Top 25 of 2004
PROJECT CENSORED– The U.S. military is waging a war on planet Earth. “Homeland
security” has become the new mantra since , and has
been the justification for increasing U.S. military expansion around the
world. Part of this campaign has been the varied and persistent appeals
by the Pentagon to Congress for exemptions from a range of
environmental regulations and wildlife treaties.
The world’s largest polluter, the U.S. military, generates 750,000
tons of toxic waste material annually, more than the five largest
chemical companies in the U.S. combined. This pollution occurs globally
as the U.S. maintains bases in dozens countries. In the U.S. there are
27,000 toxic hot spots on 8,500 military properties inside Washington’s
Fairchild Air Force Base is the number one producer of hazardous waste,
generating over 13 million pounds of waste in 1997. Not only is the
military emitting toxic material directly into the air and water, it’s
poisoning the land of nearby communities resulting in increased rates of
cancer, kidney disease, increasing birth defects, low birth weight, and
miscarriage.
The military currently manages 25 million acres of land providing
habitat for some 300 threatened or endangered species. Groups such as
Defenders of Wildlife have sued the military for damage done to
endangered animal populations by bomb tests. The testing of
Low-Frequency Sonar technology is accused of having played a role in the
stranding death of whales around the world.
Rather than working to remedy these problems, the pentagon claims
that the burden of regulations is undercutting troop readiness. The
Pentagon already operates military bases in and outside of the U.S. as
“federal reservations” which fall outside of normal regulation. Yet the
DOD is seeking further exemptions in congress from the Migratory Bird
Treaties Act, the Wildlife Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean
Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
The Pentagon now employs 10,000 people with an annual budget of 2
billion dollars to deal with the legalities that arise from the
Military’s toxic droppings. New Justice Department policies frustrate
attempts by the public to obtain knowledge. In one case the U.S. Navy
demanded $1500 for the release of documents related to compliance with
environmental laws at the Trident nuclear submarine base in the Puget
Sound. Other requests are simply not processed and attempts at legal
countermeasures are thwarted. The Pentagon has also won reductions in
military whistleblower protection laws. These measures disregard the
Freedom of Information Act and obstruct the notion of a Democratic
State.
UPDATE BY AUTHORS DAVID S. MANN AND GLEN MILNER: Since our article
appeared in the Washington Free Press in September 2002 there have been
numerous attempts by the U.S. military and the Bush administration to
secure military exemptions from environmental law. In a rare defeat, the
Pentagon failed in 2002 to win concessions from Congress for exemptions
from the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and other
environmental laws.
A December 10, 2002 document, Sustainable Ranges 2003 Decision
Briefing to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, unleashed a three year
campaign to systematically exempt all U.S. military activity from every
perceived environmental restriction. Included in the briefing is a “2002
Lessons Learned” section, citing the need for better quantification of
encroachment impacts and a sustained aggressive campaign addressing
concerns of the GAO and Congress. Other targeted critics are state
attorneys general, media, industry and Non-Governmental Organizations.
In a March 7, 2003 memo, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz
asked the Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries for examples of military
readiness hindered by compliance to environmental law. Even though
current law has never been used, allowing the President to invoke
environmental exemptions deemed necessary for national defense.
Other attempts for environmental exemption for the military have been
less than obvious. An April 2003 proposal by Defense Secretary
Rumsfeld, “The Defense Transformation for the 21st Century Act”,
suspended whistleblower protections for Department of Defense personnel.
In another, an executive order from President Bush is being considered
establishing the Department of Defense as the first among equals in any
disagreement between agencies. Added to this are new restrictions on the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act and a reduced budget
for the Environmental Protection Agency for FY 2004.
Efforts for environmental justice continue. In the Pacific Northwest,
we have begun a mix of public education and legal action concerning the
U.S. Navy and environmental compliance. We have found that coalitions
of long-time “peace” and “environmental” organizations make effective
action groups.
In March 2001, two environmental organizations and three peace
organizations filed a 60 Day Notice against the Navy’s Trident II (D-5)
missile upgrade at the Trident nuclear submarine base at Bangor,
Washington. The case, by David Mann, is now in the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals with a decision expected in Fall 2003.
Two other lawsuits involving David Mann and Glen Milner and the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have gone to court. In the first,
filed in April 2002, concerning explosive Trident rocket motor
shipments, the Navy conceded it had lost the case. The Navy then paid
attorney fees and reclassified the documents exempt under national
security. This case and another filed in March 2003, involving accident
assessments for explosive material at the Bangor submarine base, are
still pending.
