Google U.S. military and pollution, and brace yourself; our search resulted in more than 2 million hits. “The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest polluter in the world, producing more hazardous waste than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined,” said Common Dreams in 2005. “These hazardous wastes include pesticides, defoliants, solvents, petroleum, perchlorate, lead, mercury, and uranium.
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In 2006, Organic Consumers reported, “Perchlorate, the explosive ingredient in solid rocket fuel, has leaked from military bases and defense and aerospace contractors' plants in at least 22 states, contaminating drinking water for millions of Americans. The chemical has also been found widely in supermarket milk, produce and many other foods, and in a separate study, the CDC found it in the urine of every person tested.”
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Common Dreams the report also discussed uranium. “The impact of depleted uranium on Gulf War veterans is so staggering that it is incomprehensible that the U.S. government persists in denying the damage done. The numbers tell the obvious story. During the three-week war in 1990-91, 467 U.S. personnel were reported injured. Since then, more than 11,000 Gulf War veterans have died and more than 600,000 are on
permanent disability due to their exposure to depleted uranium, or what we euphemistically call Gulf War Syndrome.”
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The horrifying truth is that the military—by law—has not been held to the same standards as industry in relation to environmental laws. A nine-year-old article in the National Defense Magazine gives us some idea of the enormous amounts the military spends in regards to pollution. “The fiscal year 2000 defense budget allocates $3.9 billion or 1.5 percent of its $267.2 billion pot to environmental security. That includes $1.67 billion for environmental compliance, $1.26 billion for cleanup, $360 million for base realignment and closure, $257 million for pollution prevention, $199 million for technology, and $121 million for conservation. Figures show a steady decline in environmental funding. Just last year, the budget allotted $4.4 billion for environmental security. The pollution prevention account, in particular, has gone up by $23 million more than the previous year.”
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If so much money is spent cleaning up pollution, how and why has our military been exempt from our environmental laws? This year more than 80 affected communities and organizations across the U.S. joined forces to support legislation to require the Department
The World's Worst Polluter is the U.S. Military
Issue 1 | September 2009
