Area political leaders and environmentalists are challenging apparent delays and secrecy surrounding the cleanup of dangerous chemicals at Fort George G. Meade that one federal agency claims pose "an imminent" threat to surrounding communities. Concerns that the Department of Defense has failed to remove hazardous waste at Fort Meade quickly enough has ignited a political firestorm in Congress and drawn criticism from county government.
"I'm dismayed that the Department of Defense, which is the nation's largest polluter, is resisting orders from the (Environmental Protection Agency) to clean up Fort Meade," County Executive John R. Leopold said last week.
In July 1998, the EPA added four sites from Fort Meade to the Superfund cleanup list. At the time, officials estimated it would take six years to fix the environmental hazards, which included chemicals leaching into groundwater and traces of herbicides in soil.
But since then, the EPA and the DoD have butted heads on how the environmental hazards should be handled. The EPA last year issued an order to make sure that every environmental hazard at Fort Meade is removed, not just those at the initial Superfund sites.
Pentagon officials dismissed the EPA's claims that soil and groundwater pollution at the military installation were dangerous enough to warrant additional cleanup.
Requests for comment from Fort Meade commanders were deferred to the Army's central press office. Officials there did not return calls last week.
The dispute between the two federal agencies has drawn the attention of local politicians and environmentalists familiar with the potential hazards at the sprawling 5,000 acre-military installation that will see thousands of new employees and construction in the next five years.
"There is no acceptable excuse for the refusal to address these important threats to the public health. On behalf of the citizens of Anne Arundel County, I urge immediate and meaningful action to comply with the orders of the EPA," Mr. Leopold wrote in a June 30 letter to the Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
In response to the ongoing environmental problems, Mr. Leopold also has instructed the county Health Department to restart testing of wells at homes adjacent to Fort Meade, a square-shaped area that roughly extends from the fort's eastern fence to Chapelgate Drive, between Odenton and Waugh Chapel roads. The public water system is not at risk.
The county first started testing four private wells in that area in 2005, after monitoring wells there found pesticides, herbicides and other hazardous materials in the water supply. Testing stopped in 2007 because contaminant levels were not increasing and were within acceptable federal standards.
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