Environmental Contamination: Lessons Learned from the Cleanup of Formerly Used Defense and Military Munitions Sites
Released: 2009-06-10T00:00:00

Letter

Background

Under the DERP, DOD is authorized to identify, investigate and clean up environmental contamination and other hazards at FUDS as well as active installations. To that end, DOD has established restoration goals and identified over 31,000 sites that are eligible for cleanup, including more than 21,000 sites on active installations, more than 5,000 sites on installations identified for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), and 4,700 FUDS. The DERP was established by section 211 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) which amended the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980. Under the DERP, DOD’s activities addressing hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants are required to be carried out consistent with section 120 of CERCLA. DOD delegated its authority for administering the cleanup of FUDS to the Army, which in turn delegated its execution to the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps). Funding for cleanup activities comes from the Environmental Restoration and BRAC accounts. The Environmental Restoration account funds cleanup at active sites and FUDS properties and, of the $1.4 billion obligated in fiscal year 2007, FUDS property obligations totaled $116.5 million for addressing hazardous substances and $102.9 million for munitions response.

To be eligible for FUDS cleanup, a property must have been owned by, leased to, possessed by, or otherwise controlled by DOD during the activities that led to the presence of hazards. These hazards may include unsafe buildings, structures, or debris, such as weakened load-bearing walls; hazardous, toxic, and radioactive substances, which includes contaminants such as arsenic, certain paints, some solvents, and petroleum; containerized hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste, such as transformers and aboveground or underground storage tanks that contain petroleum, solvents, or other chemicals which have been released into the environment; and ordnance and explosive materials, such as military munitions and chemical warfare agents. To determine if a property is eligible for cleanup under the FUDS program, the Corps conducts a preliminary assessment of eligibility to determine whether the property was ever owned or controlled by DOD and if hazards caused by DOD’s use may be present. If the Corps determines that the property was owned or controlled by DOD but does not find evidence of any hazards caused by DOD, it designates the property as “no DOD action indicated” (NDAI). If however, the Corps determines that a DOD-caused hazard may be present, the Corps begins to further study and/or clean up the hazard, consistent with CERCLA. The CERCLA process generally includes the following phases: preliminary assessment, site inspection, remedial investigation/feasibility study, remedial design/remedial action, and long- term monitoring.

To address the release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants resulting from past practices that pose environmental health and safety risks on both active sites and FUDS, DOD established the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) in 1985 under the DERP. In fiscal year 2007, the Corps had 2,612 FUDS in the IRP. Performance metrics and comprehensive goals have been developed by DOD to assess progress toward the agency’s IRP goals. These goals include progress in reaching a CERCLA cleanup phase at the site level, progress toward achieving a “remedy in place” or “response complete” status at the installation level, and progress in achieving overall relative-risk reduction. Specific targets are included in DOD’s annual report to Congress.

To better focus its munitions cleanup activities on both active sites and FUDS, DOD established the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) in September 2001, as part of the DERP, specifically to address potential explosive and environmental hazards associated with munitions. The objectives of the program include compiling a comprehensive inventory of military munitions sites, establishing a prioritization protocol for sequencing work at these sites, and establishing program goals and performance measures to evaluate progress. In December 2001, shortly after DOD established the program, the Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2002, which, among other things, required DOD to develop an initial inventory of defense sites, other than military ranges still in operation, that are known or suspected to contain military munitions by May 31, 2003, and to provide annual updates thereafter. DOD provides these updates as part of its annual report to Congress on Defense environmental programs; in its 2007 report DOD had identified 3,537 sites suspected or known to have munitions contamination, an increase of 221 sites from fiscal year 2006. Table 1 provides a summary of DOD performance goals for MMRP and IRP.

The Spring Valley Site

The principal government entities involved in the Spring Valley cleanup include the Corps, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the District of Columbia. The Corps has led the effort of identifying, investigating, and cleaning up contamination at the site, whereas EPA primarily consulted with and provided technical assistance to the Corps and the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia’s Department of Health has monitored the cleanup’s status and adequacy, conducting such actions as, according to the Department, assessing the human health risks associated with any exposure to remaining hazards at Spring Valley. Additionally, advisory entities were created to further facilitate decision- making on technical topics.

