Defense Department Is Nation’s Biggest Polluter
The Defense Department is the nation’s biggest polluter. But, the Pentagon doesn’t want to clean up their mess, even when the health of the environment and the American people are at risk.
From The Washington Post
The Defense Department, the nation’s biggest polluter, is resisting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Fort Meade and two other military bases where the EPA says dumped chemicals pose “imminent and substantial” dangers to public health and the environment.
DoD Defies EPA on Military Site Cleanups…
In other words, the Pentagon’s response is a blend of “I’ll do it because I want to, not because you tell me to” and “who’s gonna make me?” Aren’t you comforted to know that a third-grade mentality is driving the response to dangerous chemicals leaking into soil and groundwater?
Pentagon to EPA: You and what army?
The law gives the EPA administrator final say in cleanup disputes with other agencies, a rule that the Pentagon refuses to recognize. Instead, Defense Department officials have asked the Justice Department and the White House to intervene.
If it were a private polluter and not the Pentagon, the EPA would most likely go to court to force compliance, but an executive branch policy prevents federal agencies from suing one another.
Other agencies, including NASA and the Department of Energy, have complied with the EPA’s Superfund cleanup orders without protest.
Sentators Want a More Environmentally Friendly DoD…
If the people defending the country are poisoning its wells, who needs enemies?
The Washington Post reported Monday that the Defense Dept. is refusing its legal obligation to sign toxic cleanup agreements surrounding 12 Pentagon-run Superfund sites. The DOD is also fighting Environmental Protection Agency orders to clean up military bases in Maryland, Florida and New Jersey, where EPA says the pollutants pose an “imminent and substantial” danger to public health, the Post reported.
From EnviroWonk…
Of course, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has the authority to step up and tell the Pentagon what to do … except the Pentagon refuses to recognize that authority. Other agencies, like NASA and DOE have cleaned-up their messes without fanfare. But, as long as the Commander in Chief of the military isn’t telling them to follow orders, the Pentagon is going to continue doing what it does best: fight.