In December 2002, a FOIA request by Glen Milner revealed the Navy has
been firing 20mm depleted uranium rounds into prime fishing waters off
the coast of Washington State during routine calibration and testing of
the Navy’s Close-In Weapons System (CIWS). Numerous FOIA requests have
shown the Navy is not in compliance with Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) licensing agreements. A preliminary complaint has been filed with
the NRC. Our goal is a NEPA lawsuit and injunction against the Navy over
the firing of depleted uranium rounds into U.S. waters.
For information on our lawsuit against the U.S. Navy
visit www.gzcenter.org. Organizations involved are Waste Action Project,
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Peace and Justice
Alliance, all based in Seattle, Washington; Ground Zero Center for
Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington; and Cascadia Wildlands Project
in Eugene, Oregon.
UPDATE BY BOB FELDMAN: Despite the increased size of recent anti-war
protests around the globe, the Pentagon’s “war on the earth” still
continues. Since the story was published, a new wave of environmental
destruction in Iraq was produced by the U.S. war machine’s March and
April 2003 missile attacks and its bombardment, invasion and occupation
of that country.
A report on Iraq of the United Nations Environmental Program [UNEP]’s
Post-Conflict Assessment Unit noted that the heavy Pentagon bombing and
the movement of large numbers of Pentagon military vehicles and troops
in Iraq “further degraded natural and agricultural ecosystems.”
The UNEP Post-Conflict Assessment Unit report also observed that the
Pentagon’s intensive use of Depleted Uranium [DU] weapons. Significant
levels of radioactive contamination were found at four sites in Baghdad
in May 2003, by Christian Science Monitor reporter Scott Peterson (CSM,
5/15/03). Much of this radioactive contamination was likely produced by
the DU bullets fired into the center of Baghdad at the Iraqi Ministry of
Planning by the Pentagon’s A-10 Warhog aircraft, Abrams tanks or
Bradley fighting vehicles. According to the Monitor, Pentagon figures
indicate that about 250,000 DU bullets were fired by A-10 Warhog
aircraft in March and April 2003, leaving an estimated additional 75
tons of DU in Iraq, as a result of the Pentagon’s attack.
Local air pollution and soil contamination in Iraq also increased, as
a result of the recent war. The Pentagon’s bombing of Baghdad, for
instance, ignited fires which toxic, black smoke that contained
dangerous chemicals, which caused harm to Iraqi children and to Iraqi
adults with respiratory problems, and further polluted Iraqi ecosystems.
The mainstream press showed no interest in Dollars & Sense’s “War
on the Earth” story. But U.S. alternative media outlets responded with
some interest. WMBR-Cambridge’s “No Censorship Radio” invited me to
appear on its weekly show to talk about the “War On The Earth” article,
as did a producer at the Making Contact radio show. Alternet’s
environmental editor selected this D&S article for posting on the
Alternet web site and there was some mention in the Utne Reader.
The impact of the article among green/anti-war readers was due, I
think, in large part to the Dollars & Sense magazine editors’
decision to use maps to visually reflect the domestic and global extent
of the Pentagon’s pollution activity. Also, the article initially
appeared just a few days before the U.S. Warfare State launched its
attack on Iraq. So the article’s implied argument, that to be a friend
of the Earth a green activist must also mobilize against U.S. global
militarism, probably seemed like an historically timely one.
Since the article appeared in Dollars & Sense, the U.S. Navy – in
response to years of protest – has finally closed its base on Puerto
Rico’s Isla de Vieques. But the environmentally destructive target
practice that the U.S. Navy used to do on the Isla de Vieques has been
transferred to Florida.
To both get more information contact the Military Toxics Project, P.O. Box 558, Lewiston, ME 04243; call 207-783-5091; http://www.miltoxproj.org or e-mail [email protected]
. Seth Shulman’s early 1990s book, “The Threat At Home: Confronting the
Toxic Legacy of the U.S. Military,” also contains information about the
Pentagon’s “War on the Earth” within the US’s borders.
DOLLARS & SENSE, March/April, 2003
Title: “War on Earth”
Author: Bob Feldman
WASHINGTON FREE PRESS, Sep/Oct 2002
Title: “Disobeying Orders”
Author: David S. Mann and Glenn Milner
WILD MATTERS, October 2002
Title: “Military Dumping”
Author: John Passacantando
Faculty Evaluators: Bill Crowley Ph.D., Mary Gomes Ph.D.
Student Researchers: Jen Scanlan, Grayson Kent
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