In 2002, we reported that cleanup progress included the identification and removal of a large number of hazards, including buried ordnance, chemical warfare agents in glass containers, and arsenic-contaminated soil. By April 2002 the Corps had identified and removed 5,623 cubic yards of arsenic-contaminated soil from 3 properties and removed 667 pieces of ordnance-- 25 of which were chemical munitions-- and 101 bottles of chemicals. A March 2009 project overview report by the Corps indicated that, in 2004, the Corps excavated 474 drums of soil and recovered more than 800 items, such as construction debris, ordnance scrap, and laboratory glassware and ceramic pieces. The report also indicated that, by 2006, the Corps removed 5,500 cubic yards of soil, 117 munitions debris items, 6 intact munitions items, and 31 intact containers in addition, the excavation, backfilling, and restoration of the debris field that contained these materials was completed.

We reported in 2002 that the primary health risks that influenced cleanup activities were (1) the possibility of injury or death from exploding or leaking ordnance and containers of chemical warfare agents; and (2) potential long-term health problems, such as cancers and other health conditions, from exposure to arsenic-contaminated soil. A study by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found no evidence of significant exposure to arsenic in the individuals tested in 2002. In 2003, the Corps discovered perchlorate in groundwater at the site, and installed at least 38 monitoring wells for sampling. Sampling results identified elevated levels of perchlorate in the project area. Further investigation is underway with more wells and sampling planned in 2009. In April 2002, the Army estimated that the remaining cleanup activities at Spring Valley would take 5 years to complete. Total costs for the project were estimated at $145.9 million in fiscal year 2002; by fiscal year 2007, the estimated total costs increased to $173.7 million. Figure 1 presents information on the annual cost to complete and annual amounts spent to date from 2003 to the present at the Spring Valley site.

Shortcomings in the Use of Available Information and Guidance Can Lead to Poor Decision-making

When we reviewed the Spring Valley cleanup in 2002, we found that the Army determined that there was no evidence of large–scale burials of hazards remaining at Spring Valley before it received all technical input. For example, while the Army’s Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency reviewed work done by American University and documentation from additional sources, it also contracted with EPA’s Environmental Photographic Interpretation Center to review available aerial photographs of the site taken during the World War I era. However, the photographs were not received or reviewed prior to 1993, according to EPA officials. Despite never having received technical input from EPA on the aerial photographs, in 1986 the Army concluded that if any materials were buried in the vicinity of the university, the amounts were probably limited to small quantities and no further action was needed. However, as we now know, subsequent investigations by the Army discovered additional ordnance in large burial pits and widespread arsenic-contaminated soil.

The experience at Spring Valley is by no means a unique occurrence. Our review of other FUDS nationwide found significant shortcomings in the Corps’ use of available information and guidance for making decisions relating to cleanup of contamination at these sites. For example, in 2002, we reported that the Corps did not have a sound basis for determining that about 1,468 of 3,840 FUDS properties––38 percent––did not need further study or cleanup action. Specifically, we found No evidence that the Corps reviewed or obtained information that would allow it to identify all the potential hazards at these properties or that it took sufficient steps to assess the presence of potential hazards.

That for about 74 percent of all NDAI properties, the site assessment files were incomplete—i.e., the files lacked information such as site maps or photos that would show facilities, such as ammunition storage facilities, that could indicate the presence of hazards (e.g. unexploded ordnance).

That for about 60 percent of all NDAI properties the Corps may not have contacted all the current owners to obtain information about potential hazards present on the site.

The Corps appeared to have overlooked or dismissed information in its possession that indicated hazards might be present. For example, at a nearly 1,900 acre site previously used as an airfield by both the Army and the Navy, the file included a map showing bomb and fuse storage units on the site that would suggest the possible presence of ordnance-related hazards; however, we found no evidence that the Corps searched for such hazards.

The files contained no evidence that the Corps took sufficient steps to assess the presence of potential hazards. For example, although Corps guidance calls for a site visit to look for signs of potential hazards, we estimated that the Corps did not conduct the required site visit for 686 or about 18 percent of all NDAI properties.

