European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 12, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 9 s envy mess by the los Angeles times Washington an internal department of defense review of the military s environmental cleanup program has uncovered substantial problems including slow response to reports of contamination and hostile relations with Federal and stale environmental regulators. The study found that the Pentagon lacks qualified people to supervise cleanups and said that the military services have no consistent priority system for determining which of the More than 14,000 contaminated Sites on . Military bases should be addressed first. The report prepared by the Pentagon a inspector general also cites inadequate supervision of the contractors brought in to carry out virtually All of the military s environmental repairs. Senior defense officials declined to comment on the unreleased report whose key findings were made available to the los Angeles times. The Pentagon s official estimate of the Cost of cleaning up the contaminated Sites is about $20 billion. But officials from the inspector general a office pegged the Cost at $100 billion to $200 billion a not including the Cost of cleaning up the department of Energy a nuclear weapons plants and hundreds of polluted Sites at . Military bases overseas. The study is the first comprehensive review of the defense environmental restoration program the Pentagon a $600 million a year Effort to identify polluted Sites at military facilities rank them in order of severity and oversee remedial action. The program created seven years ago so for has identified 14,401 contaminated Sites at 1,579 military installations in the United states. As of the beginning of this year cleanups had been completed at Only 287 of the Sites according to Pentagon figures. Officials from the inspector general s office found that it takes an average of six years from the time a dump is discovered until the first shovel of dirt is turned to begin repairing the site. Similar delays Are encountered in cleaning up Pri the Pentagon estimate of the Cost of cleaning up the contaminated Sites is about $20 billion. Officials from the inspector general a office put die Cost at $100 billion to $200 billion. Vate Industry Sites but officials noted that the civilian world throws up a number of Legal and regulatory obstacles that the military docs not face. The report lists several factors slowing cleanup of the military a toxic waste dumps a the Pentagon suffers from a shortage of qualified engineers geologists and chemists to assess the danger posed by the Sites and map out a remedial action program. The report said that such technicians Are in great demand by private Industry and other government agencies and that turnover among military personnel working on environmental projects is extremely High. A attic pc is similar Competition for competent a contractors to carry out the repair work. Many of the top firms Are fully employed doing lucrative cleanup work at More than 1,000 superfund toxic waste Sites created by Industry. A the military services have no consistent scheme for ranking the worst Sites for priority attention. Only those Sites that qualify for inclusion on the superfund list arc subject to a formal ranking system and managed by the Federal environmental Protection Agency. The rest arc attacked in haphazard fashion according to the individual military services priorities. A relations Between the military and state and Federal regulators Are poor slowing decisions on who will pay to clean up polluted Sites How thoroughly they will be cleaned and How quickly they will be addressed. The Pentagon claims exemption from most state and Federal regulation under the doctrine of a Sovereign immunity but several Bills Are pending in Congress to subject the military to the same enforcement actions now applied to private polluters. A record keeping for environmental actions at Mill tary bases is weak or non existent the inspector general a staff found. The military services arc Only now creating management information systems to track Progress at contaminated Sites assess technology available to Speed cleanups and Monitor contractor performance. A the department of defense is simply burying much of its hazardous waste in landfills rather than making it harmless by More expensive permanent treatment methods. But the cheaper Short term solution May create Long term costs and liabilities if the dumps leak in the future the inspector general warned. M 1 r a it i festival runners guide bulls into the Arena wednesday at Pamplona Spain spaniard badly gored at running of the bulls Pamplona Spain apr a 23-year-old spaniard was badly gored wednesday in the fifth running of the bulls at the san Fermin festival which Emest Hemingway made famous. Doctors at Navarre Hospital said Juan Manuel Garcia suffered a deep wound in his left thigh and a Skull fracture after being tossed in the air by one of the six bulls that made the morning run along the mile route from the corrals to the City bullring. He was listed in serious condition. Three other spaniards were treated at area hospitals including a 17-year-old with a broken w Rist while 27 other peo ple received first Aid at one of the emergency stations set up along the route. The morning runs Are the focal Point of the we Klong revelry. Dozens of runners mostly Young men test their bravery by running ahead of and alongside the bulls which Are later killed in the Days bullfight. The annual festival attracts thousands of tourists from around the world. It was the setting for Hemingway a 1926 novel a the Sun also rises. Not counting interruptions due to wars the festival has been held continuously since 1591. Since that Date bulls have gored to death 52 people according to municipal records. Sex arms negotiator named As ski head Washington apr defense Secretary Dick Cheney has chosen Henry f. Cooper a former arms control negotiator to be the new director of the strata fic defense initiative organization. Lac Pentagon said tuesday. Cooper will replace it. Gen George l. Monahan jr., who retired last week after 35 years of air Force service. Cooper will be the first civilian to direct the organization which has been headed by two air Force generals during its seven year history. The program less formally known As Star wars is conducting research into the feasibility of space based defences against ballistic missile attack. Cooper takes the Helm at a critical time for the program. The administrations $4.5 billion request to fund ski for the next fiscal year a nearly $1 billion Over the past fiscal year a is expected to come under severe attack during the upcoming defense budget debate on Capitol Hill. The programs critics contend the system is too expensive amid the current budget crunch and unnecessary in this time of lessened East West tensions. Ski has a Strong supporter in Cheney who has repeatedly touted the programs possibilities amid the growing threat of third world ballistic missile systems. Cheney also argues that the soviet s spaced based defense research is Conlin using. Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams who announced the Choice told reporters that several other top positions in the organization remain unfilled including the Post of Deputy director chief scientist and the chief of staff. Williams said the openings Are on a a Normal track to be  asked about the Choice of a civilian director Williams said it was Cheney a View that Cooper a had the kind of knowledge and specialized training and experience Quot for the Job. Quot i think its an expression of the Secretary s personal interest in the position. But Dick Cheney its our View that what you need is the Best person for the Job whether that person be military or civilian a Williams said. Queried whether there have been problems filling positions at the organization. Williams disputed the notion saying the ski program is Quot very important Quot to both president Bush and Cheney. Currently Cooper is the senior vice president of Jay Cor a private research and development organization. From 1987 to 1989, he was the chief negotiator for the . Defense and space arms talks with the soviet Union and was the groups Deputy negotiator in Geneva from 1985 to 1987. Cooper also served As the assistant director of the . Arms control and disarmament Agency from 1983 to 1987 and As Deputy assistant Secretary of the air Force for research development and logistics. Cooper holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from new York University and a masters decree and Bachelor of science degree from Clemson University