The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Thursday, March 18, 2010, that took a look at restoration activities at a number of Department of Defense sites, and noted they're generally doing the job as expected.

The report noted that cleanup goals are based on DERP, including setting target dates for reaching the remedy-in-place or response complete (RIP/RC) milestone. DoD data showed that, in applying the goals and targets, cleanup funding has generally been proportional to the number of sites in each category of remediation. For example, the total number of BRAC sites requiring cleanup is about 17 percent of the total number of defense sites requiring cleanup, while the $440.2 million obligated to address BRAC sites in fiscal year 2008 is equivalent to about 25 percent of the total funds obligated for this purpose for all defense waste sites.

GAO's past work has also shown that DOD's preliminary cost estimates for cleanup generally tend to rise significantly as more information becomes known about the level of contamination at a specific site. In addition, three factors can lead to delays in cleanup. They are (1) technological constraints that limit DOD's ability to detect and cleanup certain kinds of hazards, (2) prolonged negotiations with environmental regulators on the extent to which DOD's actions are in compliance with regulations and laws, and (3) the discovery of previously unknown hazards that can require additional cleanup, increase costs, and delay transfer of the property.

Visit www.gao.gov/new.items/d10547t.pdf (pdf) for the whole report.