We found that these problems occurred in part because the Corps’ guidance did not specify (1) what documents or level of detail the agency should obtain when looking for information on the prior uses of and the facilities located at FUDS properties to identify potential hazards or (2) how to assess the presence of potential hazards. For example, some Corps district staff stated that there was no guidance showing the types of hazard normally found at certain types of facilities. We concluded that, since many properties may have not been properly assessed, the Corps did not know the number of additional properties that may require cleanup, the hazards that were present at those properties, the risk associated with these hazards, the length of time needed for cleanup, or the cost to clean up the properties.

To address these problems, we recommended that the Corps develop more specific guidelines and procedures for identifying and assessing potential hazards at FUDS and to use them to review NDAI files and determine which properties should be reassessed. DOD told us that it has implemented this recommendation; however, according to one major association of state regulators, problems persist in how the Corps makes NDAI determinations in many cases. In 2008, the association published a fact sheet indicating, among other things, that the evidence collected is not adequate for making determinations. We will be reviewing some aspects of this decision making process as part of our ongoing work on FUDS and MMRP.

Incomplete Data on Site Conditions and Emerging Contaminants Can Interfere With the Development of Accurate Cost Estimates and Schedules

At Spring Valley, the Corps’ estimate of the cost to complete cleanup of the site increased by about six fold––from about $21 million to about $124 million––from fiscal year 1997 through 2001. Factors such as the future discovery of hazards made it inherently challenging for the Corps to estimate the costs for completing cleanup activities at the site. Future estimates of the cost to complete cleanup of the site also depend on assumptions about how many properties require the removal of arsenic- contaminated soil and how many properties need to be surveyed and excavated to remove possible buried hazards. As these assumptions have changed, the cost to cleanup Spring Valley has continued to rise where the most recent estimate for fiscal year 2007 is $173.7 million.

The challenges of estimating the costs of the Spring Valley cleanup are common to many FUDS, and our past work has shown that incomplete data on site conditions and emerging contaminants can interfere with the development of accurate cost and schedule estimates. For example, in 2004, we evaluated DOD’s MMRP program and found several weaknesses in preliminary cost estimates for numerous sites. We found that a variety of factors, including the modeling tool used to compile cost estimates, contributed to these weaknesses. Specifically, when detailed, site-specific information was not available for all sites, we found that DOD used estimates, including assumptions about the amount of acreage known or suspected of containing military munitions when preparing its cost projections. As a result, the cost estimates varied widely during the life of some cleanup projects. For example, the Corps confirmed the presence of unexploded ordnance at Camp Maxey in Texas, and in 2000, estimated cleanup costs at $45 million. In its fiscal year 2002 annual report, DOD reported that the estimated total cost had tripled and grown to $130 million, and then in June 2003, the estimate decreased to about $73 million––still 62 percent more than the original cost estimate. The main factors behind these shifting cost estimates, according to the project manager, were changes in the acreage requiring underground removal of ordnance and changes in the amount of ordnance found.

To address the challenges of estimating costs, schedules, and other aspects of munitions response, we made a number of recommendations related to various elements of DOD’s comprehensive plan for identifying, assessing and cleaning up military munitions at potentially contaminated sites. In its response to our 2004 report and recommendations, DOD said that it was working on developing better cost estimates, and that the Corps would designate 84 percent of its environmental restoration budget in fiscal year 2007 for investigations and cleanup actions. According to DOD, this funding would help the Corps gather more site specific information, which in turn could be used for better determining the expected cost to complete cleanup at FUDS.

We found that these concerns are also not limited to just FUDS but also affect operational ranges as well. When we reviewed the development of DOD’s cost estimates for addressing potential liabilities associated with unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions constituents on operational ranges, we found that DOD’s cost estimates for cleanup were questionable because the estimates were based on inconsistent data and invalidated assumptions.

The presence of newly identified contaminants at sites needing cleanup further complicates DOD’s efforts to develop reliable cost estimates. In 2004, we found that DOD does not have a comprehensive policy requiring sampling or cleanup of the more than 200 chemical contaminants associated with military munitions on operational ranges. Of these 200 contaminants, 20 are of great concern to DOD due to their widespread use and potential environmental impact—including perchlorate. According to our 2005 report, perchlorate has been found in the drinking water, groundwater, surface water, or soil in 35 states, the District of Columbia (including the Spring Valley site), and 2 commonwealths of the United States. In its 2007 Annual Report to Congress, DOD indicated that new requirements to address emerging contaminants like perchlorate will drive its investments in cleanup, and require modifications in plans and programs, and adjustments to total cleanup and cost to complete estimates. However, there is limited information on the potential costs of addressing these emerging contaminants and how their cleanup may affect overall site cleanup schedules. This is partly because none of these munitions constituents are currently regulated by a federal drinking water standard under the Safe Drinking Water Act, although perchlorate, for example, is the subject of a federal interim health advisory and several state drinking water standards. Our 2004 report recommended that DOD provide specific funding for comprehensive sampling for perchlorate at sites where no sampling had been conducted; although DOD disagreed at the time, it recently took action to sample hundreds of locations nationwide.

