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April 6, 2003Pentagon doesn't need environmental waiversA suggestion by the Department of Defense that military commanders give President Bush suggestions on where he could issue military facilities executive exemptions from a host of environmental laws should be shelved for now - until 2050 or so, for instance.It's a bad idea and an unnecessary return to the bad old days when the military - along with much of American industry, for that matter - simply dumped what it didn't want anyplace that was convenient. Reminders of the long-term harm of such policies were visible right here in Traverse City not so long ago. Anyone driving along Parsons Road near Cherry Capital Airport could spot wells that were part of a massive, decade-long cleanup necessitated when aviation fuel and other chemicals got into the groundwater near the current Coast Guard air base. The pollution was so bad that dozens of homes in what is called the "alphabet street" area near the airport were provided with bottled water and, eventually, city water. Just a few years ago, when the Coast Guard ceded land at the airport to Traverse City Area Public Schools for use as a soccer complex, more polluted material was unearthed when some excavating was done. That was sealed over and left there. For current examples, one need go no further than Camp Grayling, where wells monitor the groundwater near the headwaters of both the AuSable and Manistee rivers. The wells are there to see if heavy metals have seeped into the groundwater under the firing ranges where National Guard and other troops do artillery and bombing practice. Nationally, the record is much worse. The Defense Department is already the worst polluter in the country, with 130 federal Superfund sites and numerous instances of groundwater contamination and illegal discharges. The request from the Bush administration isn't new. Last year, it asked Congress to ease laws governing endangered species, marine mammals and air and water quality at defense facilities, the Associated Press has reported. Congress allowed a couple of exemptions but rejected the wider request. Pentagon officials still want a three-year grace period from air pollution laws affecting new weaponry and less restrictive requirements for protecting endangered species and for preventing "harassment" of marine mammals. In a memo to military leaders, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, the No. 2 man in the Pentagon, said the effort should be seen as giving "greater consideration to requesting such exemptions" in cases where the laws threaten military training and readiness. What's next, an exemption for defense department contractors? Wolfowitz offers no examples of military training and readiness being "threatened." If he could, Congress should consider that on a case-by-case basis. Until, then, there is absolutely no justification for returning to the bad old days. Residents of northwest Lower Michigan have already seen what can happen if the military isn't held to the same standards as everyone else. And they know the consequences are unacceptable.
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