed and specific sites are delineated." Presumably
the Army and perhaps the Air Force have a significant number of closed
ranges on active installations.

At facilities closed through Base Realignment and Closure legislation,
the military has identified a total of 58 sites. Of those, 30 are in
progress, and 38 have response complete. Of the latter, most (25)
reached that status directly from the investigation stage. That is, no
major cleanup was required. The Army owns most of these sites. Its BRAC
MMRP cost-to-complete is shown as $399 million. Navy costs are not
projected for its three sites: They're included in the Environmental
Restoration (as opposed to MMRP) estimates for Adak Naval Air Station
(Alaska), Mare Island Naval Shipyard (California), and South Weymouth
Naval Air Station (Nomans Land Island, Massachusetts).

Finally, the report counts 1,683 MMRP sites at Formerly Used Defense
Site (FUDS) properties. Work is in progress at 385 sites. Response is
complete (or No Department of Defense Action Indicated) at 811 sites -
most were "cleared" without major cleanup. The official cost to complete
is $14.3 billion.

In Appendix C, the DERP Annual Report for the first time provides
distinct facility-by-facility estimates, sorted by state and territory,
of anticipated munitions response. C-1 describes facilities where the
cost-to-complete is projected over $5 million. C-2 lists, in less
detail, those properties where the cost to complete is less than $5 million.

This is valuable information, but it's important to remember that the
report is still "interim." The Defense Department expects to improve the
quality of the data and estimates as it completes the Congressionally
mandated inventory.

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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