Funding Available for a Particular Site May Be Influenced by Overall Program Goals and Other Priorities

Spring Valley has received priority funding due to its proximity to the nation’s capitol and high visibility; however, our past work shows that this is not the case with most FUDS. Over the past 10 years DOD has invested nearly $42 billion in its environmental programs, which include compliance, restoration, natural resources conservation, and pollution prevention activities. In fiscal year 2007, DOD obligated approximately $4 billion for environmental activities, but only $1.4 billion of this total was utilized for DERP environmental restoration activities at active installations and FUDS. Of this amount, $1.2 billion funded cleanup of hazardous substances, pollutants and contaminants from past DOD activities through the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) and $215.8 million funded activities to address unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions and munitions constituents through the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP). Figure 2 shows expenditures through fiscal year 2007, DOD’s estimated costs to complete, and the fiscal year 2007 obligations for the IRP and MMRP at active sites and FUDS.

DOD requests separate funding amounts for active sites and FUDS cleanup programs based on specific DERP restoration goals and the total number of sites in each program’s inventory. Goals are set separately for the IRP and MMRP; target dates for cleanup of high priority sites are different for these programs. Furthermore, while DOD has established Department- wide goals, each service has its own goals, which may differ, and determines the allocation of funds between IRP and MMRP. Specifically, for the IRP, the DOD goal is to have a remedy in place or response complete for all active sites and FUDS by fiscal year 2020. However, DOD has requested much greater budgets for active sites than for FUDS. For example, DOD requested $257.8 million for FUDS or only one-fifth of the amount requested for active sites for fiscal year 2009. Similarly, obligations in fiscal year 2007 totaled $969.8 million for active sites, whereas FUDS obligations only totaled $219.4 million. According to the most recent annual report to Congress, DOD does not expect to complete the IRP goal for FUDS until fiscal year 2060. DOD is aiming to complete cleanup of IRP sites much earlier than MMRP sites, even if higher-risk MMRP sites have not yet been addressed.

For MMRP, DOD’s first goal was to complete preliminary assessments for FUDS as well as active sites, by the end of fiscal year 2007. DOD reported that it has reached this goal for 96 percent of MMRP sites. However, it is not clear if this percentage includes sites recently added to the site inventory. DOD also has an MMRP goal of completing all site inspections by the end of fiscal year 2010, but has not yet set a goal for achieving remedy in place or response complete. Our ongoing reviews of the FUDS and MMRP programs will include more in-depth analyses of the prioritization processes used by DOD for active sites and FUDS.

Better Coordination and Communication with Regulators and Property Owners Can Increase Public Confidence and Facilitate Effective Decision-making

In our 2002 report on Spring Valley, we reported that the Corps, EPA and the District of Columbia had made progress on site cleanup by adopting a partnership approach for making cleanup decisions. Importantly, they established a systematic means of communicating information to, and receiving input from, the residents of Spring Valley and other interested members of the public. While the entities did not agree on all cleanup decisions, officials of all three entities—the Corps, the District of Columbia, and EPA—stated that the partnership had been working effectively. However, we have found that this kind of cooperation and coordination does not always occur at other sites nationwide. For example: In 2003, we conducted a survey to determine how the Corps coordinates with state regulators during the assessment and cleanup of FUDS. We found that the Corps did not involve the states consistently, and that EPA had little involvement in the cleanup of most FUDS. We found that the Corps informed states of upcoming work at hazardous waste projects 53 percent of the time and requested states’ input and participation 50 percent of the time. We reported that federal and state regulators believed that better coordination with the Corps regarding cleanup at FUDS would increase public confidence in the cleanups and improve their effectiveness.

