Army Cuts Enviro Programs

Cmdrs Told To Suspend Some Protections To Save Money For War

(CBS/AP)  U.S. Army garrison commanders worldwide are being told to drop some environmental protections and cut all temporary employees so the savings can be shifted elsewhere because of the war on terrorism.

An environmental group says some of the programs affected by the changes reduce aircraft collisions with birds, control non-native species and affect how hazardous waste is handled.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army and a contractor were fined nearly $52,000 for releasing a deadly chemical weapon — VX nerve gas — on a wildlife sanctuary in the Pacific Ocean, federal environmental officials announced Wednesday.

According to a May 11 memo obtained by The Associated Press, Army Maj. Gen. Anders Aadland wrote that the Army will now "take additional risk in environmental programs; terminate environmental contracts and delay all non-statutory enforcement actions" until after the new fiscal year begins in October.

Aadland, head of the Army's new Installation Management Activity command, also told commanders to make additional cost-saving changes that affect areas besides environmental programs and temporary employees.

According to the memo, Aadland also ordered cost-saving measures like halting summer hire programs, reducing supply orders and service contracts and a 10-percent cut in spending on information technology.

Officials can divert the savings from the changes to other efforts, he wrote, but was not specific about which programs the money should be diverted to.

However, he told commanders, "All of you must implement these actions now and ensure resources are best used to support the war effort."

The Defense Department had no comment.

The department spends $4 billion on military environmental programs each year, says Raymond DuBois, deputy undersecretary of defense installations and environment.

An environmental group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the Pentagon is irresponsibly ordering severe cuts in spending on programs that reduce pollution and protect wildlife.

"This is an order to base commanders authorizing pollution of American soil when it saves money," PEER's executive director, Jeff Ruch, said of Aadland's use of the phrase "take additional risk."

"Protecting America's land, air and water is not a secondary mission that should be shirked when budgets get tight," Ruch said.

Ruch said his group has been told by Army environmental specialists that the programs to be cut also include those for protecting endangered species, disposing of munitions in open-air burning and monitoring groundwater.

Exposure to VX nerve agent can cause paralysis and death within minutes, but there were no known exposures or reports of harm to any person or any wildlife, said Dean Higuchi of the EPA.

An unknown quantity of VX nerve agent was released in August 2002 at a chemical weapons disposal facility on Johnston Atoll, the Environmental Protection Agency's office in San Francisco said. The release occurred when a tray holding remnants of a VX shell was improperly loaded into an incinerator.

The atoll, located 825 miles southwest of Honolulu, is a national a bird sanctuary. It also held more than 6 percent of the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons — 412,000 different types of explosives, mustard and nerve agents. Congress ordered the weapons destroyed in 1986.

Disposal began in 1990 at a facility jointly operated by the Army and its contractor, Washington Group International of Boise, Idaho. Neither the Army nor Washington Group admitted wrongdoing as part of the fine.

The Army had agreed to pay nearly $400,000 for previous violations in 1994 and 2000 involving VX and sarin gas.

More than 4 million pounds of chemical weapons and agents have been destroyed on Johnston Atoll since 1990. The Army has dismantled the facility and is in the process of restoring the site to its natural role as a wildlife refuge.

According to the General Accounting Office, the United States so far has destroyed only about 24 percent of its 27,000 metric tons of chemical weapons. The remainder is stored not only at Johnston Atoll but also at facilities at Anniston, Ala.; Pine Bluff, Ark., Pueblo, Colo., Newport, Ind., Blue Grass, Ky.; Aberdeen, Md.; Umatilla, Ore. and Toole, Utah.

The Army is not the only federal agency considering adjusting environmental enforcement because of economic pressures. High oil prices have the Bush administration considering easing environmental regulations and the permit process for new and expanding refineries.