Some state regulators told us that inadequate Corps coordination has made it more difficult for them to carry out their regulatory responsibilities at FUDS properties and that, because of their lack of involvement, they have frequently questioned Corps cleanup decisions at FUDS. Conversely, when Corps coordination has occurred, states have been more likely to agree with Corps decisions. Several states also told us that they would like to see EPA become more involved in the cleanup process, for example, by participating in preliminary assessments of eligibility or providing states with funds to review Corps work. EPA also believed that a better-coordinated effort among all parties would improve the effectiveness of cleanup at FUDS and increase public confidence in the actions taken at these sites, but emphasized it did not expect its involvement to be consistent across all phases of work; rather, that it would increase its involvement at a site when conditions warranted—for example, if there were “imminent and substantial endangerment” or if it had concerns about the appropriateness of the cleanup.

We also found that EPA and DOD disagreed on EPA’s role in the FUDS program. Although EPA is the primary regulator for the FUDS that are on the National Priorities List, the states are typically the primary regulatory agency involved for all other FUDS. EPA told us that its role at some of these unlisted FUDS should be greater because it believes it can help improve the effectiveness of the cleanups and increase public confidence in the program. DOD and some states disagreed with this position because they do not believe there is a need for additional EPA oversight of DOD’s work at unlisted FUDS properties where the state is the lead regulator. We concluded in 2003 that the lack of a good working relationship between two federal cleanup agencies may hamper efforts to properly assess properties for cleanup and may, in some cases, result in some duplication of effort.

We also concluded in this 2003 report that a factor behind the historical lack of consistency in the Corps coordination with regulators could be that DOD and Corps guidance does not offer specific requirements that describe exactly how the Corps should involve regulators. To address these shortcomings, we recommended that DOD and the Corps develop clear and specific guidance that explicitly includes, among other things, what coordination should take place during preliminary assessments of eligibility on projects involving ordnance and explosive waste. We also recommended that DOD and the Corps assess recent efforts to improve coordination at the national as well as district level and promote wider distribution of best practices; and work with EPA to clarify their respective roles in the cleanup of former defense sites that are not on the National Priorities List. DOD, representing the Corps and DOD, generally agreed with our recommendations and has since implemented additional changes to improve its coordination with regulators, including revising its guidance to include step-by-step procedures for regulatory coordination at each phase of FUDS cleanup. However, we have not reassessed DOD’s efforts or reviewed its coordination efforts since our 2003 report.

In addition to better coordination with regulators, our past work has shown that the Corps frequently did not notify property owners of its determinations that the properties did not need further action, as called for in its guidance, or instruct the owners to contact the Corps if evidence of DOD-caused hazards was found later. In 2002, we estimated that the Corps failed to notify current owners of its determinations for about 72 percent of the properties that the Corps determined did not need further study or cleanup action. Even when the Corps notified the owners of its determinations, we estimated that for 91 percent of these properties it did not instruct the owners to contact the Corps if evidence of potential hazards was found later. In some cases, several years elapsed before the Corps notified owners of its determinations. We concluded that this lack of communication with property owners hindered the Corps’ ability to reconsider, when appropriate, its determinations that no further study or cleanup action was necessary.

As a result of our findings, we recommended that the Corps consistently implement procedures to ensure that owners are notified of NDAI determinations and its policy of reconsidering its determinations if evidence of DOD-caused hazards is found later. DOD has implemented this recommendation although we have not reviewed its implementation.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, as we move forward on the cleanup of the Spring Valley site, we believe that the lessons learned from DOD’s national environmental cleanup programs provides valuable insights that could guide decision-making and also inform the oversight process. The experience at the national level tells us that while not all the information that DOD needs is always available, it is imperative that the information that is available should be duly considered when developing cleanup plans and estimates. Moreover, involving regulators and property owners can also better ensure that DOD has the best information on which to make its decisions. Finally, it is important to recognize that emerging and unexpected situations can cause significant changes in both cost and time schedules and this could have funding implications as well for specific cleanup sites.

This concludes my prepared statement. I will be happy to respond to any questions from you or other Members of the Subcommittee.

Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this statement. For further information about this testimony, please contact Anu Mittal at (202) 512- 3841 or mittala@gao.gov. Key contributors to this testimony were Diane Raynes, Elizabeth Beardsley, Alison O’Neill, Justin Mausel, and Amanda Leisoo.

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